Today we are having some real fun as we look for the best vintage speakers under $500! We have looked at speakers of pretty much every style and price you would possibly imagine. However, today I decided that I would look for speakers that had a more “vintage” look to them.
You can get some awesome vintage-style record players such as this Victrola Navigator 8-in-1 Classic Bluetooth Record Player which certainly has that old-school style, but it is more of a budget record player and it has built-in speakers! If you already have a turntable, but are looking for an awesome set of speakers that fit your old-school soul, you have come to the right place, my friend.
Breaking In
Before we start our journey looking for the best vintage speakers under $500, I do want to take a moment to tell you a few things to look for before we start. If you look at one of the other speaker buying guides we have done such as the Best Floor Standing Speakers Under $500 or even one for more modestly priced speakers like this The Best Speakers Below $100 article. You will notice that I talk about “breaking in” quite a bit. This means that the speakers need to be used a while before they hit their true potential. This is not a bad thing at all, heck if anything it gives you an excuse to listen to more records or watch more movies!
Style With Substance
As we are looking at speakers which are at the higher end of the pricing spectrum, I highly recommend that you do some extra homework. While I do consider myself a bit of a nerd when it comes to sound and I have been testing speakers for years now. At the end of the day, mine is just one opinion. If you are spending this much money, make sure you know as much about the speakers you are interested in as possible before throwing your money at them. In all honesty, at this price range, I would expect both style and substance from a set of speakers.
It is worth noting that you can get much cheaper vintage speakers like this Greadio Vintage Radio Retro Bluetooth Speaker which is 70 bucks or even this Retro Bluetooth Speaker.
These are a lot of fun and designed to be more fun and funkier than they are offering a solid and impressive sound. So cheaper options are out there, but you do have to be realistic with what you are getting. At 300 to 500 bucks, you want style with substance. At under 100 bucks, chances are you are getting something that has more style if you know what I am saying.
The Best Vintage Speakers Under $500 Reviews
Here are the reviews for the best vintage speakers under $500. I had a good look at some vintage speakers and these are the speakers that to me I would class as “vintage” in their design. A few of these I have personally tested and the others I thought just looked cool!
1: Audioengine HDP6 Passive Speakers
2: Marshall Woburn Bluetooth Speaker
3: Edifier S2000pro Powered Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers
4: Klipsch RP-150M Bookshelf Speakers
5: Bumpboxx Bluetooth Boombox Flare8
Audioengine HDP6 Passive Speakers
I always like to start these things off with something that I have personally used and that is why these Audioengine HDP6 Passive Speakers are kicking our quest to find the best vintage speakers under $500 off. What I like about these is that they just scream the 1980s with their design. I have always had a thing for black hi-fi equipment and these speakers look great, I may not be thrilled with the strip on the front, but that is a minor annoyance at best. These cost around 400 bucks and at 5.5 inches, they do not take up a ton of space.
Despite their rather small stature, these speakers have some real kick to them. The woofers in these from what I understand are custom made by Audioengine themselves! I was very impressed with the sound quality I was hearing out of these.
The first thing I ever listened to through these was actually a movie well two movies, Dragon Ball Z: Battle Of Gods/Resurrection F and even out of the box the sound was amazing. No matter if it is music or movies, these things sound great. I was particularly impressed with how clear vocals were.
What Other People Are Saying
I found this really cool video unboxing for these speakers. Granted, it is for the wood grain version, but it gives you a great idea of what these things are like and the size of them, not to mention you can see the excellent build quality too. Over at Amazon, these are currently sitting at 87 percent positive reviews which is quite impressive.
I love these Audioengine HDP6 Passive Speakers I really do. I think these are a great way to start off our hunt for the best vintage speakers under $500. I would honestly have these in my home theater, that is how good they are. They look cool too, no matter what color you go for, but for me, those black ones are ultra-cool and have a real retro style that is very appealing to me.
