$2,000-3,000 Tower speaker comparison: Need help picking the contenders for a shootout - Page 2

Thanks for such a great post. I honestly wrestled with this dilemma before starting this thread, and maybe still am, to some degree. For example, before I bought the HK3490, I was looking at AVRs that had pre-outs, so I could use the full room correction + bass management and possibly add an external amp. I ended up getting the HK3490 for only $300, which was too good to pass up. In the past, I have preferred music from towers over bookshelf/subs, but I have not heard a good bookshelf/sub system for awhile with a properly integrated sub. For example, just looking at SVS, would I prefer the Ultra Towers ($2,000) or the Ultra bookshelves ($1,000) plus the SB-12 sub ($650)? I know for movies which I would pick(the one with the sub), but for music my gut tells me the towers. In the end, I decided to keep it simple. Part of this is to enjoy the process of auditioning stuff, and I had to start narrowing the field at some point. If I try to get towers plus bookshelf/sub systems in to audition, it would be too overwhelming. Also, I have very little invested in the electronics. Just the HK and a Sony BDP-s590. I tend to keep speakers for a long time. So, I feel pretty confident that if I end up with towers I love, I will enjoy them for many years. If I decided I want more, down the road, I have a great set of speakers to start and I can easily add a sub and upgrade either the two channel amp if I really get into music, or add an AVR plus center/surround speakers if I need to.

As far as the HK not being enough for the speakers, I am a bit worried about that. I have contacted some of the manufacturers and they tell me it is ok. But, I could see myself adding an Emotiva XPA-2 or XPA-200, for example, to my setup if I feel the new speakers are underpowered. Since Emotiva also offers a 30 day no-risk trial, I could see if a more powerful amp makes a difference.

Again, thanks for the advice. Much appreciated.

For whatever reason, the Fried towers did not totally wow me at RMAF. To be fair, most of the time in that room was spent meeting Nuance and Snowmanick and talking to Mark Seaton. So, maybe I never gave them as thorough attention as I should have.


I am hoping to head to a local shop called Hear No Evil later this week, maybe Thurs. They are a Kef dealer. I am not sure which models are on display, but I am pretty sure one of the R series towers will be. Maybe I will just buy a pair of Blades and be done with it....I mean...my kids don't really need to go to college, do they?

Dennis Murphy and I had a great conversation today and it looks like one of the contenders will be the old-cabinet Philharmonic 2s in black satin finish! Can't wait, but I have to. No time to audition until after the new year, but Dennis was kind enough to hold off shipping til then. That gives me time for some more visits to local shops and time to get the room ready.

Check out my earlier post, #30. I posted my Triton impressions there.

Well, confirmed might be to strong a word. I mean, bass is pretty room and position dependent. If you can, definitely listen for yourself. Also, I am aiming for pure music. For a mixed music/home theater room, they would do pretty great as stand alone towers without a sub. Also, I only listened to one track, so it was more an instant gut reaction, not a real critical evaluation.

Did more auditioning today...thought I would share

Went to 2 stores and actually had more time, spent maybe 2 hrs at the 1st place and 1 at the second. Thursdays are slow, so basically had the whole place to myself. I listened to Beetohoven's 9th, Dire Straits (Walk of Life and Money for Nothing) and U2 (With or Without you and Running to stand still).

First I listened to 2 Martin Logan speakers driven by a McIntosh Integrated amp, the Motion 40($2,000/pr) and Electromotion ESL ($2,200/pr). Definitely preferred the ESL. I have not heard many electrostatics, but it was impressive in its soundstage and clarity. Bass was also not bad. I definitely noticed the small sweet spot. I was standing when we first started the demo and when I sat down the sound noticeably improved. Motion 40 was meh, so did not spend much time on that, So, overall, I liked the ESL, but then we moved on.
Next was Kef vs. Paradigm. Unfortunately, was not a totally fair fight, b/c they had the Kef R700 vs. the Paradigm Studio 60. A better fight is the Studio 60 vs. the R500 or the Studio 100 vs. the R700. Anyway, I at first liked the Paradigm. It got loud, had a nice, open sound to the highs, and powerful bass for a not so huge speaker. But, after switching to the R700, I realized that, while all the sounds were there on the Paradigm, they were much richer and fuller on the Kef. The Studio 60 was like a hot chick that grabs your attention and you are attracted to, but after dating awhile, well, not much substance there, if you know what i mean.

