Soundbars and powered speakers are great for regular use. But if you want the best sound possible for your listening experience, you’ll want a pair of passive speakers powered by an AV receiver or amplifier for high quality audio performance. No matter your budget, there’s a set of speakers for you — from the adorable $65 Dayton Audio B652-AIR to the seriously thrilling $999 Bowers & Wilkins 606 S2 Anniversary. You can buy them on their own or use them as a basis for a surround system in the future.
Whether you want to listen to music or even enjoy a movie night these are the best stereo speakers I’ve tested at CNET between $50 and $1,000.
Also consider:
- JBL L82 $2,750: More dynamic than the Q Acoustics 3050i floorstanders and with better vocal articulation than our favorites, the Bowers and Wilkins 606. What they don’t do is razor-sharp imaging — instead these are rock and roll speakers. They’re for kicking back and enjoying your records rather than intensive listening sessions, and for that they’re great. The cheaper JBL L52, at a third of the price, offer a similarly “rock focused” performance and are a much better value.
- Q Acoustics 3050i $1,099: The Q3050i are excellent performers, and relatively slim as far as floorstanding speakers go. While a speaker like the $999 JBL L52 bookshelf may offer more dynamics, these speakers offer great imaging and impressive bass. As a result the Q Acoustics are my current reference speaker in the CNET test labs. At the time of writing they’re listed as out of stock.