Pros:
- I love the back design
- Other colors are available too
- Right out of the box, you notice how clear and real the sound is
- The build quality of these is fantastic
Cons:
- They may be a tad too close to our price limit for some
- I think they would have looked even better without that stripe on the front
Marshall Woburn Bluetooth Speaker
How cool is this Marshall Woburn Bluetooth Speaker? This comes in at $480 bucks right now, but that is because it is on special offer! A friend of mine let me have a loan of this speaker and it is just so much fun. The images do not do it justice of how thick and solid it is. The way it is designed to look like a speaker that your grandparents would have had is awesome. It has Bluetooth connectivity, but it does also have a regular input jack too. It even has dials for your bass and treble which is cool. The power switch is the only thing I am a bit “iffy” with in terms of the design as I would not want my kids messing with it as it is literally a little switch.
You may be worried that this is all style over substance, but that is not the case at all. I connected this first of all to my Sony hi-fi and blasted some Motley Crue from The Dirt Movie soundtrack and was floored with the sound! It actually has two amplifiers in here and what I noticed right away was just how deep the bass was. It is great having those dials so you can tinker with it to get the sound just the way you want it. While my friend had used this for a while before I did, from what I understand there is not much breaking in time with this which is nice.
What Other People Are Saying
Have a gander at this video review I found. You can get a real good sense of how solid this thing is made. Not only that, but you can see how easy it is to connect to a device like a phone via Bluetooth. As far as customer reviews on Amazon go, this has close to 500 of them and it is sitting at 90 percent positive reviews right now. As far as the best vintage speakers under $500 go, this one has to be in the conversation!
I love the whole style thing that this Marshall Woburn Bluetooth has going on. I am not sure it is the kind of thing I would have in my home theatre, to be honest with you. However, to just listen to music and have something that has some real style and wow factor to it. I think this is a truly awesome speaker and one that is ideal if you want something that is going to look cool as well as sound good.
Pros:
- This thing could not look any cooler
- This is the best version of this speaker
- I liked how you could alter the bass and treble
- It has two physical hookups as well as Bluetooth connectivity
Cons:
- When not on offer, it does cost slightly over 500 bucks
- The style makes it more suitable for music than movies
Edifier S2000pro Powered Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers
I freaking love these Edifier S2000pro Powered Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers. The woodgrain with the black gives me major 70s vibes. My grandparents used to have this massive unit that was part record player and part record storage and these have that kind of vibe going on. These are made of nice and thick wood that has an almost varnish kind of finish to it that I love. These are so stylish that I could not imagine anyone having a problem with the way that they look. As of me writing this, these are listed on our buddies at Amazon at just under 400 bucks.
Even though these stand at a very modest 5.5 inches, these are made for people who are serious about their sound. I got these to test out a while back and the first thing played through these was Bumblebee through our PlayStation 4. We watched a lot of movies, played games and I even connected them to my turntable which was easy to do. As well as Bluetooth, you also have an optical, aux, and standard AUX connections too. Plus, you even have treble and bass dials to play with. The flat diaphragm tweeter aluminum cones these have, mean they sound great at high as well as low frequencies.
What Other People Are Saying
If you really want to get into the nitty-gritty of what these are all about check out this in-depth video review of these. You not only get to see how cool they look, but you also get to see what makes them tick and why they sound great no matter, what you are using these for. These are also very popular on Amazon with over 90 percent positive reviews from 500 different customer reviews.
Look, we are only halfway through our search for the best vintage speakers under $500 and we pretty much have a winner already from the ones that I have personally tested. These Edifier S2000pro Powered Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers just tick all of the boxes for what makes a great set of speakers. Plus, they have a very awesome retro style that makes them look fantastic in any room.
Pros:
- These are high-end in every regard
- I love the style of these speakers
- The remote they come with is awesome
- The sound is very rocking, even at the small size
Cons:
- I get that woodgrain is not to everyone’s taste
- These do require a fair bit of breaking in
Klipsch RP-150M Bookshelf Speakers
I have used many Klipsch speakers before and I thought that these Klipsch RP-150M looked pretty damn awesome. They are also priced at just under 300 bucks so they are well under our price limit as we try to find the best vintage speakers under $500. What drew my attention to these was the style. The cherry woodgrain effect really does make these have a rather 70s, perhaps 80s vibe to them that I think is very fitting for what we are looking for today. The grille can be removed and I think that if I had these, I would have them displayed without the grille.
Cerametallic woofers are a bit of a trademark of the folks at Klipsch, these along with the titanium tweeter and the clever design mean that the sound should be very rich and full. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of a single time where I was left disappointed by what Klipsch did with a set of speakers, and from taking a deep dive into these, I am certain that they will be great. These are around 14 inches in height so they are a bit taller than the other speakers we have looked at so far.
