Tower Speaker Reviews

PRICE $10,146 (complete system)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Understated elegance
Precision crafted
Incredibly detailed sound
Well thought out design

Minus
Heavy, bring friends when unpacking and installing
5 digit price could put a dent in your wallet
App still doesn’t like me

THE VERDICT
Words like entertaining, fun, captivating and commanding can all be used to describe what the Arendal 1723 series is capable of. The overall sense is of a company that took their time to get it right, and then executed the plan to near perfection. There aren’t many instances where I struggle to find flaws, but with Arendal it’s a challenge to do so. It feels a little like deja vu for me, that’s the same conclusion I had with their smaller 1723 S system. Guess brilliance runs in the family.

I’m moving up in the world it seems. In March of 2023 I published an article on Arendal Sound’s 1723 S speakers and 2S subwoofer, one step below the flagship 1723 and 2V subwoofer. I was impressed with the brand and their products back then, I felt the S series was something special.

PRICE $6,000 (system as tested)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Dynamic, powerful sound
Tight, well-defined bass
Crisp detail
Minus
Best with subwoofers

THE VERDICT
SVS has earned a formidable reputation for producing loudspeakers and subwoofers that outperform their reasonable price points. With the new Ultra Evolution range, they’ve more than upheld their past record. While the Ultra Evolution speakers are the company’s priciest offerings to date, most home theater enthusiasts don’t need to win the lottery or take out a second mortgage to at least consider them.

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that SVS first entered the audio scene. But time does fly.

Top Pick: yes

PRICE $2249/Pair

AT A GLANCE
PLUS
Soundstage and imaging properties
Near full-range capability
Enjoyable at high, mid and low sound levels

MINUS
May heat up an AVR
Favors placement away from boundaries
Needs current to hit more than moderate SPL

THE VERDICT
The Dynaudio Emit 50 makes use of its evidence-based R&D and its heritage in professional sound production, delivering a capable tower at an affordable price.

Founded in 1976, Dynaudio is well-known in the world of audio. As one of the few loudspeaker manufacturers that make their own drivers, combined with the massive Jupiter acoustic measurement facility, the company gains a significant advantage when integrating the multiple parts of a loudspeaker into one system.

PRICE $7,996 (complete system)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Impeccable build quality
Small in size, large in sound
Stylish design, superb engineering
Minus
Could be considered pricey
Subwoofer app was a bit finicky

THE VERDICT
The complete package—the Arendal 1723 S speakers and 1723 Subwoofer 2S—looks great and sounds even better. If you want small size yet big sound, this is a system you should definitely consider.

Arendal, not a name many people know. Ask your friends about them and I'll bet most look at you with a bewildered stare. I first ran across the company around 3 years ago but at that time they weren't doing much in the US so I filed them away in the “check back at a later date” section of my product review list. I guess you can consider it a later date as I now have before me...

PRICE $8250/pair

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Realistic soundstage
Wide sweet spot
Easily play loud, deep
Adjustable tweeters

Minus
Power hungry for a big speaker
Expensive
Require stands

THE VERDICT
These powerful and precise JBLs made everything I listened to through a pair sound fresh and vital. The 1970s studio monitor styling may not suit everyone'staste, but the mesmerizing sound they produce is sure to captivate any music lover's imagination.

When it comes to speakers, I've learned not to judge a design by its looks. But when you first meet a JBL 4349, it's impossible not to start thinking about the company's professional studio monitors. The prominent horn, with its curved and bulging shape, takes center stage...

PRICE $7,000/pair (R5t tower), $5,000 (D15s subwoofer)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Clean, uncolored sound (R5t)
Surprisingly powerful bass (R5t)
Excellent build quality (R5t)
Stunningly dynamic performance (D15s)
Excellent build quality (D15s)
Minus
Pricey (both)
Not the best option for very large rooms (R5t)

THE VERDICT
Perlisten Audio's R5t towers and D15s subwoofer offer stunning performance and good looks, but in this case the great sound and build quality will cost you.

Even the most veteran A/V enthusiast is unlikely to have heard of Perlisten (short for Perceptual Listening) Audio, but that situation should soon change. Founded by a group of audio industry veterans, the company was formally launched in 2021. For a new speaker outfit, the number of Perlisten models is astonishingly long and encompasses towers, standmounts, center and surround speakers, in-walls, and subwoofers, all of them engineered in the U.S. and manufactured in China.

PRICE $1,410 (as tested)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Very accurate, natural tonal balance
Impressive bass extension
Remarkable center-channel off-axis consistency and timbral match with towers
Minus
Towers are sensitive to placement
Some non-linearities at loudest playback levels
Generic looks (grilles-on)

THE VERDICT
With its impressive accuracy and peerless price, this Monolith by Monoprice Encore System is the new speaker value champ.

The story of how Monoprice parlayed its success as a humble purveyor of computer peripherals into its current status as a direct-to- consumer A/V gear powerhouse will have to wait for another day, mostly because I don't know it. But I do know this much: the torrent of ultra-high-value speakers and electronics, desktop audio, and even pro audio designs that have bubbled up from the Monoprice spring over the past few years is all but unprecedented in my decades in the audio/video world.