Our Top Five $500 Bookshelf Speaker Picks for 2021

We at Audioholics end up getting a lot of inquiries about the best audio product type to buy within a certain price range. We aren’t ever able to say definitively what the best product is because there are so many, and we don’t get a chance to experience them all. However, we do hear our share of loudspeakers, and we are aware of some of the more reliably good loudspeaker manufacturers, so we have our preferences. This being the case, we have decided to let readers know what we would choose for loudspeaker types within certain price ranges and why in a series of articles. In this article, we look at our picks for bookshelf speakers in the $500/pair range. There are a lot of bookshelf speakers at that price point, so it was not an easy task to narrow down our top picks, nonetheless, we think we came up with a pretty good group of speakers to choose from for $500. There may be better speakers out there for the same money that we aren’t aware of, or we may simply have forgotten about some brand or model that can match these, so please let us know in the comments section what a worthy alternative would be. With that being said, let’s take a look at our picks...

SVS Prime Bookshelf Speakers      $499/pair

Prime Bookshelf Product Page | Buy the Prime Bookshelf

SVS has achieved great success by making good looking and good sounding products that don’t try to get very exotic in their design. They keep things simple by following reliable guidelines to good speaker design, and so their market share has grown considerably over the last decade. The Prime Bookshelf speaker is typical of their recipe; it is a straightforward two-way bookshelf speaker that looks great and is sensibly engineered with quality components that one would hope for at this price point. In fact, it is the one speaker that remains from our 2015 bookshelf speaker round-up article. The Prime Bookshelf uses a conventional 6.5” woofer + 1” dome tweeter that is so often seen in this segment. One unusual design feature of the Prime Bookshelf is that is the woofer is sealed off in its own compartment within the loudspeaker. The advantage of this is that reduces the interior surface area where backwave sound pressure can resonate cabinet panels, but the disadvantage is that is less interior volume for the woofer to work with which means reduced low-frequency extension and sensitivity. I don’t know if that is a worthwhile trade-off in terms of performance, but the enduring success that the Prime Bookshelf speaker has been met with indicates that design decision has paid off.            

Monitor Audio Bronze 50      $475/pair

Bronze 50 Product Page | Buy the Bronze 50: Grey, Black  

Monitor Audio has been producing consistently well-reviewed loudspeakers for decades now, and every time I have heard them at a trade show or dealer showroom I have enjoyed the experience. Whenever anyone asks about suggestions for a loudspeaker within a certain price range, I always have to say, “see what Monitor Audio has in that price range.” That is what I would do if I was shopping for loudspeakers. In the $500/pair range, Monitor has the Bronze 50 bookshelf speakers, which uses a 5.5” woofer along with a 1” dome tweeter. The drivers use Monitor’s ‘C-CAM’ cones, which stands for Ceramic-Coated Aluminum/Magnesium, which is mostly a fancy way of saying anodized aluminum, but it has proven to make for a good diaphragm for loudspeaker transducers. The tweeter is mounted in a shallow waveguide that Monitor calls the UD (Uniform Dispersion) waveguide, and that should allow it to have a better transition to the woofer as well as maintaining a wider dispersion at high frequencies vs normal baffle-mounted dome tweeters. In my opinion, the Bronze 50s look the most stylish in our round-up, so if you need something that sounds good as well as looks great for this price range, this may be the bookshelf speaker for you. It even comes in four finish options which will further help to blend into your room decor.

