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A spousal revelation ... and a tall order. Help

I'm one of the lucky ones ... my wife loves music, live and recorded, and thus tolerates, even encourages, my constant gear and speaker changes. I asked her to marry me on the day she said--and I quote-- "I don't care what it looks like, as long as it sounds good." Ever since, I have, truly, been trying to find speakers that I think she will love.

It finally dawned on me the other evening what she most values in an audio system, and it's not what I thought.

It turns out she loves the ability to locate musicians and instruments in the recreated (created?) recording space, and she gets giddy when those images are fleshed out and palpable.

So, my question is obvious: in the context of our room and other equipment (see below), what speakers in the < $3,000 range might I try that provide the above qualities?

Our amplifiers are now all tubed, ranging from HK Citation II, to Quad II's, to SE (813's, 300b's, 2a3's). Front end is mostly analog--various TT and arm/cart combos (eg., Thorens, Garrard, Technics SP, JMW-10 arm/Benz L2 cart, etc.) Listening area is 16'x 28', with two good corners at one of the narrow ends.

Oh yeah -- she also likes good, clean, deep bass.

I've got no prejudices or pre-conceived notions about what to get, so I'm open to any and all thoughts or suggestions. My only limitation, aside from the $3,000 budget, is her dislike of shopping and in particular shopping at high-end audio salons, so getting her out to listen is tough.

Thanks so much for reading this, and for any suggestions you care to offer.

Happy Holidays!
gtrmkr
tigerwoodkhorns
130 posts
 
If the geometry works, Klipschorns shoudl fit the bill. You will want to have the crossovers rebuilt and maybe add Tractrix midrange horns and a different tweeter (the Crites tweeter and lower 4500 hz crossover is supposed to be great).

Horns will image and if set up right you will get your bass from only a few watts.

Check out the Klipsch Forum.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,198 posts
 
I've been led to believe that horn designs are not champs at 3-d or holographic imaging, if that is what we're talking about.

This is based on what I have gathered from others on A'gon.

I have not logged many hours listening to horn designs recently though so frankly I do not know if this is true or not.

Just passing it along to make of what one will.
gtrmkr OP
2 posts
 
Wow -- can't thank everyone enough for your responses. Some really great suggestions offered that I hadn't thought of.

We've tried a little bit of most of the various "types" (hybrid horns ala Klipsch Forte, Frazier; BLH and MLTL iterations of single-driver Fostex-based systems; OB's of various stripes; and multi-driver boxes, big ones and little ones, eg., Spendor, Audio Note, Proac, etc. There are so many versions and implemetations that it's bewildering and, as we all know, impossible to try them all.

The search is certainly part of the fun, but I sure would like to find something that made her giddy consistently (I like it when she's giddy ;-) You all have given me some excellent new avenues to travel down, and I'm giving serious thought to which one I turn down next.

I'll post an update on any new additions to our system, and my wife's "giddiness" scale.

Thanks again to all who've taken the time to respond--I really do appreciate it.

Happy holidays!
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,198 posts
 
Classic Audio Reproductions is another I would consider with the proper tube system to match that I just recalled. I know Atmasphere who I think really knows his stuff likes these! Can't say for certain how they'd match to your amps though.

Cheers!
t_bone
1,182 posts
 
I have recently purchased a pair of Altec Model 19s (made in 1978). I am surprised by the sophistication of the crossover. The speakers sound great too. They are a bit thin in the high frequencies, but I am trying to figure out a way to correct for that. One possible way is to add supertweeters. Another might be to change the HF driver (one suggestion has been to switch the existing HF drivers for BMS 4552s + an L-pad (the BMS drivers are a bit more efficient).

Another possibility would be to add a Behringer DEQ2496 to the mix. If you were able to do both the HF driver change AND the Behringer, you'd spend less than $3k (plus a bit of time spent (the BMS drivers+L-pad should be quite easy, the Behringer probably has a learning curve)). I don't know the US market price for Altec 19s but I expect them to be in the $1k-$2k range.
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