They peg the value-for-money meter. Everyone is impressed by their sound. Attractive design is classic and simple -- they will look good for years.

The faux wood finish is on the fragile side. Not being able to audition them beforehand. Lengthy break-in period.

I read all the reviews I could find on these speakers during my research. Like many, I was skeptical of the claims of superb sound from these low cost speakers. I had seen glowing reviews of some other speaker packages that I was able to audition locally - and I was not impressed by their sound. After hearing most everything in my price range and being disappointed, I took the plunge and ordered the Fluance SX-HTB unheard. Fluance has a 30 day return policy so worst case scenario I was out shipping costs. The Fluance speakers arrived promptly. I quickly set them up with my Denon 2105 and put some music on. Initial impressions were slightly positive, as the speakers immediately showed great detail and precision. However, the treble sounded harsh to me and there wasn't much in the bass department. Yet they were still a definite step above everything I had auditioned previously. After a month or so the speakers really came to life. The sound really "came in", so to speak, and now I am very impressed. No more harsh treble, and the bass response is fuller and downright respectable in quality. I thought I would immediately need a subwoofer for movies. It's been four months and I don't miss the sub as much as I expected. It's still needed but the Fluance speakers do a surprisingly good job on their own. The towers are great for music. I often hear sutble instruments or effects in my music that I did not know were there before. I find myself listening to old CDs with fresh enthusiasm. For movies, as others have mentioned the center channel and surrounds are a bit outdone by the awesome towers. However they're by no means bad. The towers are just that good. Trust me, DVDs are plenty engrossing with the sound turned up. I felt compelled to write this review because I was skeptical and now I'm a believer. Fluance has done a superb job with these speakers and they really do sound that good.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch, Sony, JBL

Good quality sound with DVD movies, music, and video games. Beautiful beech wood finish. Excellent build quality. Absolutely tremendous value.

Center channel is a bit too small and consequentially lacks some warmth and presence in the middle registers at normal volume levels. Voices sound a bit boxy compared to my reference center channel. Long break-in period.

Before buying this speaker suite, I was very skeptical because every single review I have read about these speakers have marvelled about what consumers get for their money. For this review, I would like to submit as objective a review about the SOUND of the speakers as possible WITHOUT taking the price into account. First though, I MUST get the cost out of the way because any review for Fluance speakers is not complete without boasting about the amazing bang-for-the-buck ratio you get. For a measily $260 dollars US, you get 2 very attractive and well-built beech-finish Bi-ampable MDF tower speakers with gold-plated speaker terminals and adjustable sound-isolating floor-spikes, a matching center channel, and two matching surrounds. I opted to get two more matching surrounds for a 7.1 set-up, 250ft. of excellent quality 12 gauge speaker cable, and 7 pair of banana plugs (all ordered together on the Fluance.com website.) Total price was slightly over $550 for EVERYTHING. WOW! When I played a game of "guess how much" with a friend who stopped over, his first guess was $2000. "Lower...", I said. "$800.." "Lower..." His jaw starts to drop. "$600..." "$260 dollars for the towers, center, and two surrounds." "Holy @#%$!" The speakers were ordered on a Sunday evening and arrived on a Thursday afternoon. Speakers were EXTREMELY well packaged...double boxed, and tight as a drum. The box containing the speaker wire and banana plugs was damaged however, and it's a miracle that everything was accounted for. Aside from that potentially bad situation, everything was on time, and nothing was damaged. Not a scratch anywhere! AMAZING! Having been into high-end audio for nearly ten years, I have heard speakers from every major brand and price range and I am extremely picky when it comes to speakers and how they sound. I consider myself to have had a lot of experience with "good" speakers. That being said, I can honestly say that the Fluance SX-HTB speaker system is a very capable suite of speakers that really shine with movies on DVD. Dialogue from the small center channel seems a bit "boxy" at times and male voices lack mid-range warmth and presence at times especially compared to my reference center channel. The towers are exquisite in their design and appearance. They have a nice spacious sound stage and have good sounding bass performance down to about 50 Hz. Two-channel performance with the towers is good with most types of music, and the stereo image is wide and open sounding. However, like the center channel, the mids are a little congested sounding and lack warmth and presence at times, especially with classical music. After a significant break-in period (approximately 15 hours), the highs on these speakers began to settle down. They are a tad harsh out of the box, but once they break in, a lot of that harshness goes away. In general, I find that the volume on my receiver has to be set fairly high in order for the speakers to have a full presence of sound, but when these speakers are played loud, the sound is very clear, undistorted, and exciting to hear. This suite of speakers is really designed for home theater. "The Incredibles" DVD sounded just as good as I remember it sounding in our local theater with a mega-screen. Playing some SACDs and DVD-Audio Discs through these speakers also proved to be a surprisingly positive experience. Pink Floyd's DSOTM SACD was excellent through the Fluance speakers as was the Flaming Lips DVD-Audio release of Yoshimi Battle The Pink Robots. XBOX games also sound excellent. While the Fluance SX-HTB is not without a number of weaknesses, its strengths are just as numerous. These speakers simply sound good with movies and well-recorded music, are excellently designed with quality in mind, they're sturdy and look very good. I would recommend the Fluance speakers for someone looking for budget-priced speakers for a mid-level home theater or a high end gaming rig. Anyone who hears this system would surely be impressed even before hearing the price. Fluance has turned this skeptic into a believer.

Similar Products Used:

JBL, Infinity, Paradigm, B&W, Boston Acoustics, Definitive Technology, Acoustic Research, Klipsch, Yamaha, and Polk Audio.