NHT C-1 Bookshelf Speaker      $500/pair

C-1 Product Page | Buy the C-1

As a loudspeaker manufacturer, NHT has always done a few things to distinguish themselves from other brands. Most notably, they have adhered to a very flat frequency response profile in their products which assures buyers that when they are getting a NHT loudspeaker, they are getting a very accurate sound reproducer. Second, NHT speakers tend to use sealed cabinets, so there are no ports to contribute some extra low-end to the bass response. An advantage of this is there is no phase rotation going to port generated output and thus none of the deleterious consequences of that, such as more difficulty integrating the sub with the speaker. With the exclusion of a port, the NHT speakers tended to be somewhat small, but so long as they sound good, that is hardly a disadvantage. The C-1 bookshelf speakers adhere to all of these NHT traditions. It uses a 5.25” polypropylene woofer and 1” aluminum dome tweeter. It is not a large or heavy speaker, and you will probably want to mate it with a sub for a full sound, but I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if this were one of the most accurate if not the most accurate consumer audio loudspeakers of its type in this price range. If you are after high-fidelity first and foremost and also intend to add a subwoofer, I would urge you to keep a close eye on the C-1 if you are shopping for bookshelf speakers in this price range.  

Definitive Technology Demand D7      $499/pair

Demand D7 Product Page | Buy the Demand D7

We were mightily impressed with Definitive Technology’s Demand D15 floor-standing speakers when we had them in for review recently, so while we didn’t have an opportunity to review the D7 speakers, we think they are very likely to make for a great bookshelf speaker, coming from the same team behind the D15s. The D15s use an aluminum dome tweeter mounted in a shallow waveguide along with a polypropylene woofer that uses Definitive Technology’s BDSS ‘double surround roll’ system where the woofer is attached to the pole piece with a surround as well as the driver frame. The D7 is the smallest speaker in our round-up but also the most luxurious with its 5-layer high-gloss paint finish as well as a thick aluminum front baffle. The woofer only uses a 4.5” driver so it isn’t likely to be an output monster, but given what we have seen from the Demand series thus far, it should make up for in quantity with quality. They would probably best be paired with a subwoofer for a true full-range sound, and the same is true for any of the speakers in this round-up - but the D7s a bit more so. If you need a petite bookshelf speaker that isn’t out of place in a classier surrounding, I doubt you will do better for $500/pair than the Definitive Technology Demand D7.  

Wharfedale Diamond 11.2    $500/pair

Diamond 12.2 Product Page | Diamond 12.2 Amazon Page

I will admit to not being a big fan of every speaker that British loudspeaker manufacturer Wharfedale has made. Some of them have sounded terrific, but others seemed to exhibit some characteristics that were, in my opinion, problems. I was a big fan of their past Jade series of higher-end speakers, but I found their new retro Denton speakers to have a harsh sound. I am always up to listen to a new product of theirs since they have proven that they can make a great speaker. Their Diamond 11 series proved to have a very pleasing sound when I sat down to give them a listen, and I think the new 12 series isn't likely to depart from that nice sound. At $500/pair, Wharfedale offers the new Diamond 12.2 bookshelf speakers. The Diamond 12.2 is a very elegant looking speaker that uses a 6.5” Polypropylene/Mica woofer with a 1” soft dome tweeter mounted in a shallow waveguide. The Diamond 12.2 uses multi-layered paneling and spot bracing design optimized by computer simulation for the highest efficiency. With a gloss black front panel, the Diamond 12.2 looks a lot more expensive than it actually is, and it promises great performance to compliment its looks in its price range. This appears to be a great choice for bookshelf speaker shoppers for the $500/pair price point.

Conclusion

It should be said at this point that we limited this list to traditional passive speakers since many shoppers already have a receiver or amplifier. However, those shoppers who are looking to build an inexpensive two-channel system from the ground up might think about going the studio monitor route if they are shopping for a bookshelf speaker type speaker. Most studio monitors have the amps built-in, so all the user needs to get is a pre-amplifier section, and there are lots of good, affordable DACs that can serve that purpose. Some monitors look fairly nice too, such as the recently reviewed ADAM Audio T7V or PreSonus Eris E8 XT, both of which are also in the $500/pair range. However, those who are looking for passive bookshelf speakers have a good starting point with the list of choices that we have compiled here, and we think that anyone who ends up with any of the listed speakers will be quite happy with them.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.