The Best Bookshelf Speakers for 2023
Listen to music in stunning, modern style by getting yourself some of the best bookshelf speakers for 2022
Everyone loves listening to good music once in a while! Yet, not everyone is up for the task of keeping a soundbar at home, whether it’s for difficulty reasons, size and placement reasons, or neighborhood noise reasons. That’s where these bookshelf speakers got handy! As far as they go, they are much simpler and cheaper than a whole stereo set, and as its name suggests, small enough to be practically put along on bookshelves.
It may be much harder to pick the right bookshelf speaker for general use. There are so many different options available online that it might become a dilemma for you! That’s where we got your back. In this article, we have compiled the three best bookshelf speakers available out there to enjoy your music or cinema at home without any dilemma!
How We Picked
Sound Quality
Speakers are an instrument for having fun listening to music, and surely no one wants their fun experience ruined by lesser quality! That’s why we have decided to make this a factor.
Price
Bookshelf speakers may not be as expensive as a full set of stereo speakers, but you’d still consider getting the best out of what you’d pay. That is exactly why we made this one of the factors.
Wired or Wireless
Whether or not you’re tech-savvy to use your speaker wirelessly, it may be something that you’re considering on picking the perfect speaker for you. We got your back!
Position, Size, and Portability
Size and portability matter in the world of bookshelf speakers. Whether you’d like to use it portably or not, to pick the right one we have to make sure it’s the best for either job.
Our Top Picks
Our Top Pick
Edifier R1280T Bookshelf Speaker
Well-reviewed quality choice that lasts for a long while
A choice fitting for small spaces, these speakers are of good, wonderful quality under their price tag. These speakers will last for a while, delivering music to your room. It also looked aesthetically pleasing, fitting for various choices of rooms, with its wooden-like surface.
These beautiful, active bookshelf speakers are the number one bestseller on Amazon, and it surely lives up to their reputation
Our Runner-Up
DALI – Spektor 2 Bookshelf Speaker
Classy pair with a precise and crisp sound
A balanced choice for many people with its smart look and crisp sounds. It’s certainly a lighter choice made with certainly good materials. Small and beautiful sounding is enough to describe these speakers!
With 86% of Amazon customers rating it by 5 stars, it surely comes with quality not to doubt!
Most Cost-Effective
Dayton Audio B652 Bookshelf Speaker
Low priced option that came with decent sound quality
One of the cheaper ones on this list, only almost half the price of our top pick. Yet, it is a pretty good choice with its own advantages over others. May not be a choice when you have a bigger budget, yet it’s exactly practical for its price.
If our words didn’t convince you, these speakers are one of Amazon's Choices!
Everything We Recommend
Our Top Pick
Edifier R1280T Bookshelf Speaker
Well-reviewed quality choice that lasts for a long while
$119.99
Most Cost-Effective
Dayton Audio B652 Bookshelf Speaker
Low priced option that came with decent sound quality
$44.98
Who This Is For
Anyone who needs a good bookshelf speaker to spice out their room with a little more music!
What are Bookshelf Speakers for?
Bookshelf speakers are speakers that are meant to be put somewhere not on the floor, more like on a shelf, and it is surely an option for most people for listening to music at home. It could even be a part of your home theater, fitting right it with the right television or home cinema. Some people even would use it to accompany their turntables!
Bookshelf Speakers vs Soundbars
Soundbars are an alternative that are known to be hard to set up. Bookshelf speakers are an option for people who would find themselves having difficulty in setting up the more complicated soundbars, which needed a special receiver on itself. Soundbars are also known to take more power and take more space than bookshelf speakers, making bookshelf speakers a better option for many more people.
Active vs Passive Speakers
As with other speakers, bookshelf speakers have two options; passive speakers and active speakers. To be simply put, an active speaker has a built-in amplifier, while passive speakers do not. Once you plug in an active speaker, it’s immediately ready to go, while passive ones require an amp, and active speakers sometimes have wireless options, too. Both of them have their charms, as passive speakers have lesser wires and it is much easier to upgrade the amp.
