Best Bookshelf Speakers Under 2000

Usually, the best bookshelf speakers under $2000 belong to the high-end range and deliver the sound of superlative quality. Besides, their manufacturers use stiff and high-quality materials for the products’ durable work. However, if you are still doubting about the budget you’d like to spend, welcome to our general best bookshelf speakers review.

In the article, two categories of speakers are introduced – powered and passive. Both types of equipment are compact and high-quality, but they serve different goals.

Powered units have built-in crossovers that divide the frequencies into 3 types – low, middle, and high ones. Each of those levels is sent to the speaker drivers that handle them to make balanced. Such Hi-Fi bookshelf speakers have built-in amps for each driver. They are regarded as the right choice for common home theater or stereo systems where they have enough potential to provide accurate and rich sound. The active speakers are usually more compact and portable than passive devices and they are easy to use (there is no need to make any sophisticated adjustments). However, their sound is often not very loud and they lack bass very often that’s why a live-sound subwoofer is recommended.

Passive or unpowered High-End bookshelf speakers deliver each band of audio signal specifically to the loudspeakers drivers. All the components to split the signal are inside the passive speaker. It forms the sound of every band with the aid of transistors, inductors, and capacitors. Every frequency part of audio goes straight to the driver. The units require separate power amps and are mostly used for tricked-out home theater systems where sound reproduction of every detail (tracks, dialogs, background, sound effects, etc.) is crucial. It gives freedom to adjust each channel as you wish but it demands efforts, time, and some specific knowledge.

Best Bookshelf Speakers under 2000 Reviews

The best powered bookshelf speakers

M&K Sound S150II THX Ultra2 – Surround Sound in Small Room

It is a powered model in a smooth gloss black cabinet that can serve as a right or center speaker. It is one of the best bookshelf speakers under 2000 with 3 vertical tweeters and 2 bass loudspeakers. The unit is able to arrange the sound environment in the wide zone of listening. It can be placed on the desk and bookshelf or mounted on the wall.

It has a low-compression tweeter onboard to transmit the authentically sound as we could hear it in the recording studio. M&K Sound S150II is a striking example that high-end acoustic systems or home theaters can be arranged in the medium and small spaces.

The speaker is made of top-notch components that make it one of the powered bookshelf speakers under 2000 on demand. For example, its Triple Tweeter Array is made of aluminum. The device provides accurate transient control due to the tweeter magnet system that is constructed to eliminate resonance. The high-density board serves the same purpose. S150II has a built-in waveguide that has a short horn load to let the sound diffuse in the space and to create good frequency response.

The best passive bookshelf speakers

KEF R300 – Precise Sound Reproduction of All Kinds of Music

KEF R300 is a three-way stand-mounting bookshelf speaker under 2000 in a simple-looking cabinet that is available in gloss-black, walnut, and rosewood veneers. It has no typical for this price range brass straps on its grill but easy-to-attach magnetic grills.

All the speakers’ parts are durable and reliable. The brand Uni-Q driver aboard delivers balanced sound when bass and trebles complement each other. The unit’s midrange-frequency cone is made of an aluminum-magnesium composite that contributes to the sound stringency and transparency at the same time. The resonance is minimum due to special ribs across the surface of the driver cone. KEF R300’s rear vented tweeter removes backward pressure, distortions and increases power managing.

The bass driver is aluminum and it has anodized coverage and a large voice coil that is aluminum as well. The unit is rather compact but still can boast tight, deep, and scaled bass without harsh highs that is able to reproduce precisely and diversities in sounding of drums and cymbals, for example. The speakers do their job spatially despite the music genre. For instance, they enhance the timbre and deliver full tonal richness while listening to orchestral music. They manage to produce clear and bright sound even at low volumes.

Monitor Audio Silver 100 – Premium Building, Clear and Loud Sound

This set of two-way ported devices is one of those passive bookshelf speakers under 2000 that combine great design and performance. The pair of units has enough power to do its job even in a large room. They have the walnut finish (rosenut, black and natural oak, gloss black and satin white are also available) and a nice-looking elliptical magnetic grill. It is tissue to prevent amps being clustered up with dust as it happens with the typical holey grills. Its gold dome tweeter and woofer are both made of aluminum, magnesium, and ceramic. The full set of its parts are solely premium. For example, the speakers’ low-loss inductors are steel-cored and laminated to transfer signal hassle-free.

Its woofers’ brand RST tech increases sound stiffness and makes it completely accurate. This tech is able to explore sound via Finite Element Analysis in real time and strengthen it when it is necessary. The speakers also have Monitor Audio staple to get clear high frequencies without distortions. Monitor Audio Silver 100 sounds surprisingly loud; its bass is warm but not too soft due to the HiVe II port technology. The units make the sound balanced at all frequencies. Audi quality is perfect even at low volume.

Focal Aria 906 – Flax Woofers for Mature Sound

This set of two-way speakers is remarkable for the unusual materials the manufacturer has used. The woofers’ cones are made of flax as a material that is able to make some sonic improvements and add to the speakers some ecological purity (the material is petroleum-free). However, those flax woofers are hand-made that increases the unit’s price.

The cones’ “sandwich” building claims to provide high internal damping and stiffness saving the sound transmission speed and the speakers’ lightness. The speakers are fitted for single wiring only because the manufacturers are still sure that bi-wiring makes the unit’s design too complicated.

They produce a massive amount of bass that allows getting rid of connecting them to subwoofers. Note that warming them up is required before utilizing as a component of sophisticated systems in order to escape distorted bass. The speakers have a pleasant soundstage and are great in many genres of music, especially pop, rock, and alternative. The sound is not harsh or too bright and all the tones are well balanced. The speakers produce clear treble, linear midranges that do not intrude and mix with other sound waves, and rich lows.

The unit has 8-ohm impedance, but the signal flows through the speaker easily. Its sensitivity of 89.5dB also contributes to this feature.