BIC Acoustech PL-980L-PL-980R 3-Way Floor Speakers - ONE Pair

These speakers receive a 9.5/10 overall rating by my standards (10/10 for price). I have listened to some of the best speakers on the market, including those that range into the $20,000-$40,000+ range with $6,000+ McIntosh amps. I got rid of my Pioneer CS-G403s to make room for these. The Pioneers were also a 3-way design from the 1980s with the old "large driver and cabinet" mentality in their construction. They had a 5" mid-range, with a 1" paper cone tweeter and 15" cone sub. Not the best, but definitely not bad speakers for their price and from their period.It's EASY to say that these are a massive upgrade over those thrift-shop Pioneer speakers. It's another thing to say that these speakers made me realize that I don't want to spend excessive money on a home-theater/audio system. I have listened to electro-static designs to the "diamond tweeter and weird designs because we have nowhere else to throw our money into them" speakers, and these... dare I say, stand among the absolute best.It's no wonder that this is BIC's flagship pair. They really don't need to be any better. So let's go over each major categories of where I rate these.1. Design: 10/10I really and sincerely believe that these are some of the best looking speakers on the market. They certainly remind me of Klipsch to some extent, but with their own polish and touches. They are large, and wider than most modern floor-standers in the price-range (due mostly to the 8" woofers on the bottom and side), bar anything made by Cerwin-Vega, which is an unfair comparison as CW stuck with the old design philosophy.2. Separation Between Drivers: 10/10This is a perceived audio metric in this case, not a physical one. Instruments, vocals, and bass..... all can be pointed at by each driver. You know the crossover is working well here. And a damn good crossover it is ( a wonderful addition since the previous PL-89IIs received complaints about this as well as the tweeter handling mid-frequencies so much). In this design, the separately-enclosed mid-driver works wonders, and the more intricate crossover/3-way design allows for the tweeter to do it's job as intended without distortion.3. Mids: 9.5/10Vocals and instruments sound unbelievable, almost discernible from the real things. The metallic mid-driver pushes out some wonderful, powerful mids for a 5" driver. This mid-driver alone competes with some of the higher-end bookshelf speakers on the market, including the Klipsch Reference series. Guitars are gushing in detail. EVERY single detail will leak through loud and clear. The only speakers that I can objectively say were better for my taste with mids cost FAR more money.4. Lows: 10/10This is the category I was perhaps most surprised in. While I do have this set paired with a 12" Polk Sub, these speakers on their own can replicate some lower-frequencies on the audio spectrum in a strangely good way. A lot of this is likely due to the extended bass added by the passive radiators, which were (amazingly) opted for instead of the standard vented ports included on almost all speakers these days. These passive radiators act as the ports, but use that energy that would otherwise be sent out of a hole as energy to move the woofer. This drastically decreases distortion and allows for that extra bit of detail to leak out. This was a brilliant move by BIC, and it is surprising to see this being utilized at this price-point. Sure, some JBLs and (as everyone knows) Cerwin-Vegas have heavier bass, but I prefer to leave that type of work to my subwoofer. (P.S. bass notes from actual bass guitars on the 8" woofers combined with the mid-range make for a particularly luxurious treat)5. Highs: Klipsch/10No, really, the horn-loaded tweeter here is in that league, and if you know anything about Klipsch tweeters (they pioneered and mastered the art of horn-loaded tweeters)..... Now, imagine that same, outstanding sound, but without the tweeter fatigue that is common in mid-range Klipsch Reference models. I feel as if this was intentional. BIC knows what audience they are trying to attract here, and are going after Klipsch Reference Premier quality while successfully doing so.6. Music: 10/10You can play smooth Jazz or slamming death metal, and it will all somehow find a way to sound really good without breaking a sweat or a need for a lot of power. Overall, the 3 previous categories sum up my experience with this.7. Movies: 10/10These are clearly designed to handle not only music, but intense home-theater applications. Stereo separation on these is chillbump inducing. It's hard to believe these drivers are pushing power the way they are. The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray and Silent Hill (the first scene with pyramid head) were used to test these, and the results were surprising.8: Overall: 9.5/10Only because there ARE slightly better speakers out there for way more money. However, I would put money down that 99% of listeners won't know the difference (with the exception of some colored and unique technological designs). These speakers will work well with common receivers that push out 90-100W per channel at 8-ohms, but will, of course, benefit more from high-end amps, especially on the low-end (the 8" drivers are harder to drive by the time the tweeter and mid use a lot of the power). If you have a sub, however, you likely will not care.

excellent sound quality, modern cabinets. Great for theatrical sound in the home. great for music. very well rounded speakers for all types of entertainment.

I had these speakers in my cart for about eight months before before I decided to order a pair right before SuperBowl LIV weekend. I analyzed a lot of competing speaker specs. There is not much else in this price range for the value you expect. The trade-off is these are pretty massive speakers in size. They take over a large area of my corner entertainment center can make my 65 inch flat screen look smaller than it did before. My wife was very upset that new speakers that large in size but after she heard them for a few times she gave up the argument and I got to keep them. I've had them now for 4 months and I would say they started to sound much better after the second or third month. I have tested them out with many different sound sources including Al DiMeola's "God Bird Change" and "July" as my go-to reference songs. I have them running with the matching Acoustech center channel, a 12 in boutique sub, and a Yamaha TSR-5790 home theater amp which I believe is only about 80 watts per channel (Knob set to -12db volume is almost painfully loud). Even with 80 watts per channel, a smaller amp can drive them easily do to their high sensitivity and horn tweeter. The sound presence is amazing I would say that is the best feature of the speakers and also due to their height the presence in a larger room is the best feature about them. I ran Yamaha's YPAO calibration on them after 15 hours and then just made several adjustments from there after 40 hours. The definition/ clarity of the lower mid-range instruments around 500Hz-900Hz such as plucked string bass guitar leaves a little bit to be desired as those notes are not as succinct as the highs which are pretty brilliant, but not harsh given the horn tweeter. Maybe having a 6" woofer and a higher crossover point might have helped that range shine more?Again these are larger and heavier than you probably think. They are pretty deep so just take that in mind. I shared pictures of the boxes and their funky "As seen on TV design" They actually have the reviews printed right on the boxes, so no need to look any further. Given their depth, be aware that if you are placing them near your TV they may stick out to block the lower side view of the screen if you plan to view them at an angle. I would recommend these to anyone looking for new front channel speakers under $1,000 for home theater and music listening. Closest compare were some of the Paradigms, but then you are looking at three times the price..