Assistance in selecting new speakers…
Welcome advice on selecting a new set of speakers for our “great room” home theater set-up. We have KEF Reference Model Two (FL, FR) Monitor audio silver (C), and KEF 103.2’s (SL,SR), and Emotiva s12 powered subwoofer. Emotiva Xmc2 processor, Rotel RB-985 multi-channel amp. The room dimensions are 17’ x 25’ with vaulted ceilings (~12’ at the peak). I will likely need to upgrade my amp and possibly my Sub. Priority is listening to music (except heavy metal and rap) and I have a family who likes to watch movies, so I have to consider this as a close second. I’ve purchased KEF for the last 25+ years, so that is a factor. I’m looking at two options for the types of speakers, architectural and free standing, with the trade off being the architectural set-up is a cleaner look, which for a multi-purpose room is desirable, but not at a considerable loss of fidelity. Since I lean toward KEF, I am looking at Ci3160RLM (FL,C,FR), Ci200Rs-THX (SL, SR) for the architectural option, and R7 or R5 (FL, FR), R2 (C), R3 (SL, SR). I’m not sure about what subwoofer to choose. My budget is ~ $15K-$20K (including a new Sub and power amp).
Would appreciate if you could provide advice on what I’m not considering, what assumptions I’m making which may not be accurate etc. For example, in the proposed new set-up could there be a noticeable difference in the fidelity between the architectural speakers and the free standing speakers? What are alternatives to KEF, whether new/used, e.g., Focal, which you would recommend I consider? Any thoughts on a multi-channel amp and subwoofer upgrade?
Thanks for your time and consideration.
The Joseph Audio Perspective 2s are worth a serious look, or if you’re open to used these Pearl 3s could be your end-game speakers and no sub really required. https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650017479-joseph-audio-pearl-3-speakers/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hi, This is the list of manufacturers who make speakers in a range that includes 15K
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I love KEF. I like companies that have a big research budget and make their own drivers. Not just buy drivers and put it in a box. I wanted to buy the KEF Blade 2 Meta. But did not due to concerns that they would not be safe in my Livingroom (no grills and easy to knock over). A great choice in hindsight seeing as what goes on in that room. I had the following 2nd choices that I was considers for my Livingroom:
I went with the NS5000 since it was the most coherent sounding speaker of the bunch. The Magnepan’s are similar. The NS5000 has a 12 inch woofer made of the same material as used in the tweeter and mid-range. The material named Zylon is supposed to be lighter and faster than BE. Now that is called research. Good luck getting box fillers to do research like that. KEF and a few others do research like that. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For HT I recently replaced KEF Reference 1s and LS50s driven by Ayre gear and a Bryston SP3 processor with Sony HT A9 & SW5. For music I'm using KEF LS60 and a pair of KC62s. I think the sound of both setups is superb in their own ways, and so convenient I use them dailey. My previous favorite was KEF Reference 107/s and 204/2C driven by 3 JC-1s monoblocks, a setup worth repeating. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
My theater room is 15 X 23 with cathedral ceiling. It has the full Cinematech sound treatment. Speakers are Focal 1000 series architectural, I think you have to get them through an "installer" because of Be tweeter. The space features 4 - JL Audio eSub 112's. The sound is stunning, in order of importance I'd rank multiple subs first, sound treatment second and speakers third. For the kind of money your talking I think the space deserves consideration of all three "elements". I did not have enough experience or knowledge to do this on my own, at the time I couldn't figure out why I had to have 4 subs! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
@johnmcnaughton . "Architectural" speakers get compromised because the drivers, crossover, etc need to be compromised to fit inside a shallow in-wall box (lack of sheer physical space for good components). If you want to also put some "architectural" speakers in your room to boost WAF and not compromise on sonics, you should go with a combination of Perlisten floorstanding and architectural speakers or go full architectural. They have very innovative/advanced speaker designs, makes KEF look less enginerdy. If you can overcome some of the negatives of "architectural" speakers, as is the case with Perlisten, such speakers can also offer some advantages over conventional boxes. Scroll down to the in-walls on this page. These are all THX dominus rated as well and obliterate the KEFs with explosive dynamics, etc. https://www.audioadvice.com/shop-by-brand?brand=7236
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As far as multichannel amps go, some good speakers are going to eat up most of your 15k to 20k budget and you may be hitting the budget limit. Hence, you could go with the meaty monolith amps (manufacturer direct), especially since this series was designed by ATI and sound quite good for the affordable price tag. 5 channel https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15593 9 channel https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=33306 As you go higher up the price tag, this fat Rotel sounds quite good. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_440B15852S/Rotel-RMB-1585-MKII-Silver.html and so on.... If the budget is expanded, there are some kickass multichannel amps out there. |
