Battle of the affordables

Used pair tyler acoustics d1x cal him.they are big.i had him do d 10 with all the satori textreme and beryllium tweeter that sounds great. 4 x 9.5 2x 6.5 one be tweeter in each speaker. A used pair of tekton moab would match well with your amp. They allow a 30 day trial but you have to pay shipping on return at the music room in Colorado.  Enjoy the search many options.i sold my kef r 11.thought the other choices better.read the reviews.

It’s crazy how the most affordable line is the most enjoyable, but I know what you mean. For casual listening the q series might be enough for most of us, but the ceiling is what it is. We’re paying for better cabinets, and parts that give the R and reference line a higher ceiling with wider bandwidth and higher spl with less distortion. Unfortunately the tighter the tolerance the more demanding of source.

There’s another reason…personally I get used to the brain rattling bass coming from my pickup stereo and booming midbass is fun. Klipsch are really fun.

I’ve heard the Golden Ear BRX. Fantastic monitor.

The new speaker by Luca Chesky is getting rave reviews.

If Best Buy was switching speakers through a patch panel, I'd consider the audition to be an entertainment, nothing more.  Better would be moving each pair to the same locations, hooking them to the same equipment, and playing the same music.  That's still not ideal, as some speakers sound different with different placement, with different amps, etc.

The optimum method for you would be to purchase multiple pairs and try them at your home.  Then you can see how they sound with the gear you have, and in your room setup.

I haven’t heard the SVS but it is well enough reviewed to warrant a listen. The B&W is a good sounding speaker, especially with tubes and an analog front end. If you shared more info about your musical tastes, the room dimensions and the rest of your gear we could take a better whack at it. No matter what tho, you have to go listen to them.  Personally, I think that’s the best part. 

+1 on R11’s. I drive mine with the Moon 330A.
Open AI thoughts. 

The KEF R11 Meta is the flagship floor‑standing model of KEF’s R Series, designed to bring Reference‑level technology into a more approachable price segment.

🔍 Key Features

• 12th‑generation Uni‑Q® coaxial driver with “Shadow Flare” waveguide for wide, coherent sound dispersion and pinpoint imaging  
• Metamaterial Absorption Technology (MAT™) that absorbs ~99% of unwanted resonances for cleaner, more natural sound  .
• Four 6.5″ hybrid aluminum bass drivers for tight, punchy low end with ample power and control  .
• Three‑way, five‑driver design with crossovers at 400 Hz and 2.9 kHz; ported enclosure, 4 Ω impedance, 90 dB sensitivity. Dimensions: approx. 51″ × 12″ × 15″; ~80 lb each  .

🏆 Acclaim & Performance

• EISA Best High‑End Loudspeaker 2023‑24  .
• SoundStage! Hi‑Fi review: “textbook‑accurate frequency response, punchy extended fast bass, midrange transparency … imaging outstanding … a steal at $4,999”  .
• The Absolute Sound praised its neutrality: “top‑to‑bottom coherence… sounded less like boxes … more like music itself”  .
• Reddit users note “massive soundstage,” precise mid/treble, clean bass; impressive at low volumes but may require wall spacing adjustment  .

💬 User Feedback

• “Absolutely fabulous … excel on classical music … no listening fatigue” — Best Buy review  .
• Audiogon and StereoNET threads echo that bass and imaging are exceptional, though in very large rooms some users almost opt for KEF Reference models  .

🛋️ Who They’re For

• Enthusiasts seeking reference-level performance without breaking the bank.
• Ideal for medium to large listening rooms, especially when positioned a few feet from walls.
• Suitable for high‑end stereo music listening and home cinema setups, with optional matching center/surround models available.

💵 Pricing Snapshot

• MSRP: $3,499.99 each (~$7,000 pair)  .
• Retailers sometimes offer pair discounts to $6,500–$7,000, and open‑box deals can dip to $3,000/pair .

🎯 Bottom Line

The KEF R11 Meta packs value-packed flagship features—MAT™, 12th-gen Uni‑Q with Shadow Flare, punchy quad-woofer bass—into a beautiful, award-winning package. Reviews and user impressions highlight its neutrality, clarity, imaging, and fatigue-free listening. If you have the space and budget for serious floorstanders, these are hard to beat for under $8K pair.

My two recommendations:

Revival Audio ATALANTE 5

the New PMC speakers

The Revival 5s blew me away for $5K  If I was in the market I would get these over anything mentioned already.  Very impressed with them and we are in the business of making audio components so we have heard more speakers than most have heard in their lifetime.

Happy Listening.

 I'm not thrilled with your list, and have you had a chance to listen to any of those speakers?  The amplifier you have acts like a pure voltage source, and I think it sounds great.  I was going to suggest a list, but @freediver  beat me to it.  The only other speaker I'd add is ATC; any model that is in your price range will open up nicely with the Simaudio amp.  I am intrigued by the Bamboo cabinet speakers(Ascend Acoustics) that someone here recommended.  I never heard of them until today.  I have a different philosophy about audio than many here; I'm not interested in hunting down every possibility, combination of equipment out there.  I have little respect for 99% of reviewers out there, 100% of the YouTube influencers; a waste of time outside of entertainment value.  Most, if not all, of these players have some vested interest in pushing product, and they likely have not heard much of the competition.  If there is no local or at least not too far dealer where I can listen to a product and get help with service, advice with real product familiarity, plus support down the road, I won't bother with it.  There's always going to be something better down the road; it's inevitable, and the idea is to be happy in the now, or go nuts thinking about what you might have missed.

