We test seven pairs of standmounters from the £1k-£2k sweet spot of price and performance

If you have £1000-£2000 to spend on a pair of standmounters you can expect true hi-fi performance without eye-watering expense

The What Hi-fi? annual Awards divide every type of product into various subsections – normally in price brackets. Loudspeakers is always our biggest category – in 2019, we had 12 price breaks, starting at Best Standmount speaker at under £200.

The winner of that Award, Dali’s wonderful Spektor 2, is a superb example of the breed but, inevitably, as one moves up the bands, the quality of performance in each category improves along with the money you need to spend.

So here we have what many consider the sweet spot for standmount speakers. If you spend between £1000 and around £2000 on your loudspeakers, you have the right to expect true hi-fi performance, and a beautiful piece of furniture to go along with it. And at that price, it’s possible to meet those expectations full on, with manufacturers providing some stunning examples of the breed.

On the following seven pages you will find just that – some superb examples of hi-fi loudspeakers from some of the truly great names in speaker manufacturing: ATC, Bowers & Wilkins, JBL, KEF, Neat, Revel and Wharfedale. Any of these products will provide the perfect performance – but only in the right system. So you still have some work to do, by comparing them yourself and auditioning them with the rest of your system if at all possible. But get that bit right, and you’ll have the final piece of your sonic puzzle – and you’ll be enjoying beautiful music for years to come.