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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
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
gregm
3,405 posts
 
For my very personal taste (and given that I listen & judge by classical), I prefer the Guarneri to all the others listed.
Although the Guarneri can fill yr room with music (I listened to them playing Mahler 8 in a big room), they will probably need a subwoof to offer extra energy below 40-50Hz (SF offer subwoofs).
bradleypeacockba28 OP
7 posts
 
Branimir,

Thanks for your helpful response. Do you think that the Guarneris are capable of supporting my large room? Again, 8m x 6m. Another consideration is that I have young children. The Cremonas put drivers well within reach of non-audiophile fingers! So the thought of another monitor - like the Guarneri provides an advantage if they can support my now much larger room. Thoughts?

Thanks!

Brad
luke72
116 posts
 
Buying used you can also consider a pair of EgglestonWorks Andra II. They are fantastic... and you can easily find them in the Singapore market.
branimir
236 posts
 
Brad,
Only in-home auditioning will tell how your room will react to Guarneris. If you have a good dealer try to compare both speakers for yourself in your room. I have to admit that the biggest room that I heard Guarneri Hommage was 7m x 5m and my feelings were that it was too big for them. If you go for Guarneri wait new Guarneri Memento version, it will be a lot better. Cremona will support your room easily, it has more bass and is able to play louder. On the other hand absolute coherence and midrange magic are on the Guarneris side( especially new Guarneri Memento ). My opinion is also based on sound without sub. Sub is for me something like a diversion on Guarneri coherence( even Sonus Faber sub )...
Regarding non-audiophile fingers both speaakers sound good with grill in place( in some cases better without grill, it will depend on other gear in your system ).
Honestly, choice between Cremona and new Guarneri Memento for your room is a tough one... Both speakers are excellent so, call is yours.
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