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We all know that bookshelf speakers deliver an entertaining musical quality that simply can’t be matched. With quality, however, comes expense because top quality bookshelf speakers (like all other products) aren’t cheap.
So, to ensure that you get the best product at an affordable rate, we have a solution, we’ve reviewed the best bookshelf speakers under 100$ for your ease. And to ensure that you get the most suitable product, we’ve also prepared a buyer’s guide for your ease.
But before we start, let’s briefly look at the 3 best powered speakers under $100, based on our critical analysis.
It comes with multiple advanced features, high quality sound and music production, thus being the best choice for consumers.
With excellent studio sound quality, they’re the perfect choice for home theatres, and a very close runner-up in our list.
This product has received positive reviews for excellent studio sound quality & Bluetooth connectivity, making for a convenient choice.
Here, we’ve reviewed the top 10 best bookshelf speakers under $100, including each product’s description, main features, pros & cons, and a final verdict.
Easily the best bookshelf speakers under $100, Micca MB42X benefit from their carbon fiber woofer, which delivers an enhanced, transient & impactful bass. Moreover, their excellent sound quality makes them ideal for home theatres & studios.
Micca MB42X is well-known for its signature bass response. With a balanced woofer, you can’t ask for a better bass response.
With high-end tweeters, Micca MB42X gives strong high range performance & smooth treble.
In our review, we concluded that the crossover helps balance the woofer and tweeter, while also giving good mid-range vocal clarity.
If you want bookshelf speakers with an extended bass response then you’ll like this feature, as it does just that while also reducing sound distortion from the speakers.
Micca MB42X deliver in great low range and bass while also maintaining consistent sound quality. We’d definitely recommend them for indoor entertainment.
When discussing the best bookshelf speakers under $100 based on aesthetic value, Edifier R1280T easily win thanks to their rustic wooden framework. Moreover, their multiple built-in features provide you with great sound quality & user-friendly interface.
With the AUX input, you can simultaneously connect two devices to Edifier R1280T as long as they have a 3.5 mm headphone output or dual RCA output.
These features work in unison to produce a natural & smooth sound. So, if you’re looking for the best bookshelf speakers under $100 with studio sound quality then Edifier R1280T are the right choice.
The remote allows you to adjust the volume without having to manually handle the speakers.
After testing each feature carefully, we concluded that Edifier R1280T bookshelf speakers deliver in both style & substance. We’d highly recommend them for home entertainment purposes.
Rockville HD5B have excellent loudness due to their silk dome tweeters & amplifier, an exceptional bass response thanks to their top-quality woofer & multiple built-in features that make them a delight to use.
Rockville HD5B a great extended bass response that you’ll truly appreciate, all thanks to an audiophile-grade woofer cone.
Combined with a powerful amplifier, the tweeters deliver a high-range performance that no rival speaker can match.
Rockville HD5B have a 33-foot range without signal interference, making them one of the best Bluetooth bookshelf speakers you can find.
Rockville HD5B have 2 AUX, 1 Optical & 1 Coaxial input port. So, you can connect multiple devices to the speakers.
Based on innovation, Rockville HD5B are easily the best bookshelf speakers under $100 & we’d strongly recommend them for indoor entertainment.
The audio quality & surround sound effect of Polk Audio T15 makes them one of the best bookshelf speakers under $100. The speakers have a high-end tweeter & dynamic balance driver, which together, deliver a fantastic surround sound experience.
We found that the standard tweeter helps to give Polk Audio T15 a considerable high-range. Although, it doesn’t quite hold up compared to some rival products.
Our review of the driver shows that it has two benefits. Firstly, it gives Polk Audio T15 a strong bass. Secondly, it gives you an immersive surround sound effect.
You can easily attach the speakers to your wall, making for a unique home theatre experience.
The affordable price & good surround sound makes Polk Audio T15 a good choice for home theatres & we’d recommend them for home theatres.