Why You Should Trust Us
As the name suggests, bookshelf speakers are a good fit for the bookshelf, and the right one would spice up your room with the right music without being too complicated to set up! Yet, despite its advantage as a lighter, simpler option, it should not sacrifice many of a speaker’s better side, such as sound quality and durability, and that’s exactly what we’re prioritizing. Price also becomes one of our considerations, as not everyone is an audiophile who is willing to spend so much on audio outputs. As such, we have compiled the best-reviewed options for bookshelf speakers available online that are within a reasonable price range for almost everyone!
How We Picked
Picking the perfect choice for a bookshelf speaker surely isn’t easy work to do, that’s why we have scoured many online reviews from its users and picked the best among the well-reviewed. Among them, there are a few factors that led us to our decision, ones that made a good bookshelf speaker the way they are, while being true to the price they offer.
Sound quality is a must, no one wants to hear their favorite music sounding muffled with a lesser sound quality, no matter what kind of speaker they use. Controls and volume is also a large deciding factor, as it adds to the quality of life you’re getting with such products. Whether the product is wireless or wired, it should be adding to the decision you’re making for the perfect speaker. Even for you who are more into the aesthetic aspects of owning a best-reviewed speaker; don’t worry, we got you! We also made looks quite an important factor in our decisions, and that includes style and size. To people who seemingly move away a lot, portability and durability also became a factor of our choice. In this article, you will find the options that suit all of those qualities!
Our Picks For You
Our Top Pick - Edifier R1280T Bookshelf Speaker
Our Top Pick
Edifier R1280T Bookshelf Speaker
Well-reviewed quality choice that lasts for a long while
A choice fitting for small spaces, these speakers are of good, wonderful quality under their price tag. These speakers will last for a while, delivering music to your room. It also looked aesthetically pleasing, fitting for various choices of rooms, with its wooden-like surface.
Who It's For
Edifier R1280T looks aesthetically pleasing to some with its wood-like surface, but that’s not the only advantage. It is well-made with great sound quality, while also fitting for any kind of setup. With its price, it lasts for quite a long time with its certain quality and is easy to set up. Customers had spoken that as long as they’re taken care of well, these speakers would last for years!
Potential Flaws
These speakers, unfortunately, do not have a BlueTooth function, which might make it much harder to go wireless. However, it could be attached to any kind of BlueTooth receiver which includes the cheaper picks if you don’t want to spend too much for it. Despite this one flaw, users had reviewed it as the best out of its league.
Other Features
These beautiful, active bookshelf speakers are the number one bestseller on Amazon, and it surely lives up to their reputation with 4,7 stars in more than 10,000 reviews! Under its price of a hundred dollars compared to the ones in its league, it delivers a quality worthy even more of its price, making it the best option out there. Whether it’s for a link to the PC or a set of turntables, it does its job well enough!
Our Runner-Up - DALI – Spektor 2 Bookshelf Speaker
Our Runner-Up
DALI – Spektor 2 Bookshelf Speaker
Classy pair with a precise and crisp sound
A balanced choice for many people with its smart look and crisp sounds. It’s certainly a lighter choice made with certainly good materials. Small and beautiful sounding is enough to describe these speakers!
Why It's Great
DALI Spektor 2 is a balanced choice for many people with its smart look and crisp sounds. With its budget price, it’s made with certainly good materials. It is also a lighter choice, as the weight of 18.48 lbs is for both speakers, allowing almost anyone to move them out lightly. Small and beautiful sounding is enough to describe these speakers!
Potential Flaws
The pair is a set of passive speakers, which means they need an amplifier for use with turntables and various other instruments of sound. It also didn’t come with Bluetooth or any kind of wireless function. However, with how easy it is to partner with other devices, it shouldn’t be too much of a hurdle, making it a fairly good choice for its price.
