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$10,000 Speaker Recommendations?

Greetings all. I am looking for new loudspeakers as part of a total system upgrade. My budget is $10,000 give or take. Musical tastes are pretty eclectice from hard rock to orchestral, but my most critical and enjoyable listening is to jazz and acoustic music - particularly female vocals and stringed instruments (think Suzanne Vega, Nora Jones, Dianna Krall, Allison Kraus, etc).

I have a Mark Levinson 383 integrated amplifier served by a Rotel 1072 CD player (the CD player will be replaced after the speaker selection). Current loudspeakers are Sonus Faber Concertinos supported by an REL Strata subwoofer. I still love the sweet musical sound of my SF's but now (after 8 years with them) have the good fortune of being able to make a major upgrade.

One wrinkle to all of this is that I currently live in Shanghai, China which means my selection and ability to fully audition is rather limited. I have access to Sonus Faber, Martin Logan, and B&W (and several European brands I am less familiar with) and have been considering the Cremona, Guarneri Homage, Summit, Ascent i, and 802's accordingly.

My listen room is rather large approximately 8 meters x 6 meters (25 ft x 20 ft) So I am probably moving away from monitors on stands to a floor standing full-range speaker(though I have heard that the Guarneris support a much bigger room than their size would suggest)

Any thoughts or wisdom from this group?

Thanks so much! Brad
bradleypeacockba28
kops's avatar
kops
478 posts
 
Cremona !!!
ajahu
306 posts
 
Among those you listed, I think, the best is the ML Summit. It is a wonderfully tansparent, quick speaker with a nice soundstage. The best ML I have ever heard. Also, one of the best, I think, in its price range. I would also hear it with some tubes somewhere in your system. Maybe in the new cd-player to get what tubes are good for, harmnically rich and layered music. I dont think that Cremona or BW would be in competition with the Summit. Cremona is very musical, but somehow I found it a bit too slow. But I dont have any idea how it would sound with an ML 383. BW would be too bright and cold too my ears, although I only heard the N803 with ML 383. I also suggest to look for a Wilson Benesch Curve. Its maybe cheaper a bit than the ML, and has its own merits. Nice coherent and holographic sound. But maybe Summit is a nicer spaker. It really depends on what kind of soundprint you after. Any of these speaker would be a major upgrade compared to your current one. And of course, you really should upgrade your source.
johnnynuclear
1 posts
 
checkout thiel cs2.3 or cs2.4 and save yourself a bunch of money. a friend of mine bought a 12,000 pair of reference loudspeakers and I like my $4000 thiels better!
semi
649 posts
 
Foxtrot, Usher is Taiwan based, not China.

As an Amati & Cremona owner, I can concur both are excellent choices if you want to stay in the Sonus Faber line. Cremona top end is not as refined as Amati, but that's in relative term and very very refined when compared to speakers of similar price range. Bottom end is not quite as detail as Amati either, but again difference is subtle and only obvious when heard side by side.

Usher is an excellent choice if you have access to their line up, Usher is the OEM manufacture for many high end drivers including Scanspeak. Their new Compass with Be tweeter should rival anything out there, their woodwork is to die for as well.
drseid
201 posts
 
I think the Cremona would meet your requirements nicely. I have always liked the SF sound and the Cremonas are no exception... especially with the kind of music you prefer.

For full disclosure, I am not a B&W Nautilus or ML fan at all, so I personally would have ruled those out for myself almost immediately (leaving only SF)... but SF is a great brand IMO, and I think many people would have the Cremonas on their short list as well at your target price point.

Good luck,

---Dave
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