All about the bass

anything is the Mark&Daniel or Von Schweikert lines.
Larry

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