Best Budget Speakers You Can Buy

Have you ever wondered why there are certain products that seem to have a very high retail price and then the sale or street price is much less? Furniture is the first item like that to come to mind. I know the idea is that customers are so excited to get such a huge discount that they should be more willing to pay whatever the “sale” price is. To me it always makes shopping for these types of items more difficult as you never know what the item is worth.

Another item that is in a similar high-markup, largely discounted category are stereo speakers. Walk into a sound store or your local Best Buy and you would swear that you won’t be able to get decent sound for anything less than two thousand dollars for a basic 5 speaker setup. Brands like Bose and MartinLogan offer you some well-rated, good quality speakers, but do so at a price premium.

Now I don’t want to sound like I am an expert or can tell every nuance of detail like an audiophile can, but I do know what I like and I have had some decent systems in my lifetime. Currently I have a JBL 7 speaker set with a different brand as the subwoofer. I purchase the L series when JBL had huge discounts from their eBay store.

They were listed as refurbished, but I read that they sometimes did that to be able to sell at a discount without hurting their pricing structure with their dealers. The current price for my floor speakers on Amazon is $600 per speaker. The side and rear speakers are running about $400 each. Add in a center speaker and yes, you have yourself a $3000 system (if purchased separately a 6 piece combo is $1900). Now I paid under $200 each for my floor speakers and around $120-$150 each for the side, center and rear speakers. A huge discount, but off of what baseline?

Overall I am happy with my setup, but there is no way I would have bought it with that huge retail price. I would have looked at Amazon’s other highly-rated, but more reasonably priced brands. I did find some nice speakers by doing the Amazon research for my mother when she wanted to spice up her basement TV setup. Brands like Fluance, Polk Audio and BIC America offer floor speakers for a little more than $100 each and have great ratings. Usually companies will offer different tiers of quality and price, so these names will also offer mid-level pricing, but we are really looking for the biggest bang for your buck.

Fluance

Fluance customers rave about the value they get for their money on these speakers. They favorably compare with Polk Audio, Bose and Marantz. If you are looking for a complete 5-piece surround speaker set at an affordable price, these may be your best choice.

Fluance SXHTB 5 Speaker System ($400)  4.6/5 customer review

Most reviewers are pleasantly surprised at the sound they get out of these ultra budget speakers from Fluance. Most feel they are taking a shot and are richly rewarded for their risk. Keep in mind they are not doing side-by-side comparisons and a good, decent sound out of such a low-cost speaker is bound to influence their positive reaction. Still, Fluance is very consistently reviewed and praised by owners in this segment, so we are not suggesting these speakers don’t offer you great value.

96% of customers reviewing these Fluance speakers gave them a 4 or 5 stars. That means there were very few unhappy or even lukewarm customers. Remove the one or two DOA or damaged speaker reviews, you will see that you have very little chance to be disappointed with the purchase. Maybe they won’t end up being your high end system in a large room. Worst case scenario is you replace them when you have more money and relegate them to the man cave or something similar.

BIC America

I first heard about BIC America when I was researching budget Subwoofers. That is what they are best known for. However, they offer great entry level speakers too and are a favorite on Amazon for the bang for your buck as their glowing reviews and consistent mid 4/5 scores would indicate.

BIC America Venturi DV64 Floor Speaker ($130 ea.) 4.6/5 customer rating

With any positive speaker review, it usually starts out with how well made and heavy they seem to be. The same can be said of these floor speakers. At the lower end of the cost spectrum well-reviewed speakers usually impress their owners with how good they sound for the price. That is echoed in spades for the Venturi DV64.

If they don’t sound great out of the box, give them a 50 hour break in period. Good for both music and movies. The DV64 floor speakers stand almost 43 inches tall and weigh in at 34 pounds each.

For about $25 more, consider the DV84s, they measure 48 inches in height and have 8“ drivers as opposed to 6” drivers for the DV64 model.

• BIC America Venturi DV84 Floor Speaker ($154) – 4.6/5 rating

Rear and center Speakers

Just like with most series, the center and bookshelf speakers are built similar and garnish similar positive feedback, albeit slightly better, than the floor speakers above. Customers are comparing them to the JBL or Bose speakers they are replacing them with.

• BIC America DV-62CLRS 6-inch Center Channel Speaker ($105) – 4.8/5 rating
• BIC America DV-52CLRB 5.25-inch Center Channel Speaker ($71) – 4.5/5 rating
• BIC America DV-62si Bookshelf Speaker ($120/pair) – 4.7/5 rating

Polk Audio

Polk is the better known of the three brands we are targeting in this article, but it doesn’t mean they are any less of a bargain. This is the bargain brand that owners will use to favorably compare to their more expensive counterparts. Let’s take a look at the T series of entry level speakers that shouldn’t disappoint.

Polk Audio T50 Floor Speaker ($150 ea.) 4.5/5 customer rating

These Polk floor speakers stand 36” tall and build quality is excellent. 90% of customers rate these speakers as 4 or 5 stars.  Customers like the quality and weight of the speakers, but also comment on the small footprint that produces a nice sound.

Rear and center Speakers

The rear and center speakers in this series are also well received, but you might want to try the CS10 center channel speaker from Polk instead if you are into mixing and matching. A whopping 4.8 out of 5 with 675 reviews  guarantees that people are overwhelmingly satisfied with their purchase.  Polk’s T15 bookshelf speakers will make nice rears and fall in line with the others in the series for customer satisfaction.

• Polk Audio T30 Center Channel Speaker ($112) – 4.6/5 rating
• Polk Audio CS10 Center Channel Speaker ($120) – 4.8/5 rating
• Polk Audio T15 Bookshelf Speaker ($100/pair) – 4.6/5 rating

Conclusion

If you are considering a super low-priced complete 5 speaker stereo setup, the Fluance is an easy choice. 96% of their customers gave them positive reviews. If you have just a little more to spend you might want to try BIC America’s DV series and just choose between the two different towers. If you go with Polk Audio you might want to consider going with the CS series for the center for just a few dollars more. The floor speakers weigh about 10 pounds lighter than the BICs, so you aren’t getting as substantial of a speaker, in weight anyway.

Right now I am listening to my 27 year old JBL towers that I paid $300 for the pair and they are part of my second room set. Therefor, I am not really in the market for a new set of speakers,  but if I were in the market for a budget speaker I would definitely give something in this review a try. I might go with the BIC towers and see how they stack up against what I am used to and then purchase the center and rears after. No matter what you choose from this review I don’t think you will be disappointed. As always, if you do decide to pull the trigger let us know what you purchased and how you feel about them.