Unlike most bookshelf speakers that target musical entertainment, M-Audio AV32 are designed for gaming. They have a remarkable high-range thanks to their silk cone tweeters, amplifier & OptImage IV tweeter.
The strong woofers give a nice bass to the M-Audio AV32 bookshelf speakers.
This simple, yet effective setup manages the high-range of the speakers, giving you powerful highs with clear audio.
Further adding to their high-range sound, these built-in features give M-Audio AV32 deeper sound & superior imaging in the high-range, which improves your gaming experience.
The RCA input lets you connect M-Audio AV32 bookshelf speakers to gaming systems & mixers.
For musical entertainment, you can connect your laptop/PC/MP3 Player to this input port.
And of course, for private enjoyment, you can easily connect your headphones to this outlet.
M-Audio AV32 are compact, simple & produce exceptional highs, making them the best bookshelf speakers under $100 for gaming.
Edifier P12 are one of the best bookshelf speakers under $100 for their durability, simplicity and rustic design. Their wooden framework gives them a stylish look & their high-end features make them easy to use.
As we’ve already covered earlier in our article, silk dome tweeters give good highs with smooth & steady treble.
If you like a balanced natural sound with enhanced bass then this feature will be an instant favourite of yours.
Edifier P12 are designed as such that you can either place them on a shelf or hang them on your wall according to your liking.
We found that Edifier P12 focus more on quality than quantity. They don’t have numerous features but the ones they have, deliver brilliantly in every aspect. We’d therefore highly recommend them for indoor entertainment.
Dayton Audio B652-AIR bookshelf speaker benefits a lot from being as simple as possible. While it isn’t stylish, the speaker focuses on delivering exceptional sound quality. The tweeters & woofer of the speaker provide a clear high & rich bass respectively.
We found that the tweeter delivers a crystal-clear top-end sound with minimum distortion.
As for the woofer, you get a deep & strong bass from Dayton Audio B652-AIR bookshelf speaker.
Then there’s the vinyl finish which gives the speakers a clean and modern look
The grill protects the speaker from dust & particles. It’s also removable, so you can easily detach, clean & reattach the grill.
The simple nature of Dayton Audio B652-AIR bookshelf speaker makes it a strong favourite for one of the best bookshelf speakers under $100 & we’d recommend you give them a try.
Aside from having a luxurious design, Theater Solutions bookshelf speaker set qualifies as one of the best bookshelf speakers under $100 for its superior sound quality. The set consists of a 2-way B1 & a 3-way C1 speaker, which combine together to enhance the overall sound.
Both speakers come with a high-end woofer that delivers a smooth & deep extended bass.
The pair also have titanium coated tweeters. By themselves, both tweeters are excellent. But when combined together, they give you truly exceptional highs that are hard to match.
Each speaker also supports crossovers with varying ranges. Each crossover ensures that you get a perfectly balanced audio & mid-range vocal clarity from its respective speaker.
The excellent sound quality, luxurious modern look & durable nature of Theater Solutions bookshelf speaker set makes them better than their competitors we’d recommend them for indoor entertainment.
The Micca ON3 bookshelf speakers benefit from their small & compact size, natural sound and compatibility with digital & analogue devices. They have multiple built-in features including their amplifier & driver, which deliver a powerful yet smooth & clear sound.
Micca ON3 have front & back input jacks, which allow you to connect analogue devices like a vinyl/record player to the speakers.
Instead of a crossover, Micca ON3 have a single driver for audio production. So, you won’t have to deal with alignment problems or acoustic lobing and you get a natural & steady sound.
As expected, the amplifier enhances the loudness of your digital/analogue device’s audio.
This unique addition collaborates with the driver to give you a fuller & rich sound within the 50Hz-20kHz range.
The versatile nature & compact design of Micca ON3 makes them one of the best bookshelf speakers under $100 and we’d definitely recommend them for computers or record players.