Other Features
These speakers might be double the price of our first choice, yet with that price, it has its ups too. With 86% of Amazon customers rating it by 5 stars, it surely comes with quality not to doubt! Being a lightweight speaker makes it much more mobile to move around when you need to spice up your room by any means, too! What more can one ask for?
Most Cost-Effective - Dayton Audio B652 Bookshelf Speaker
Most Cost-Effective
Dayton Audio B652 Bookshelf Speaker
Low priced option that came with decent sound quality
One of the cheaper ones on this list, only almost half the price of our top pick. Yet, it is a pretty good choice with its own advantages over others. May not be a choice when you have a bigger budget, yet it’s exactly practical for its price.
Why It's Great
Dayton Audio B652 is the cheaper one on this list, only almost half the price of our top pick. Yet, it is a pretty good choice for its price. Being light, they are much easier to move around, while having pre-installed hangers on its back. It may not be a choice when you have a bigger budget, yet it’s practical for its price and perfect for some garage music!
Potential Flaws
As with its much cheaper price, it comes with its own set of sound-related flaws. Some reviewers had mentioned that this speaker can get a little distorted and muddy when it came to the bass, some even said that the bass response didn’t do quite well on its job. Yet, it is still a fairly good option when it comes to a cost-effective choice with a decent sound.
Other Features
They are the best when you need to be as cost-effective as possible, but when you have a bigger budget, it is advised some reviewers get something in the upper price range. Yet, not everyone needed the best-sounding speakers around at a much bigger price, which makes this speaker still a reliable choice for some people. If our words didn’t convince you, these speakers are one of Amazon's Choices!
Almost Made The Cut - ELAC Debut 2.0 B5.2 Bookshelf Speaker
Almost Made The Cut
ELAC Debut 2.0 B5.2 Bookshelf Speaker
A much brighter choice that’s a little too expensive for its budget experience.
Seemingly a speaker perfect for someone’s first set of bookshelf speakers, with its detailed sound and its solid build. They are bright and nice sounding, yet their prices indicate their identity crisis as a budget speaker or as not. May not be the perfect choice for some, and that’s why we removed it from our top choices.
Why It's Great
ELAC Debut 2.0 B5.2 is seemingly a speaker perfect for someone’s first set of bookshelf speakers, with its detailed sound and its solid build. Some reviewers even mentioned that they looked way better in person than in online-available photos. Overall, they are bright and nice sounding.
Potential Flaws
It surely was one of the most expensive ones for the budget speakers market, which makes it feels like it’s having an identity crisis of wanting to be a budget speaker like its rivals or a premium speaker. Some reviewers also mentioned that these speakers are quite heavy, and the sound might get a little too bright. Those reasons, unfortunately, become why these speakers didn’t make the cut in our choice.
Care and Maintenance
Bookshelf speakers can last a lifetime with the same quality it was if taken care of well, and if you’re confused about where to start, we’re here to help you take care of it!
The most important thing you need to do is to keep the dust away from your bookshelf speakers. Not only they didn’t look aesthetically pleasing, but they also had the chance to affect the performance of the speakers, or even damage it. You could use a vacuum cleaner to clean the dust out of your speakers, as long as you’re careful enough not to damage the cone drivers or tweeters and not use any kind of liquids on them. Do it regularly, maybe once a month if you’re too busy to do so.
The other important thing is to keep your speakers away from heat. You can do so by not putting it directly to sun rays, and having enough ventilation for the speaker so it won’t get overheated easily. Keep your speakers away from static electricity, too, as it would make them burn out much quicker. As for the wires, maintain them well even when you’re not using the speakers by not putting them in places you often pass around, it also works to avoid tripping over them! Sometimes, excessive powers could be damaging to the music source, so maintain it well so that it does not get overly abundant with powers of electricity.
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