While there are some amazing hi-tech and aurally-pure speakers over on my review page with studio monitors and reference speakers, not everyone is looking for that purist sound with the least alteration to the original recording.

Instead, what most people want is that warm hi-fi sound that comes from rich wooden cabinets and warm lounge acoustics. For people who simply want simple listening pleasure, a good pair of bookshelf speakers is the most suitable answer.

What defines a bookshelf speaker? It is a compact speaker that is meant to be placed somewhere other than on the floor – often inside a cabinet or, yes, on shelving.

I like bookshelf speakers because they can integrate nicely into the decor of a room. In the old days you had to sacrifice a lot in terms of quality and power of you opted for speakers of this size. But today the size of a speaker can be deceiving and many modern compact speakers would blow away those giant speakers of decades past.

Here I have briefly reviewed some of the most popular bookshelf speakers you can buy online today. My top picks are listed first, but the rest of the reviews are not in any special order.

The “All About That Bass” Pick:
Sony SSCS5 3-Way Bookshelf Speaker System

The once mighty Sony is now just a shadow of itself in the AV world. These days they’re pretty much being kept alive as a movie studio and video game console maker. It’s a pity, since they have consistently made some of the best audio gear over the decades, despite some of their distinctively weird “Sony” decisions when it comes to features.

These SSC53 speakers are some of the more expensive ones I’ve seen, and one immediate difference you can see here is that we don’t just have one tweeter and one driver. This is a three-way system more in line with how full-size speakers are built. Dedicating a speaker to the high, mid, and low ranges of the audio spectrum provides better audio separation and makes music less “muddy”, since asking one full range speaker to do everything at once comes with a few sacrifices in overall quality.

I don’t think much of the design here, but I will say that it is as inoffensive as I have seen. You may not want to show these speakers off, but you also wouldn’t bother to hide them away either. Actually, they do a pretty good job of fading into the background without any help from us.

Sony’s approach seems to have paid off. These speakers get around the low-range limitations most bookshelf units suffer from, and they have a high ceiling of 50kHz.

If you don’t care about features like Bluetooth and simply want a pair of audio-focused speakers to connect to your amplifier, then I’d recommend these speakers any day. There are units priced at twice as much that are no better.

Sony clearly still knows how to make a speaker, that’s for sure.

Edifier R1280T Powered Bookshelf Speakers

These speakers from Edifier just go to show how far we have come with speaker technology. This is a compact set of speakers billed as studio monitors. Could this be something that gives us the best of both those worlds? Let’s see what shakes out.

These are active speakers so they have built-in amplification. You can directly connect your pre-amp via the RCA connectors or a source that makes use of the 3.5mm socket standard.

These nicely wood-finished speakers each have a silk-dome tweeter and a four-inch full-range driver. So there is no separate bass unit, which is of course normal for bookshelf speakers.

It also comes with a remote control, which is a really good feature for something that’s designed to be put out of reach, and it solves the problem of having active bookshelf speakers.

These speakers are very popular and a large part of that has to do with their rather low price. However, the majority opinion seems to be that their sound is pretty good. Are they really up to the standards of studio monitors? For this price the answer has to be “no”, but apart from a bit of weakness in the bass area and distortion at very high volumes, this is an attractive and generally competent set of speakers.

Klipsch R-14M Reference

Klipsch is a brand I really respect and I have been ears-on many of their products over the years. These bookshelf units are labeled as reference monitor speakers, which is essentially a claim on their quality and adherence to the hi-fi frequency model.

This set of two passive speakers looks very good indeed; I’m a big fan of the coppery, almost bronze, speaker cone coloration. In fact, I very much like exposed speaker cones, since these speakers are likely to be out of reach anyway even if you don’t have kids or pets that could poke a hole in them.

These come with 100ft of wire and connectors, so you should be good to go if your amp has the right outputs.

There are a lot of technical terms Klipsch will throw at you here, but the most important aspect is that these small speakers are claimed to be “room-filling”, so we have to evaluate if that’s true.

Reports from happy customers confirm that these speakers sound absolutely amazing. Although a separate woofer may advisable, depending on the type of music that you listen to.

For the price these RM-14 speakers really do fill a room with sound and are amazing value for money.

Klipsch R-12SW 12-Inch Front-Firing 400W Max Subwoofer

Without a doubt the number one complaint from people who buy bookshelf speakers is that the bass just isn’t there. This is not as true as it once was, but since these speakers do not stand on the ground they are limited in what they can do for us when it comes to bass without also shaking those shelves to pieces.

So after a while you may feel the need to add some low-end ability to your existing setup. That is where a floor sub like this R-12SW comes in. This is not a cheap unit, but it will transform the overall sound of your system. Clearly this is not a bookshelf speaker, but a rather large 12-inch subwoofer.

However, hiding these speakers away is not hard and it doesn’t matter where you put it, since our perception of bass is not directional. That means this is a great way to add bass to your listening setup without destroying the elegance of your shelf speakers.

This 400W unit can be precisely tuned to the perfect bass crossover point for your specific bookshelf speakers and turn good music into house-shaking great music.