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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
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
danish
30 posts
 
I have had the chance to audition all the speakers you mentioned except the Cremonas. I also have a pair of MLs and used to have N802s.

If I was in your position, I would go with the Summits, but I am a fan of the ML sound. The Guarnaris are magical too, especially with strings as I recall.

They are all good but all have different sonic signatures. I would try to hear as many as possible and see what you like the best and go for it.
wellfed's avatar
wellfed
690 posts
 
Are you able to visit South Korea? I love my Köchel K-300 horns that are manufactured there. They are definitely keepers in my book.
mattblueg35
28 posts
 
I recently purchased the B&W 802. I had to rehook up the 803 I replaced them with because I could not believe the difference. I cant imagine how I enjoyed music prior to these. They sound fantastic. Im powering them thru a mc 207 biamped that is getting the processing done thru a Rotel 1095 and the Marantz 9500. Me personally I would not go back and replace my old Rotel DVD/CD player dollar for dollar it wasnt worth the difference. Unless you are looking to play different formats. Getting power from your Mark Levy you would be in heaven for sure Im sure that the ML is better than my MC. Good Luck
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