If you didn't know Boston Acoustics, Inc. was established in 1979 and they design, manufacture and market high performance audio systems. And other than that there isn't a whole lot of history I can find on the company (from a reliable source) so I guess I will just tell you a little about the review product. The Boston Acoustics A25 was originally priced at £200, which placed it right in the sights of the Dali Zensor 1 and the Monitor Audio Bx1. Both amazing speakers in their own right. The Bostons can now be found at under £100 and now competes with the likes of the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 and Tannoy Mercury V1.
Aesthetics
With the grilles on the Bostons are quite the modern looking speaker. They sway away from the traditional square box construction and opt for a more elegant curved cabinet design. You can see from the image below the grille is framed by a rather lovely gloss black cabinet. You can also see the Boston logo in all its glory and the design of the logo really fits really well with the rest of the front facade. The design is quite understated and not overly in your face and they will look great in most living rooms.
Where the Bostons are different is the choice of material used for the front, top and back of the speaker. You can probably see its not a normal wood finish or even gloss like the rest of the cabinet.
The material used is actually a leather effect vinyl. (sorry about the dust) but you can see the finish more clearly on the picture below. At first I wasn't a big fan of this finish but overtime I've grown to quite like and I now see it as a design addition rather than just trying to be different.
The speakers are very well constructed. The feel very weighty and solid and just generally well built. The fit and finish is really high quality and the lack of fixings just adds to a more premium look and build that isn't very common at this price bracket. The materials used are very good quality and about what I would come to expect from speakers costing this much. Like I mentioned the speakers are quite heavy, this is a good sign as you can tell a lot of effort went into crafting the speakers rather than just throwing them together.
The speaker cabinet doesn't resonate too much when the speakers are being pushed hard, which is again testament to a really well but together speaker.
A little issue I have found on the speakers is that on the inside edge (where the grille sits) the finish is a bit rough. I noticed this when I first took the grilles off. I thought that they might have smoothed down to a higher quality, but they haven't. I'm not sure if all the speakers suffer with this but the ones I have did.
The lacquer finish is good, its very high gloss and very shiny but I did notice a few slight imperfections in the finish. Not a deal breaker and not all that noticeable but I have to mention it.. The only real negative I can say about the finish is that it attracts a lot of dirt and finger prints. If you buy these they will definitely need cleaning on a regular basis to keep them looking pristine.
The leather effect vinyl has been well implemented and there are no visible signs of adhesive or any gaps in the finish. Round the back again it's all great. The fixings are a little bit cheaper looking, but then again they are really there to suit a function and they do that well. Round the back is really the only place where you get to see fixings, this I believe was done to cut costs. I guess they have to cut costs somewhere and I'm just glad it wasn't in the drivers or enclosure.
Speaking of the drivers and although they are great, the main driver is a little bit transparent. I think its because of the choice of material rather than poor build. The tweeter is again pretty standard at this price and is well as you would expect.
Placement
For rear firing speakers, they actually aren't overly fussy about where you but them. I got the best of them on some Pixel T80 stands (80 referring to height). The speakers sound best in open space, but if you can't accommodate that then about 1m from the side wall will be enough. Placing them from the rear wall wants to be about 30cm, any closer and the bass becomes a bit overpowering.
But again if you can't do that, then a reduction in bass on your Hi-Fi, amp / source will work fine.
The tweeter wants to be a ear level to get optimum performance and you want to be at least 10ft away from the speakers to get the best of out of them. I know that might sound fussy, but believe me they have been one of the easier speakers to place.
Specs and Information
- Frequency response: 55Hz - 25kHz
- Impedance: 8ohms
- Recommended amplifier (W): 10 - 150
- Sensitivity: 87dB
- Tweeter: 1" Kortec Softdome
- Woofers: 5.25" DCD (Deep Channel Design)
- Dimensions (HxWxD mm): 270 x 183 x 225
- Weight (kg): 4.6 (per speaker)
- Magnetic grille
- Keyhole for wall mounting
- Gold plated five-way binding posts
- Three colour finishes: High gloss Black lacquer, high gloss White lacquer and Satin Cherry
- Awarded 5 stars by What Hi-Fi?
Sound quality
All tests were carried out with a eq balance of: Treble 0 and Bass 0. This is to determine the speakers natural sound without adjustment.
So what do those specs mean in terms of sound quality.
Well lets start with what the specs mean in terms of performance. A 55Hz drop might not sound that impressive but believe me the A25 more than delivers in bass performance. This is all thanks to the DCD driver technology that Boston Acoustics has incorporated into these speakers. What the DCD driver does is essentially allow you to get greater bass response from less input from your amplifier. Essentially that means you don't have to turn it up as loud to get good quality bass from the speakers.
For sound the DCD technology actually works out pretty well, the bass performance is really possibly the cleanest and tightest but yet punchiest bass your going to find on speakers under the £100. The bass response is deep, very composed, easily distinguishable but never overpowering.
The mid range is very clean, well organised and has a touch of warmth to it. This makes for a more exciting listening experience than some of its rivals. However sometimes I noticed that the mid range got a little lost. I think it could possibly be the DCD driver that makes the mid range take a little bit of a backseat to the bass. However a slight adjustment to the equalizer sorted it out and they were back singing again. Now to the vocals, I was expecting these to be not good because of the mid range but I was really quite wrong. The vocal production is actually very strong, very natural with a touch of warmth, their very clear and seem to suit female vocals more. On some tracks I noticed the vocal performance was quite commanding and powerful, but on others they managed to be soft and subtle as well. Not many speakers I've tested have managed to do this so convincingly and to be honest on the Dali Zensor 1 performed better (from the speakers I've tested).
The higher frequency a surprisingly clear, they don't sound too bright but yet they aren't dull either, they just seem to strike a balance right in the middle. However sometimes (only occasionally) they can be a little sharp edged and a bit to forceful. But yet again a quick eq tweak can fix it.
The sound overall is quite big, by that I mean the speakers sound much larger than they actually are and perform much than expected. The speakers are very versatile and suit most genres well, they are quite fast paced and they transition very well (I think thats due to the lightweight drivers) and overall I am really impressed with the speakers and probably the best sounding speakers under £100.
Overview
To wrap up the review, I will have to say that I really like the speakers and I really enjoyed having them to review. The sound is great, they are very well built, very stylish and just an all round bargain for under £100 (UK).
The question is would I recommend them?
Well yes, I you want to spend under £100, then you probably aren't going to get better. However if you are willing spend about an extra £30 you can get the Q Acoustics 2010i, which offer a better performance.
But for under £100 I think these are going to be very hard to beat as an overall package.
Check out my video review of these on my YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uewzm2mwxc0
Also if you want to subscribe to my channel, you can see more reviews and sound tests of more audio tech products and more sound tests of the Bostons (to come soon).
https://www.youtube.com/user/acousticappraisal?sub_confirmation=1
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