5-10k budget... so many choices

Lowspark, you need to look at the possible choices and try to figure out what you like about each speaker and what your ear likes.

The Martin Logan and the Golden Ear both use Heil tweeters, you may like the voicing of the Golden Ear which tends to favor more midrange and bass and less treble than the Martin Logans.

The Focals are exciting and visceral speakers and are a bit forward in the treble, you may like the new Paradigm Persona 3F which uses a Beryilium midrange and tweeter so the clarity is really impressive so is the imaging which is spooky, they have greater detail in the midrange then the Focals but are voicing with less sense of punch then the Focals. 

Be careful in how you demo, make sure if possible that the demo is being carried out in the same room on the same gear, or you may skew your results. 

Another amazing speaker at a fantastic price is Legacy Audio the Signature, a large tower with the bass of the Golden Ear with a smooth midrange and a very detailed yet sweet top end. at $7k they are a bargain for the sound quality and price.

The Kef Ref 3 are amazing for theater but are a bit more expensive, at $14k.

Any of these uber speakers will eventurally necessitate and even better receiver and set of amps and cables so be advised that you are not going to be getting 110% out of your new speakers when they are in this class. 

You are in for an exciting journey. Good luck in your search.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Contuzzi, Focals are not laid back in the treble, never said they are bright either I said they tend to sound forward, that means they have a very clean treble and are quite detailed.

Beryilium tweeters tend to go towards the detailed side same on the Personas, they do show you everything in the chain.

Just like soft dome tweeters tend to sound warmer then metals.

As a Legacy dealer we couldn't agree more.  The Focus SE are flat out amazing, we heard a current set with the self amplified bass option being used with the Wavelet Dac/Preamp/Room Correction processor with a set of Raven tube amps athe the last New York audio show.

When driven correctly the Focus sound like a way more expensive set of speakers. In terms of image size, deep bass, richness in the midrange, absolutely wonderful.

Not quite as detailed or quite as holographic as the Personas or the Sopras, but in terms of sheer room filling totally engaging sound very hard to beat. 

If you are on the East Coast we have numerous Legacy models on display.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Khost, what you smoking, every Focal ever made can sound a bit forward, any Beryilium tweeter is going crystal clear out to 40k, this tends to pull the ear towards the top, hence the slightly fatter tuning in the midrange which makes the Sopras sound punchy and lively, these are the charms of the speakers.

Do you not think we have heard Sopras, we have and we have said they are excellent speakers personally we think the Sopra series are the best overall set of speakers Focal has ever made, they are very revealing part of their problem is the wide bafles which create a big but less focused sounstage compared to others. Great speakers.

If we didn’t have the equilly fantastic Paradigm Personas we would get the Focals. The two lines are too similar, we feel that the Persona is a bit better with the pure Beryilium midrange being a better driver with less coloration than a sandwich W cone made out of a different material then the tweeter, vs then the incredible coherence you get when the tweeter and midrange are made out of the same material.

As per Heil drivers being bright, most Heil tweeters sound like electrostatics, which means detail and air but not as much of that in your face clarity of a ribbon. What is a Heil tweeter? They are usually made out of a folder mylar diaphram ever heard a bright electrostat? Most electrostats tend to roll of at 16-18k.

One of our clients had a pair of Martin Logan Montis he added a set of Enigma super tweeters which use a new type of film and stator design and these actually go way up there, if the Montis were delivering shimmery highs the supertweeters would not have made an audible difference. My point is mylar films tend to produce smooth slighly soft top ends.

You gonna now tell me ribbons don’t have a tendency to be very bright.

We took a trade in pair of Monitor Audio Platinum one with the Ribbons they sound like Radihos, very impressive detail a tad hard to live with.

Newest Monitors now have a Heil guess what they sound much more laid back.

Khost, we got over 30 years of retail and show going experience, we have sold and setup more different brand of hifi then you can imagine.

Repeat: Sopras are great, Heil tweeters tend to sound smooth, ribbons tend to sound bright.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Come on Contuzzi, you like the Paradigm Personas so I have to respect you and your opinions somewhat.

You don't understand my classification, lets just simplify almost any uber high tech metal based driver is going to sound detailed, clean, transparent, wether or not a particular listener is going to find all that clarity to be too much is a matter of personal taste and system setup. 

Pure Ceramic drivers also tend to sound in this camp ie the Acuton's used in Kharmas original speakers. 

The only uber high tech tweeters that have mega clarity, speed, and articulation while also sounding smooth, Acuton Pure Diamond drivers.

(we have a set of Polymers which use these drivers)

If you look at all the speakers that tend to fit into this camp, almost every one of these tweeters goes up to 40-50k or above.

Vs. 

Soft domes, Heils, Electrostatics,  very rarely have I ever heard a Heil driver with the same level of uber clarity then the above camp, generally more detailed then a soft dome fabric driver, and more air. 

Electrostatics all tend to be shelved in frequency response above 16k,
and most soft dome tweeters even if they extend to the 20k and above range all tend to be smooth and musical with less "apparent" detail then the above camp.

Have you ever heard a "bright pair of Harbeths or Sonus Fabers or Quads Electrostatics? 

I rest my case.

Lets make an analogy to a coffee drinker, 

You got pure black coffee, all the detail can be a bit aserbic for many people.


You got the little bit of milk or half and half guys, a bit more toned down and slightly altered,  from the above but you can still  taste the coffee.

You got the little bit of milk and a bit of sugar, guys, another step  towards changing the taste and cutting off the aserbic nature of the unadultarated pure black coffee. 

and finally,

Coffee with a lot of cream and a lot of sugar, now you have changed the coffee into something else. 

You see my point, which Coffee drinker are you? 

Persepective is a very unusal thing it is a shame we all don't have one.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