Based on affordability alone, Sound Appeal easily count as the best bookshelf speakers under $100. However, that’s not all they have to offer. Supporting black wood grain cabinets & audiophile grade speakers, Sound Appeal deliver in both appearance & performance.
The cabinets give a modern texture to the speakers while also increasing their durability. So, you get tough & stylish speakers at a fair price
We also concluded that the tweeters help the Sound Appeal speakers in delivering a good high-range audio.
The large woofer ensures that you get a nice & full bass from the speakers.
The multiple high-end features of Sound Appeal bookshelf speakers definitely make them worth considering. So, we’d highly recommend you check out these bookshelf speakers.
There are lots of things to consider when looking for the best bookshelf speakers under $100. For one thing, such a low price generally means a dip in quality, and while this isn’t the case with every product, finding the best from the bunch can be difficult & time consuming.
To help you make an informed decision, we’ve reviewed some of the most important things to consider before buying your favourite product.
The quality of a bookshelf speaker depends heavily on your taste in music. Some products work better for one type of genre than the other. So, it all depends on the type of music you intend to use them for.
One great way of finding the best bookshelf speakers under $100 is to play your favourite song on them to test them out. This gives you a great idea of the product & helps you choose the right speakers.
Bookshelf speakers are normally designed for musical entertainment. However, some speakers can also be intended for other entertainment purposes like gaming. So, it all depends on why you want them in the first place.
Therefore, always make sure that the bookshelf speaker you choose compliments your target source of entertainment.
While this may not be true all the time, it’s still a pretty common fact that a product designed by a popular company would be more reliable than one manufactured by a lesser known competitor.
So, if you’re looking for the best bookshelf speakers under $100, a safe move would be to choose a product with some brand recognition, as it’ll be more reliable than other products.
Bookshelf speakers vary in size, from as small as a common PC speaker to as large as a stage performance speaker. The difference in size coincides with the type of venue you’re using them for.
Consider you want to buy bookshelf speakers for your bedroom, then something small, lightweight and compact would be preferable. However, for home theatres, you’ll need something bigger with supporting grills.
Therefore, when buying the best bookshelf speakers under $100, make sure that the product’s size is suitable for its intended location.
When buying the best bookshelf speakers under $100, you’ll also have to buy some additional components for the speakers. When doing so, always select the components that meet your speaker’s requirements.
For example, if your bookshelf speaker works best at 100W, you’ll have to buy a power source that meets this requirement for best results.
No,the Micca MB42X bookshelf speakers need to be powered off via the power button located at their back.
Yes, the Edifier R1280T powered bookshelf speakers have removable front plates & they look good with or without them.
No, Rockville HD5B 150w bookshelf speakers use an AUX cord, not an optical cord
Yes, Polk Audio T15 bookshelf speakers are passive speakers so you’ll need an external receiver.
M-Audio AV32 bookshelf speakers are active speakers & thus don’t require a receiver.
Yes, Edifier P12 passive bookshelf speakers have true stereo sound, but its quality depends on how far you position both speakers from each other.
No, Edifier P12 passive bookshelf speakers have clear & well-balanced highs without any strain/fatigue.
You can leave them ON, as the Class-D amplifier of Micca ON3 3-Inch powered bookshelf speakers consumes very little power when left ON.
Each speaker Dayton Audio B652-AIR bookshelf speaker weighs around 5 pounds.
No, Sound Appeal bookshelf speakers are too small to produce room-filling surround sound.
In the end, let’s briefly discuss the most popular bookshelf speakers under $100.
First up, we have the Micca MB42X bookshelf speakers, which received tremendous praise for their rich bass, dynamic nature & superior sound quality.
The second most popular are the Edifier R1280T powered bookshelf speakers for their stylish look, excellent sound & user-friendly interface.
Finally, we have the Polk Audio T15 bookshelf speaker, which benefits from its deep bass, top quality surround sound & affordable price.
And that’s the end of our article. Do let us know which bookshelf speaker under $100 you liked the most as we’d highly appreciate your opinion