under $300 bookshelfs: does excitement exist?

Another vote for the B&W 303's and, if you can find them, the Ruark Epilogue for that price used is another level up.

Dylan (I'll call you Dylan if you don't mind), the greatest things are found in the unlikeliest places! If the Great Harry Pearson can get past the Best Buy thing, then so can you. While there may be speakers in this price range which better the S-Ds at various things (though I'm not certain of this), I would hazard to say that nothing touches them musically. I don't understand how the designers have done it, but they've done it. I was on the verge of yet another series of very expensive and miserable upgrades (people in the high-end can vouch for this experience, when an "upgrade" throws a good system out of balance leading to months of misery, instability, and spending), when, out of curiosity I decided to walk into a shop to hear the enormous AS-F2s which both Stereophile and Soundstage have raved about, and I couldn't believe my ears. Clarity, speed, detail but best of all, a supernatural (this is the only way I can describe it) ability to get the delicate timing and rhtyhm across, to make it fun and enthralling...I'm speechless. I'm buying them. I'm out of the game. And being very sensitive, they'll make the most of low-powered, high-quality, reasonably-priced amplification. Of course, there are other stars out there, but I've found my Holy Grail. And incidentally: they were hooked up to a Harmon Kardon, beautiful to look at (acrylic front plate, blue back-lit chrome volume control, beautiful digital readout, heavy, two-channel) which sells for only $400. I picked it up to see if it was quality, and it was extremely heavy, meaning beefy transformer. It was smooth, detailed, punchy and had excellent timing (though the S-Ds have something to do with this). It makes me wonder if I drop all the way out of the game and buy it too. Anyone else out there know anything about the new series of H-K components? C'mon, keep an open mind, don't be embarrassed. Maybe it's time to sell my tube amps!

Yeah....B&W 302 or 303

Dylan, I'm with John on the Athena line. I presently use 4 Sound Dynamics RTS-3s for my HT. They are a truly amazing speaker for the money. For a short period I was using two of them for my 2 channel system while waiting for my present speakers to arrive. Time and time again I sat in front of these speakers doing some very critical listening. I was awed by their performance.

Is there better out there? Absolutely. But I challenge anyone to find the price to performance ratio that these speakers offer. At this point in time you can probably find a set for under $200.00 new. I have not heard the newer Athena line, but if they sound as good as the RTS-3s you really can't go wrong.

If you have a Mapleshade catalog, you will notice that Mapleshade offers a set of floor stands that tilts the speaker back at approx. a 15 degree angle. You will notice that the speaker used on that stand is an RTS-3.

Best of luck and happy listening.

I just have to add more for the benefit of Buscis2 (where's 1?). I did own the RTS5s, and they were so musical (the type of component which leads you to just listen to music for hours on end and damn the high end), that I bouhgt a pair of ASL Wave 8s and listened happily to pure music for two years without upgrading a thing, except for cartridges - I left the rest of my high-end stuff in boxes. I had my doubts about the new Athena Technology line, with their more "consumer-oriented" clothing and square black box, but I have to say they sound like quite a jump up in performance from the Sound Dynamics, more of everything, but still with that magic musical ability of theirs: if you check the specs, they're the same electrical design, same crossover, same sensitivity. The new "Teteron" tweeter really is better (I thought the old was quite good), and the bass seems to be more accurate too. There's some kind of Black Magic going on here I don't understand...go listen! For your info, I was using tube amps and Joseph Audio speakers for years, but this line of speakers somehow just gets straight to the heart of the music in a way I've never heard before (of course, this special quality requires experience to identify, I think, but trust your nodding head!), which has freed me from high-end neuroses. I am agog. I must find out more about the designers, maybe e-mail them.