under $300 bookshelfs: does excitement exist?

john, are you refering to athena asb-2's?

For about $350 (including shipping) you can get yourself a pair of Acoustic Energy 300Cs. These speakers rock and have excellent bass response, rolling off at about 45Hz.

I would look at the Acoustic Energy line they put out a great speaker for the money

Dylan, no I'm refering to the AS-F2s, which I know are too expensive and large, but I'm extrapolating down in size, as the old Sound Dynamics were better known for their RTS3s (bookshelf) than anything else. The AS-B1s get rave reviews for the price as well, though. But, if it's not absolutely necessary to buy bookshelf and still remain within your budget, then I would suggest the floorstanding AS-F1s (which are the counterpart to the Sound Dynamics RTS-5s I own), which sell for approximately $300 and have beautiful bass while retaining all the magic. Today I went to an audio shop (I'm on holiday) to test a theory of mine: that "magic" cannot be planned for. And so I auditioned the upscale Athena Technologies speakers to see if the magic was there, and sure enough, it wasn't. Lesson here: never assume on the strength of one brilliant design that the rest of the line will measure up. The Audition series is the one to get, if you go this route. The AS-B2s will of course give you better bass than the B1s, if that suits you better. Don't worry, the whole line has the "magic." Myself, I can't wait!

i suppose i can chime in on my own post...how 'bout mmg's? for 300 bucks this is definately the way i would go, if for nothing more than shits and giggles.not really bookshelves but they're supposed to be great. i don't have even close to the correct room to set them up. supposedly they're a bit tricky in this matter