What Other People Are Saying
Over at Amazon as of me writing this review, these have 242 customer reviews. What is amazing about this is that 95 percent of these reviews are four five and four stars respectively. I recommend that you check out this video review if you want to see these in more detail. This video is for the black version of these speakers, but the internals are the same so you can get a good idea of how these are going to sound.
To put it simply, Klipsch RP-150M Bookshelf Speakers make great speakers. I see nothing to suggest that these would not sound fantastic. Klipsch are always very clever with their designs so that their speakers sound great at all volumes. While these will sound great, I think that the design of them has a real old-school kind of vibe that is awesome. While I have picked the cherry ones, the black design has a more 80s vibe to it which is still pretty cool.
Pros:
- These speakers look great
- They will sound fantastic at all volumes
- People online seem to love these
- They are very solid in their design
Cons:
- I think they look way better without the grille
- They are a bit taller than the other speakers we have looked at
Bumpboxx Bluetooth Boombox Flare8
I have gone all out for our last pick as we look for the best vintage speakers under $500. I am a child of the 80s and the boombox was all the rage back then. Well, check out this awesome, Bumpboxx Bluetooth Boombox Flare8 if you want to bring some of that 80s flavor back. Seriously, how cool is this? There are many different versions such as the NYC Graffiti and the Snoop Dogg design which I like best. Just imagine listening to Doggystyle through the Snoop Dogg version of this and how awesome that would be! It is worth noting that different versions have different price tags. For example, the Snoop Dogg one I like is priced at 420 bucks (the fact that a Snoop Dogg item is “420” is hilarious) and the standard black version is $359. In the middle, we have the Biggy Smalls version which is priced at $399.
Bumpboxx actually had a previous version of this, but the Flare8 has numerous improvements. It has much larger woofers and it has more watts so it has way more raw power. It does have Bluetooth connectivity and it has a built-in battery that lasts 12 hours. On the side, you have dials so you can have the sound just the way you want as well as some physical inputs. I have no doubt in my mind that this thing is going to be loud, but also very clear which is the best of both worlds!
What Other People Are Saying
I came across this really cool video showcase that shows off the standard graffiti version as well as the Biggy Smalls and Snoop Dogg versions of this boombox. Let me tell you, if you were on the fence, that video will probably make you want one of these! It also has a great reception over at Amazon as there are over 200 reviews and over 90 percent of these are from people who love this.
Well, I have well and truly gone down a rabbit hole with this Bumpboxx Bluetooth Boombox Flare8! I know this is what I am going to be asking my wife to get from Santa for me this year. That Snoop Dogg one is just incredible and it looks like it would be just so much fun to use. I love the 80s and hip-hop and break dancing were a huge part of that and this captures that perfectly. Also, it is easy to get lost in the amazing design of this, but when you look at what is inside it. This thing is going to rock and rock loud!
Pros:
- It has different versions
- You can have it themed on rappers like Snoop Dogg and Biggy Smalls!
- It is made to offer loud and clear sound
- The built-in battery lasts for up to 12 hours
Cons:
- It may be a bit “out there” in terms of what we are looking at today
- Some might think it is a tad pricey for a boombox
What Are The Best Vintage Speakers Under $500?
We have looked at some awesome speakers today. I do not think any of these are bad and you would be onto a winner with any one of these If you have looked at our previous speaker reviews you will notice sometimes I have a hard time picking a winner. This time I do feel that I have a clear favorite and that is the Edifier S2000pro Powered Bluetooth Bookshelf Speakers. I love the design of these things and the way that they have that awesome 80s style is something that greatly appeals to me. I have these set up with my Sony turntable as my rear speakers and I am in no rush to replace them.
I also have to say that this best vintage speakers under $500 article has brought back my love for classic hip-hop from the 80s and 90s so I do want to give a special mention to the Bumpboxx Bluetooth Boombox Flare8. I have already informed my Mrs. Clause wife that I would love for one of these to be under the Christmas tree this year. I know that it is a bit out there in its design, but you do not get much more retro, especially 80s retro than a boombox.
Hope this article has been useful in helping you to shortlist the best vintage speakers under $500. You may also be interested to check out the best vintage speakers for jass music.
