Attractive Bookshelf - Under $3k

ZZ Top may be "the little ole band from Texas", but Watkins Stereo and Loudspeakers is the little but GIANT speaker manufacturer from my hometown of Kingsport, Tennessee that has been blowing audiophiles away since the 1970’s. Bill Watkins, Sr., is the engineering wizard behind the famous Watkins Dual-Drive Woofer which he licensed to Infinity Systems, the amazing WE-1 speaker (a Holy Grail find now in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina), and the current Watkins Generation 4 Bookshelf Speaker.

I believe this review summary should give you thought about checking out the $2,500 Watkins Generation 4 in your search:

"Had I auditioned the Gen Four blind behind a curtain and had to judge its value in the hierarchy of high-end audio I would have been happy to recommend it even at a price tag of $7k. Its asking price at a fraction of that is partly due to the direct sales model—there is no dealer markup. It simply sounds like a much more expensive speaker. And I should add that the Gen Four felt comfortable in the company of far more expensive components in the price range of $15k and upward."

@reubent -- I will give you a fair warning....if you stop by Watkins Stereo and Bill, Jr., demos a set of Gen 4, you will walk out with a lighter wallet!  😆

They are amazing.  Especially at $2,500 a pair.  They punch WAY ABOVE their weight.  I was at Watkins Stereo in February and they are emerging from the COVID supply chain issues.  Let me know if you go by!

@reubent -- I do not use a Sub with the Gen 4's.  Bass is quite remarkable.  They are in one of my listening rooms approximately 15' x 15'., , This review describes it much better than I could!

The Gen Four is nominally a bass-reflex design with a box tuning of 41Hz. However, the bass tuning referred to as dual-tuned, is patent-pending and unconventional. There are two internal chambers which are said to be damped differently with a proprietary method, proprietary connection, and special absorption material. The end result is a well damped bass range and in-room extension to nearly 41Hz, a remarkable accomplishment for a 6.5″ driver in a compact enclosure. I can’t recall another stand-mounted compact speaker in my experience that captured as much tonal authority as the Gen Four.

The bass range didn’t sound like that of a typical bass-reflex design. One of the first things you’re bound to notice about the Gen Four is that bass lines are uncommonly tight, and you’d be hard pressed to believe that it is actually a bass-reflex design. Bloated, tubby, plummy, and muddy are some of the pejorative adjectives that have been hurled at bass-reflex designs over the years. Well, none of them apply here. The bass range was precise and facilitated excellent pitch definition. Electric bass lines often lost in the mix were easily resolvable without any issues. Midbass dynamic punch was plenty adequate in my moderately sized listening room (13.5′  x 19′) though be forewarned that there are limits to what a 6.5″ woofer can dish out, and I would be concerned about pushing the woofer hard in a much larger room.