PRICE, good looks, very clean sound, 5 way binding posts

center could be bigger....but still sounds great

I had a good surround sound system but my front speakers were old Sony tower speakers that I have had for over 12 years. I was pricing fronts everywhere and listening to them also. I read the reviews about the Fluance SX-HTB set and I was thought that I would try them. I am soooo glad that I did. They came double boxed and wrapped up pretty good, it took me a good 30 minutes just to unpack them. I hooked them up and they sounded great from the first day but its been almost 4 weeks now and I love these speakers. I have a polk sub(PSW350) and almost don't need it. I use them mainly for my movies. I have seen Saving Private Ryan atleast 10 times but when I watched it with these speakers I could not believe what I have been missing. I was blown away by the sound that came out of them during the first 15 minutes of this movie. It feels like I'm watching all my movies for the first time now. Even music sounds awesome from these puppys. Great bang for the buck system.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity, Sony, JBL

clear at any level,good bass,instruments sound live,box well made and the beech color gives it beauty

wish the center and rears where biger

overwhelmed,acurate sound,beyond expectations on the towers,and good but small center and back spkrs,still very good,I recomend this speakers,this are also the most beautifull pieces of furniture in the livingroom, I had cerwin vegas,had yamahas,Pioneer,but this are on aclass of their on,i give it 5 stars.

Clear rich sound Binding Posts Bi-Amp/Bi-Wiring Sturdy Construction Great Look

weak on Bass. Would recommend a sub to go with this system

Great Bang for the Buck !!!

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha

Best value for the money. Nothing gets close in this range. You can crank them up without fear. They fill a room very well, at levels that would hurt the smaller speakers.

These are not earthshakers. A subwoofer would help tremendously. I'm not crazy about the finish. I wish I could have bought them unfinished.

For the price ($320 delivered), nothing could beat this speaker system. I could have gotten two mediocre towers for the same price but outfitting the whole system would have been twice as much. They lack strong bass(for towers) and have trouble overcoming my difficult room unless fed lots of power. The center channel is so-so however that seems to be the nature of the beast with center channels. A good CC speaker will cost you what you paid for the whole set. The rears do what rears do best; stay out of the way. I like that best about them. They don't try to compete with the towers. The exteriors did not impress me very much. They aren't ugly, I just thought they would be lighter in color. But they are heavy as lead.They just don't look good next to my oak entertainment center. The sound "fills the room" nicely. Granted I have horrible acoustics but the size of the SX-HTB's attacks it very well. The sound is sturdy, doesn't get muddy during peak periods and holds the room. Very good considering there is no subwoofer. They stand up to power without caving, even with the bass turned up. Do that with other speakers even twice this price and they tend to fold up.

Nice clean sound with my Yamaha amp. Customer service is excellent.

Little taps and clicks aren't quite as crisp as I'd like in movies, but that can't really be a deterent. These are quality speakers, this is just a minor complaint.

I back these speakers 100%. I'm a student on a budget, but wanted to take the plunge on a home theatre. Much better than any "in the box" home theatre kit. Like everyone says, it does take a little while for these to break in, and this does really change the bass (for the good). Great speakers, I realize there are probably better out there, but I really don't think you can beat these for the price. If you're just starting out, buying a set for a cottage, or if you're just on a budget.

Similar Products Used:

None that I've evaluated over time.

Beautiful finish and quality. Amazing sound quality. Great price too, my bank account loves them ;)

I couldnt even make up any.

One word: OMGsick I just recieved these speakers earlier today and I LOVE them. I dont have much experience to compare them to anything else, but like I said OMGsick.

Similar Products Used:

Nothing comparable to the hardass-ness of Fluance.

PRICE sound (high and low frequencies) looks size

the break in period of about 10 or so hours, but who cares!

ok, I don't usually write reviews, but these speakers more than deserve another good review. I bought these speakers based soley on the reviews I had seen and to be honest I was quite skeptical. However, I didn't have a lot to spend and they were only $300 (which increased my skepticism). I am happy to report, that even 6 months later, I could not be happier. I have heard plenty of sound systems and this one EASILY rivals $1000+ systems i have heard. There was about a two week break in time that the sound was a little weak, but after that they settled in and blew me away!!! The bass is incredible for the small size and even give my Cerwin Vega LW-12 150 Watt subwoofer a little competition. If you are on a tight budget and are looking for some good speakers look no further, the reviews don't lie. And best yet, I got calls from the company telling me they had shipped the speakers, you won't find that anywhere else!

Similar Products Used:

Mirage Klipsch Cerwin Vega Sony

PRICE sound (high and low frequencies) looks size

the break in period of about 10 or so hours, but who cares!

ok, I don't usually write reviews, but these speakers more than deserve another good review. I bought these speakers based soley on the reviews I had seen and to be honest I was quite skeptical. However, I didn't have a lot to spend and they were only $300 (which increased my skepticism). I am happy to report, that even 6 months later, I could not be happier. I have heard plenty of sound systems and this one EASILY rivals $1000+ systems i have heard. There was about a two week break in time that the sound was a little weak, but after that they settled in and blew me away!!! The bass is incredible for the small size and even give my Cerwin Vega LW-12 150 Watt subwoofer a little competition. If you are on a tight budget and are looking for some good speakers look no further, the reviews don't lie. And best yet, I got calls from the company telling me they had shipped the speakers, you won't find that anywhere else!

Similar Products Used:

Mirage Klipsch Cerwin Vega Sony