[jszei]

I am looking to purchase a pair of musical speakers and would appreciate any advice on brand/model. I know there are a lot of speakers to choose from and am hoping to narrow my search. I am looking for "musical" speakers as I will mostly be listening to CDs in a 2 channel setup, although they will be part of a 5.1 system which I will listen to SACD, DVDA and watch movies over. Speaker size doesn't matter.


My price range is $4-6,000 for the pair. I would obviously like to keep the price lower but if I listen to a speaker that blows me away I can come up with the extra money.


The listening room is a large rectangle carpeted basement. I plan on updating the receiver with an amp, pre-amp setup at some point soon, possibly in tandem. I'm currently using a Denon AVR. I know I will need a center channel to match as well but that isn't my primary concern. As long as the company makes a center or I can get one to match the timbre that should be good enough for me.


Thanks

 

[Tim916]

First of all, forget about the term "musical speakers" - it's nonsense perpetuated by the hifi establishment.


Ideally, I would look for a pair of floorstanding speakers teamed up with 1 or 2 subwoofers. This will give you a system that can allow you to place the main speakers in the best places for imaging and mid/treble balance and allow you to place the subwoofer(s) at the locations that provide the smoothest bass at the listening seat(s). Having a means of measuring and equalizing the frequency response of the subwoofers is crucial to getting the best bass performance and a seamless blend with the main speakers.


Working within the same budget, and if you don't listen all that loudly, then a two-way bookshelf speaker teamed up with a subwoofer might net you better overall performance above the subwoofer region but the system will not be able to play as cleanly at louder volumes.


There are a lot of good speakers out there with solid engineering behind them. I would check out PSB, Paradigm and Revel for a start. Head over to the subwoofer forum for recommendations on subs.

 

[jszei]

Note taken on the "musical" point.


Any money to spend on other equipment would be separate from the $4-6k range. That is dedicated for the pair.


I have an Epik 18" sub in my HT setup on my main floor I am considering moving down to the basement listening area. Currently in the basement I have a Polk sub, Polk surrounds and a pair of KEF's with center channel. The KEFs are what I will be replacing. They are very old and one of the speakers developed a tear.


So far I have auditioned Revel and B&W. I liked the B&W Diamond 800's (I don't remember the exact model) a lot but the $15k retail price tag was steep.

 

[rnatalli]

There are tons of great brands so lots of auditioning is best. That said, I'll throw Monitor Audio into the mix as you may like their sound.

 

[Tim916]

What Revel's did you listen to? For your budget you could find a pair of Studio1s used. I'd probably take those over the B&Ws myself.


Also, PSB Synchrony 1 would be in your price range.

 

[jszei]

I'm not sure which model the Revel's were. They were a current model retailing for about $3k.


So, I plan on re-auditioning the Revels and I've found a place that sells Monitor Audio and PSB so I will listen to those as well.


B&W

Revel

Monitor Audio

PSB


Any other brands/models I should listen to?


Thanks again

 

[RonaldoCombs]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jszei /forum/post/18237430


I'm not sure which model the Revel's were. They were a current model retailing for about $3k.


So, I plan on re-auditioning the Revels and I've found a place that sells Monitor Audio and PSB so I will listen to those as well.


B&W

Revel

Monitor Audio

PSB


Any other brands/models I should listen to?


Thanks again

Avalon

Paradigm

Dali

KEF

Martin Logan

Aerial Acoustics

Spendor (I prefer Harbeth but they don't make a center)


I like all these in your price range (also the ones mentioned above).


Ron

 

[jszei]

Anyone listen to Thiel, specifically 2.4s or 3.7s?

 

[DukeL]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim916 /forum/post/18228333


First of all, forget about the term "musical speakers" - it's nonsense perpetuated by the hifi establishment.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Would you mind explaining?


Thanks.

 

[Tim916]



Quote:
Originally Posted by DukeL /forum/post/18251511


I'm not sure what you mean by this. Would you mind explaining?


Thanks.

The term doesn't describe any particular performance characteristic.

 

[DukeL]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim916 /forum/post/18251633


The term doesn't describe any particular performance characteristic.

Thanks for clarifying, and I agree with you - the term is basically marketspeak.

 

[coolsax]

with that kind of budget you could also consider brands like Totem, Dynaudio, Gallo, and Sonus Faber as well

 

[upsidesunny]

do tannoys work?

 

[chashint]

I really liked the B&W 800 series speakers.

I think you can get a pair of the 804 towers with your budget.

Fun to go listen even if you pick something different.

 

[BBGeek574]

The new MartinLogan Motions sound very nice

 

[Nuance]

Vandersteen

Salk HT2-TL or HT3

Dynaudio

Revel (already mentioned)

Paradigm Signature

PSB

Totem

Kef

Usher

Dali

Acoustic Zen

Linkwitz Orion


Basically just listen to everything you possibly can in your price range.

 

[aliasfox]

Unfortunately, the new B&W 804Di comes in at $7500 and is hard to find for auditioning. That said, I have the previous generation 804s and they're great!


If you want a really "smooth" or "laid back" sound (ok, if we're ignoring market speak, something with treble that's more dispersed, slightly recessed, with bass that's not too prominent), Linn probably has something in your price range as well.


I found the Totem Forest (is that their $4k speaker?) to be bright with what seemed to be less natural decay compared to my B&Ws, but they had some great imaging.