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$20K to spend on speakers…. . wait! There’s a catch!

Greetings,

Perfect sense says buy stuff only after you have heard it. Only after an in home audition.

Sometimes we are forced to wing it.

Admit it, best guess trigger pulling happens a bunch because not everything is everywhere.

For some unknown reasons we seem to feel we know what we want or need in spite of never having auditioned it.

Here are a couple scenarios based on a “this thing should work’, “shot in the semi dark” buying practices.

Premise: You have $20K and it MUST be spent entirely on loudspeakers.

Here are the options:
1. The used speakers option.
You have NOT heard them ever. At all. Nada.
The deal here is you’r egetting them for about 50% off retail in quite good esthetic (8/10) condition, excellent working orde according to the seller, and about three - four years old and landed or shipped.

The seller has good feedback. No negatives.

All of the speakers numbers are amenable to your existing power plants. They should do well in your room.

2. brandy new speaker option.

The brand new units you’re paying $20K for include a 25% discount from MSRP and sold by a brick & mortar dealership.

You did hear the brand new ones, but only with modest SS gear and nothing on the level of your own equipment which is tubes, or vice versa for sake of this argument.

These come with warranty. ..and in your color preference.

Lastly, neither of these two sets of speakers are what could be called very popular, loudspeakers. Meaning they aren’t littering the pages of the speaker for sale pages with any regularity.


The carrier arrives. The boxes are fully in tact. No issues at all. Still, there’s a nagging thought. Did I do the right thing?

Shouldn’t I have bought used speakers and obtained still more value given just a bit older speakers sell for much less than MSRP.

Or, I bet I should have bought the new speakers and put up with another long run in.

Man! I hope I did not messs this up!!


What is your choice and why?

Thanks for the ideas and insights..

blindjim

Showing 13 responses by inna

inna
7,923 posts
 
Perhaps, you could consider amp first approach. Speakers first approach is not working. If the amp is right speakers will come. 
It is seemingly more difficult to accomplish but maybe not for you. Just an idea..

inna
7,923 posts
 
This is easy - never spend $20k on any equipment unless you are absolutely sure that that is what you want. Unless you print the money or have others do it for you. There are a number of people like that, by the way, they collect money without earning it.
$20k buy great used speakers, it doesn't buy great new speakers, as far as I know, so I would proceed with used after auditioning them. If that is impossible I would do my best to make impossible possible. If it fails - to hell with those speakers, there are others, not a big problem. They are just boxes with parts in them, nothing vital.
inna
7,923 posts
 
 Then follow your audiophile instinct and make a choice.
I think, you are leading yourself into a permanent trap. You cannot have those speakers, they are there and you are here - no connection.
inna
7,923 posts
 
I have found speakers for you. Get them and send me a bottle of single malt later.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-reference-speakers-2017-11-09-speakers
inna
7,923 posts
 
He doesn’t want panels and he won’t like Sonus.
Here is a pair of speakers for audiophiles on a budget with interest in tube amplification. Add Allnic or VAC electronics with right cables and be happy.
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-world-class-beautiful-condition-2017-11-02-speakers
inna
7,923 posts
 
Whatever you might eventually get you will think that you might've not discovered something better. You cannot have anything really good, it is not possible.
One of the reasons I suggested Gryphon Diablo 300 to you - there is nothing better in solid state integrated amplification. And if you want hybrid integrated amplification - there is nothing better than Ypsilon Phaethon. If you do separates you will be somewhere in the middle. Full warranty covering expensive equipment is a big plus and should not be dismissed.
Soon enough you will spend more on electrical bills talking to us than on the equipment that you can have. I will not say a word from now on.
inna
7,923 posts
 
cycles2, crates could probably be bought from JM Focal or custom made. At least, that's what I would do if I couldn't pick them up myself or send a limo to do it for me. I however don't know how they would match with Gryphon or even Ypsilon. Most Utopia owners seem to use tube amplification, often either VAC or Allnic. In another thread an experienced member said that bigger Jadis, not integrated, should be a great match.
inna
7,923 posts
 
Yes, forgot to mention, Lansche plasma tweeter should be replaced every 5000-7000 hours, I think.
I have never seen used any Lansche model for less than $20k, though their entry-level $30k + model should be less than that if available.
inna
7,923 posts
 
This is a good question about the speakers' height to which I don't really have an answer. Perhaps you could start a thread regarding it.
I might be wrong but I think I wouldn't worry if there were at least 3 feet between the ceiling and the speakers. But again it's a guess, maybe 2 feet is not a problem either and maybe it also depends on other things. If you are considering Lansches, why not ask them as well ?
inna
7,923 posts
 
I would never trust anyone to choose speakers for me or even do the initial selection. 
It is often difficult to interpret the reviews because before doing it one must 'interpret' the reviewer. Usually I think I can do it with Michael Fremer. The review of the Venture speakers posted here tells me that they are quite indifferent even cold speakers, something that I personally would never choose. If the reviewer is right and honest, he probably is.
Now, Lansche and Focal Utopia are very different. Gut stringed guitar or metal stringed guitar ? It depends, both good.
inna
7,923 posts
 
Another idea is to send a message to Dimitris of Ypsilon and ask him about speakers that he prefers. Not only his electronics is among the very best he also records live music. Flemming of Gryphon makes his own speakers but I would probably ask him too. He likes big scale music.
Lansches will unlikely be the best speakers for orchestral music and hard rock, though. They are elegant speakers not that Rockport/Absolare blow -it-in-your-face pseudo-masculine sound.

inna
7,923 posts
 
High end gear should be revealing. This includes speakers, if they are not they are not high end speakers but a campwood making noises. That's exactly what most of us listen to. You want the see-thru quality not a fog. This doesn't mean unbalanced and bright, no. 
And it costs a lot, so it should.
inna
7,923 posts
 
I don’t know much about digital so can’t express any specific opinion. However, I think that just as in analog to make digital sound better one must do it first of all at the source, that’s transport, dac, digital cable and power cords. It is wrong to ’correct’ the sound with amps and speakers. Tuning the sound is another thing. There are warmer sounding guitars and cooler sounding guitars, and they both might have the same resolution. So might different speakers. But cd will never sound as natural as tape or vinyl, one can only try to approximate it. Some people do report that the higher resolution their systems become the more difficult it is for them to listen to poor quality digital. This has not been my experience, but then again I don’t expect much from my old CEC belt drive player. I expect much more from my turntable.
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