Loading cart contents...
Affordable Loudspeakers of AXPONA 2019
By: James Larson
MSRP: $1,300/pr
Older audio aficionados will remember the golden age of the KLH loudspeaker brand to be the late 50’s and 60’s. In its day, KLH was a premier manufacturer that went toe-to-toe with other heavy-hitters such as Acoustic Research, Klipsch, and JBL. However, by the 90’s, a string of ownership changes had driven into the ground by bottom-of-the-barrel designs from trademark owners who were determined to squeeze as much blood from the name as was possible. The name has recently been revived by a group of individuals who want to restore the brand to its former glory. KLH made a splash at AXPONA this year by resurrecting this once-admired brand name and creating a speaker line worthy of its bygone reputation. The speakers they brought not only sounded great, but they were also shockingly inexpensive given their top-flight construction. In my time in the KLH room, I listened to the Kendall floorstanding speakers and I was impressed by their tonal neutrality and articulate sound. The Kendall uses kevlar cones, cast-aluminum baskets, real wood veneers, and a host of other amenities that I would expect to see on a speaker three times this price. This modern incarnation of KLH looks to be giving the buyers an awful lot of speaker for the money: a three-way tower speaker using high-quality components for $1,300 a pair. Many people look on KLH’s past with fondness, but maybe its best days are yet to come.
MSRP: $1,400/pr
One of the last rooms I visited as the AXPONA show was ending featured the
se somewhat plain looking speakers from Danish manufacturer DALI. The real reason I went in the room is that it was empty of guests, and I just wanted to get off my feet for a little while before returning home. The rep asked me what I would like to listen to, and I said, “something easy-going” since my hearing was a bit fatigued from listening to demos all weekend. I was immediately struck by the vivid soundstage from a latin-american album that I foolishly forgot to write down, but the spectral balance and outstanding imaging of the system stood out to me, even after demoing dozens of high-end systems for the past three days. The rep told me that the speaker model was the Oberon 7, and I was shocked to learn it was priced at a modest $1,400 per pair. These sounded better than some systems whose speaker cables cost more than that! The website discusses a few unusual features of the Oberon 7s, but I didn’t see anything about its design so particularly radical that would explain why these sounded so good to me there and then. Maybe it was just acoustic serendipity with the room? I am hoping to hear more Dali speakers in the future to see if that magic can be recreated.
Conclusion
These are only some of the affordable speakers that were on display at AXPONA. Most manufacturers brought their flagship products or at least some of their higher-echelon products, much of which was in new car cost and beyond. However, in the realm of speakers, bigger isn’t necessarily better (unless you just want louder and deeper bass). Great sound quality can be had at a surprisingly low cost, after which only gains in dynamic range and bass extension can be had without greatly diminishing returns. And in a small room without a large listening distance from speaker to listener, even a small speaker can have a large sound. You don’t need to be rich to be an audiophile; you only need to be diligent. This fact was as much on display at AXPONA as any of the gee-whiz gadgets or king-size loudspeakers for those who were looking.