Best pair of fronts for $2000?

Look at Focal
http://www.musicdirect.com/p-41253-f...eakers-pr.aspx
http://www.musicdirect.com/p-4927-fo...r-speaker.aspx

And KEF
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/it..._c=site_search
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/it..._c=site_search

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/443639

Add 2-3 Outlaw Audio Mini Mono and you'd have the start of an awesome HT setup. I think the seller has a center channel for sale as well.

For $2000 MSRP, I can recommend:

Paradigm Studio 20 with J-29 stands
Revel F12

Studio 60s is another option for a little bit more. Provides a bit more punch for theater.

I'm going to jump outside the box and suggest you buy used. There are a lot of factors to consider when asking for speaker recommendations, but, not knowing anything about your situation I will go ahead and say what I just told my son.

Look for a used pair of Aerial Acoustics mains; model 6, 7b, or 10t. All can be found for less than $2000, and, can be complemented with either of Aerials excellent center channel speakers.

Are you all HT? Do you listen to music? How big is your room? What physical placement limitations do you have? How much amplification are you willing to purchase?

I like the B&W 800 line up a lot better than the CM line. Of course there is $$$$ difference in price.

The KEF speakers linked above sound good to me. Overall I think KEF is very strong in their price brackets.
Never had an opportunity to do A/B with them and the CM9's though.
I am not a fan of shiny but it is not a deal breaker.
I would probably pick the CM9's out of your list.

I would highly recommend the deftech 8060-st towers.They are a knock out for movies and music......here is a video review I made of my system.....use headphones when listening to the video


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KkNHKOZTbI

I will definitely get this if you will spare me your $2000.00

http://philharmonicaudio.com/philharmonic2.html

The Philharmonic 1, or the 2 - is worth checking out.
http://philharmonicaudio.com/index.html

Will be checking these out soon, so I do not know how they will compare but worth a look.

http://gr-research.com/n3.aspx

Note: these are a kit but you can get fully assembled cabinets from the audiocircle forum and the crossovers can be assembled by skiing ninja.

The nice thing is you get one of a kind speakers made to your specs and every single component looks to be top of the line.

Probably will come in at around $2k with crossover assembled and cabinets finished by other people.

Also, he has a tour of the N2X (Sealed bookshelf speaker) going now that will only cost you shipping to audition them in your room.

The designer is highly regarded.

It certainly makes sense to me; I would not be all that happy with what you now have.

The PSB Image T6 is the best-sounding speaker in that price range that I have ever heard, although the KEF Q900 comes very close. I have listened to the B & W CM9 at a friend's house and I do not care for that sound very much; not a well-balanced sound. It wouldn't be in my top 5 for under $2000.

After listening to over 10 different speakers thoroughly, including some for up to $2400, I bought the Image T6 and am extremely satisfied. I could not find anything that sounded better to me for under $2000.

I am using them with an Audio Research LS-26 preamp and a Bryston 3B-SST amplifier, and the sound is to die for; excellent in every way.

The Absolute Sound Magazine thought them so good that they did a feature article on "Recommended Systems" at various price levels and chose them over all others as the speaker for their Recommended System (2-channel) at the $3600 price point.

If you want to go one step higher in sound quality than the Image T6, the Dynaudio X32 is incredibly good, but it retails for around $2800; or, the Vandersteen 2CE for $2400.

www.audiovisionsf.com

I have the Vandersteen Model 3A ($4500) at my other home, but for this system at my new 2nd home I just didn't have room for the width of the Vandersteens.

KEF Q900s no questions asked.

review : http://www.stereophile.com/content/kef-q900-loudspeaker

quote from the above review

It is an excellent speaker; no doubt. One concern I would have with a Pioneer receiver is the fact that the Q900 impedance drops well below 3 ohms. I'm not sure its amplifiers would like that.

I have a marantz sr5005, not a big power receiver at all and it has been able to handle them just fine while my power amp has been in service since the right chan decided to go out

it has had no problems so far, its not a pioneer, but my understanding is they have fairly robust amp sections too.

yea it was an old 70s carver unit, one of the caps died (i presume from old age)

Just incase you missed my post up a bit...have you heard the 8060-st towers from definitive tech?....if not I would highly recommend a listen......they are bipolar so your soundstage would be big and bold and they have 10 inch subs in them.

I own a pair of Mythos ST, love it for both movie & music! I've listen the CM9 and like them too. But I feel the ST is a bit more "fuller" due to the built in sub. I don't think you could go wrong with either one!

How about the new Ascend Sierra Tower (~$1898.00) or Salk Audio ST (~$1999.00)...I think they'd compete relatively well within the OP budget?

NHT Classic Four?

http://www.amazon.com/NHT-Classic-Fo...7706138&sr=8-1

Since your looking at getting a great sub in the near future why not spend $1000-$1200 on a nice pair of monitors and get the sub now.

The full range speakers will provide limited benefits when running with one of the subs you mentioned.

The Sierra 1 with the tweeter upgrade seems to be the ticket in that price range.

^^
How much are the B&W 805 speakers going for these days??
Big step up from the CM series IMO.

Goldenear Triton 3

I heard them at CES and they sounded excellent for $1000 each. Now, at the show they were being driven by very expensive passlabs gear, but they seemed like a bargain for the sound.

http://www.avguide.com/article/tripl...enear-ces-2012

Dude, also work at BB man. PROUD PROUD owner of the B and W CM series. Everyone here will say "they suck", "overpriced", etc etc but it seems there is always a re-occuring "hate on the big brand" prowess associated with this forum. Whatever, people will be people lol.

Anyways, the 8060s suck for music. They lack so much midrange and definition, they're just outright in your face. Good HT speaker though.

I've owned Energy Veritas, Infinity Primus, Klipsch Reference, Paradigm Studios, among many many others and the B and Ws are BY FAR the greatest I've heard so far. They're very neutral and natural. Bring em home, don't listen to the crappy demo we have setup.

At our price, they are a steal and sound fantastic. Trust me though, audition them before listening to everyone here. You always see the same options posted here (Cambridge audio, KEF, Emotiva, etc), never anything mainstream because people think theyre ****.