All about the bass


I am new to the world of high end audio and I am looking to buy a new set of speakers. I am really interested in great bass (tight, powerful and fast). I listen mainly to electronic and classical music.

My budget is up to $5K and my room is small/medium size. Any good recommendations? Should I split the money between a set of speakers and a subwoofer or go all out on speakers ? I am wary of the possible speaker/subwoofer interactions...

Thanks a lot!

P.S. Any good power amp recommendations around the $3k range welcome too...
128x128lilu
You can save a lot and find a well cared for pair of NHT 3.3's. They don't get mentioned much around here anymore because they're "old news", but they fit the bill in this application.
Thanks to everyone for your recommendations, this is really helpful and I learned a lot by following your leads.

I 've uped my budget for these speakers to around $7K now and I am leaning towards the Audio Physic Scorpios. They seem to produce good results for their size.

Comparing the Audio Physics, ATC, Montana and Focus which one would you go for given their relative size?

Also, elaborating about the room: although the listening area is around 11x11 - the entire room is actually 11x25, carpeted.

Thanks again!
If your budget is now around $7k, the Vandersteen Quatro will give you the best of both worlds (given the integrated powered sub with 11 bands of EQ). However, I still would budget $1k for room treatments. It will be some of the best money spend on your system.
Within your $5K budget, I'd recommend the Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Baby Grands with a REL sub woofer. You only mentioned tight/powerful/fast. If you go with the setup I'm suggesting, you'll get that plus you'll hear the true character of the bass. With double bass you'll hear the woodyness of the body, with electric bass you'll be able to tell a Sadowsky from a Fender, etc. Lot's of systems get the TPF right but leave out the character. For your classical listening you'll really need that.

Hooking up with the Sumiko guys (distributors for VA, REL, OCOS, Sonus Faber, Pro-ject, Sumiko, etc.) will get you in with some guys that really know how to put a system together.

Dave