The R700 really sounded good. Great midrange sound and powerful, full range bass. The highs were a bit smoother/recessed vs. the ESL or other ribbons I have heard, but overall, really a great speaker. They are $3600/pr while the R500s are $2,600/pr. He offered me the floor model R700 for $2,900, but it has a pretty noticeable area of cosmetic damage, so I declined. Plus, I want to keep looking.

I also listened to the Kef Blades powered by the top of the line McIntosh monoblock amps. We A/B compared the Blades to the R700s. (It is kinda cool that the Uni-Q driver in the R700 looks exactly like the Blades driver, although I am sure it is not exactly the same. But, you can definitely see the trickle-down effect right there in front of your eyes.) The blades were way better, but the R700s held their own, and the Blades were not 10x better, but they cost 10x as much.

Then, store number 2 had the Dynaudio DM 3/7 vs. both the Focal 816v and the 826v. They offered me the 826v for $2,375 and the smaller Focal and Dynaudio for just under 2 grand. Anyway, the Dynaudio was powerful, smooth, nothing bad about it, but it did not wow me. I guess I had the same reaction to it as I did to the PSBs I heard last week. But I really liked the Focal 826v. I thought it had great, airy, open highs and also smooth mids and good bass, not quite as powerful or deep as the R700, but enough.

So, now after going to 4 stores, I have liked the Tannoy Precision 6.2, Kef R700 (but I would probably only be able to afford the smaller R500) and the Focal 826v. I am also learning a bit more about what I like. I noticed being drawn to ribbons at RMAF, but I also like bass and rock music/dynamics, which is why the ML ESL maybe was not for me. That is why so far I would probably choose the Focal 826v as it combined the almost ribbon like highs with great mids and bass. I would not pay $3,600 for the R700 over $2,375 for the 826v, but I would love to A/B compare the 826v with the Kef R500s, as they are similarly priced. Once I start getting some of the ID brands into my house after the New Year, I am probably going to try to get the 826v set home to add into the mix.

No recent auditions due to the holiday, but I did place my order for the Ascend Sierra towers with Raal tweeter in satin Espresso. Much like Philharmonic Audio, they are totally cool with holding shipment until mid January.

So, now I have two ordered, the Ascend and the Phil 2s.

I will probably order the Von Schweikert speakers in a week or two and just have them delivered in December, since they have a 90 day trial period.

Still no official date on the new SVS Ultra line. I emailed them and it looks like a December release is most likely. If that keeps petting pushed back, I can either just limit my shootout to three speakers or maybe gets a pair of Kefs from a local store or maybe reconsider the Gallo speakers, since they have a 60 day trial period with free shipping.

I had never heard of Rega before, so no idea about those.

The Goldenear speakers, to me, pose a dilemma. See, they have built in subs, which are good, but definitely not as good as separate subs for home theater. Plus, the center channel is weak. For me, they are a poor choice for HT, since you would need an extra sub anyway and the center is weak.

I liked the ESLs I heard, but I have no idea if the C2 is a good center or if the folded motion tweeter will match well with the planar towers. It looks like a better match for the Motion series towers.

I have not heard the Totem or Sonus Faber.

I have a feeling you may be right about the SVS set.. But, it would be cool to be one of the first to demo a pair of the new Ultra towers to see how they stack up to known, excellent speakers. As far as B&W, I think I just have too many options right now.


Since I don't feel like I have a well trained ear, can you specify when you say you did not like the upper mids? What instruments are in that range? Any particular examples from demo material where you noticed this? Thanks


Cool review. I think I am sticking with towers for now. But, I have seen those recommended many times around here. Maybe one day I will be able to give them a listen.


NHT was also mentioned to me over at AH. Right now my on-wall speakers are NHT (L5 models) Don't love them for music. Probably does not mean a thing, as the 4 towers are a totally different beast. Thanks for the suggestion.


I am planning to call GIK acoustics to discuss treatments and I also plan to talk to the speaker manufacturers about placement, distance from the back wall, toe in etc. once the speakers arrive. My hope is to give each speaker the best positioning possible to make sure I pick the best one for me.