Snell Acoustics K-II Speakers Review by Bruce Beckner

I owned these for about 5 years, and I just sold them. They are no longer in production, but represent an excellent buy in the used market (or even at their new price). This is a two-way sealed box system with a 7" mid/woofer and a fabric dome tweeter. Despite the low price, the cabinet is very solid and is nicely finished on 4 sides with real walnut veneer. The front and back are painted black. There are substantial dual binding posts for bi-wiring. Mfr. specifications are 90 dB @ 1 watt into 8 ohms, 60 - 20kHz +/- 2 dB. These appear slightly larger than many standmount speakers because the cabinets are relatively shallow, and the front panel is relatively large. Unlike most speakers in this price range, the Snells have a smooth, not spitty, top end and no mid-bass emphasis to compensate for the lack of low bass. These are far more transparent than most speakers at their price range or even twice their price. Until 18 months ago, I had been running these with a late 70s vintage Luxman receiver. Apparent harshness at moderately loud levels that I thought originated with the speaker turned out to be 70s transistor amp glare produced by the 120 wpch receiver. Switching to the Krell integrated amp eliminated the glare and had dramatic effects on soundstage depth and overall sound quality. This is a speaker that reveals the difference between components! Image localization and depth are very good. On their own, the speakers produce very articulate, but not bloated, bass within their operating range. If you want lower bass, of course, there's always the subwoofer. The gentle slope of the bass rolloff of a sealed system often makes blending with a subwoofer easier. These are quite efficient, so that even modestly powered tube amps should run them quite well. Pulling the speaker away from the front wall increases the apparent depth but does not change the reponse characteristics of the sound. You can run them 18" from the front wall without seriously compromising the sound.

Product Weakness:	Other speakers of the same size will have deeper bass response, at the expense of efficiency and, perhaps, of articulation. Clearly, more money spent gives better transparency, more extended top-end,etc.
Product Strengths:	Efficiency, transparency, smooth response, not placement-critical.

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