What is the absolute best pair of speakers that can be had for 3K? - Page 2

With a $3k budget realistically you should be able to spend somewhere near $3500-$3600 and negotiate back down to $3k even. No need to be paying full msrp on speakers despite what salesmen or distributors tell you. Many distributors like to fix price floors on their products further down in the distribution channel for no other reon that artificially inflating the end selling price. This flies directly in the face of basic open capitalist markets and supply and demand which have proven themselves to work well for centuries. Just MO.

At that price you csn get any number of great speakers. It comes down to whether you want to demo them or not in advance. The B&M advantage is that you get to listen to stiff in advance. The direct seller advantage is that the middleman has been cut out, but you do not get to hear them before buying. How important that difference is, is really up to you and no one else. Good luck

You won't be able to negotiate prices with Internet Direct companies like Philharmonic, Salk, Ascend, NHT, Aperion, etc.

But yeah, with B&M companies like Revel, KEF, & B&W, I'd want at least 20% off MSRP.

KEF seems to have the biggest window. For example, the dealer cost on the entire KEF Reference line is 50% off Msrp. Some dealers even get an additional 10% off on brand new speakers.

So even if the dealer gives a 30-40% discount on the Reference line, he's making profit.

Dealer cost on the KEF Q900 is like $1,000/pr.
Edited by AcuDefTechGuy - 8/8/12 at 11:41am

Agree. My post should have been clearer. The negotiation lower of selling price I mentioned was meant for buying from a brick & mortar reseller, not internet direct. And more specifically those B&M resellers who have their distributors attempt to price floor fix the ultimate resales price thus artificially inflating that sales price even though the distributor is not even involved in the direct sale transaction to the consumer at that point in the distribution chain. It goes contrary to all basic laws of open market economics, supply and demand, blah blah, blah. A system which when not manipulated has proven itself by far to be best through many hundreds of years of history. My bad for not being clearer.
Edited by Breako - 8/8/12 at 11:56am

A suggestion of speakers to listen to in that price range that no one here supprisingly offered is the Paradigm Studio 100. A pair is around 3k give or take. I listened to them about a week ago. They are Really nice. In fact a few reviews of the speakers I read said that better sound could not be matched for the price point and it would take 9 to 10k to get better sound than what the Paradigms do.

I loved em personally.

If I were going mostly music and the occasional movie I'd take a look at Martin Logan EM-ESL's.

I own Paradigm Studio 100 v.5s, but if I didn't have budget limitations I'd seriously look at Legacy speakers.

Agree, those Paradigms shold at least be demoed in that price range. Excellent bang forbthe buck IMO.

I'd seriously consider used speakers if I were you. Audiogon has quite a few speakers in your price range. I don't know what your room constraints are, but you can get a pair of Magnepan 3.6s, Dunlavy SC IVs and Genesis APM-1s in that price range.

Cheers,
OldMovieNut

I had a pair of Meadowlark Shearwater Hot Rods a while ago....loved the sound. Looking to get back into two channel. What new speakers should be on my short list for $3K?

Nothing mentioned in this thread of speakers available for $3,000.

Isn't the $3k mark a budget from which to base recommendations on as opposed to recommendations based on a $2k or $4k budget?

Maybe a $2k recommendation with a three channel Amp for a speaker upgrade?

I'd be willing to buy used. You seem to have an idea of the type of sound I'm looking for. What price point do I need to be at?