I went through an ordeal of ordering some well regarded speakers I hadn't heard only to send them all back and keep the ones I already had and still have. ZU Dirty Weekend, Sonist Concerto 3, Klipsch Heresy IV, Silverline Prelude (great speaker and I used them for years before the Heresy IIIs....wanted something more efficient)...all paled when compared to my "damped mids" titanium driver Heresy IIIs. Live and learn. Now I'm thinking of ordering a pair of "Pure Audio Project Duet 15 Horn 1s" that have in common with the others the fact that I have never heard them. They also have the longest name of any speaker I've owned so that has to mean SOMETHING...right? They're sent unassembled to give me something to do, and they simply would prove the point that, clearly, I never learn.

Please consider a new speaker I heard at THE Show

Evolution Acoustics Model One ... under 4k

-3 35hz to 45k

Sounds like a large speaker in any room   Sounds huge 

Best cheap speaker  ... will beat them all. ’No matter the system 

A spendor A7 tower will sound better than anything on your list and come in under the top of your range.  

Philharmonic towers are worth investigating.  

Nice Speakers listed here...I'm cheap I'll go with Polk...they aways have clearance sales...lol

None.  My lord, SO many good speakers, ProAc, Living Voice, Spendor, Joseph, Acora, etc.

Kef: would love to try them in my room, but have been warned they cannot produce the SPL in my GIGANTIC (volume 50 x50 x20 or so) room even so I am only concerned with 80 Hz and above (have great sub to handle the rest). 

I LOVED my B&W Nautilus 804, and for $2k used, GREAT buy. Hate 'sharp' highs, no issue with mine. 

Replaced with smaller 2 way, which is at mechanical limits in my very large (volume) room, even with sub crossed at 120 Hz. 

Current favorite (not fully evaluated) in the 'affordable' (under 2k) segment: Focal Chora 826. 

Sorry to suggest something not on your list but you have asked about some quite different speakers. I would look at and listen to Verity Audio Parsifal Encore. They are in the higher end the price points on your list but I think you can get a mid to late 2000s pair for 5 to 5.5 K. Solid built, room friendly, flight cases and pretty good WAF.

This is my first interaction with this forum, so please excuse any errors I make.  I may be wrong, but I did not see any information on what andy2 felt he was missing with his current speakers.  Can you articulate what you are looking for with a change?

thanks for indulging me…

Well if any of these sounds as good as my Pioneer S-1EX’s with the matching center,  I’ll consider it

I have recently spent some time with a pair of Rogers LS6 two way bookshelf's on stands. I am shocked with their presentation. Sold them after a week, but can't stop thinking about them. Visited my friend, who bought them from me. We put on the remixed PF "Animals", and verified my previous opinion. Only my Maggie 20.7 and Vandersteen 2Ci's could best them... ??? 

It seems as though the crossover's are the problem with all speakers. 2 way is typically the most transparent system. I had a pair of Brentworth 1 way transmission line's with a whizzer cone. It's been 12 years and I still remember them and I know it seems crazy but they shook me loose from an electrostatic fixation that gripped me for almost 10 years.

I'm not missing some other well respected types, not even thinking about the high cost of some of them. Just talking about that, "ah ha" moment that comes out of nowhere every other couple of years. 

I think the best part of this hobby is when you get humbled by a simple approach and realize that it's not about expensive stuff. Synergy, combination, luck!

andy2

Nothing personal and I'm trying to be helpful, but my vote is for none of the speakers you listed; they are all massed produced common speakers. Listen to some of the suggestions here, and do some more homework; there are so many great speakers between $3,000 and $7,000......and none of them are the ones you listed.

Pure Audio Project Duet, (with horn), Revival Atalante, Buchardt Audio E50, Arendal 1528 Monitor 8 or Bookshelf 8, Fritz Audio Carbon 7s, Alta Audio Alyssa, Volti Razz, Rosso Fiorentino Elba 2, Monitor Audio Gold 200 or better yet 300, Dynaudio Focus 30, Fyne Audio 502SP, Revel F228 Be, Yamaha NS2000A, Diptyque DP107, QLN Strandberg C-50, Perlisten R5t,Wharfedale Elysian 2, Sonus Faber Sonetto V G2, MoFi Sourcepoint 888, ProAc DB1 or D2 or D20RS or D30RS which is on sale, 

Those are just off of the top of my head, all are priced between $3,5000 and $7,000 (though you'll have to find some that are on sale, and all are better than the speakers you are considering in my estimation

Let us know how you get along, I'd be interested

None of the above.  I prefer a live and realistic sound.  Tekton Design is my vote for whatever price.  Have heard most of the speakers on your list and they don't have a sense of realism that I like in speakers.  Tekton double impacts 3k and buy a used Pass labs and some decent cabling and shunyata power conditioning

Out of the ones you listed, the B&Ws.

But Elac Vela 407 or 409 towers should be in the running too.

I have owned, demoed, or trial loaned all of those listed except the B&W's. The SVS I did not get a proper session with..just a listen off to the side. 

Of the ones listed I would go R11 Meta. Though for $7k there are a lot of speakers at your disposal. Many great speakers & manufacturers have been listed all ready. With that said I do feel that the R11 Meta's are legit & not just an overpriced "mainstream" type speaker. Though a great deal of that money goes towards the expense of being mass marketed.  

For the money the Q11's are very good. The biggest difference I find between the Q & R series Meta's are the enclosures. I do feel there is a slight audible difference in tone of notes because of this difference. Only playing them side by side makes this known or gives you the ability to hear what I'm saying. I do think that the Q11's stick out in that series & are definitely worth the added cost over the Q7. I have owned the R3 Meta & I would say that played side by side to the Q11 the R3 sounds a little more refined, without that smidge of hollowness from the Q11 box. But overall the Q11 was more enjoyable. Fuller, deeper, full range fullness that the R3 with a sub couldn't quite achieve. Q11 will do well in close quarters..close front & side walls only improves the sound. 

Despite that most serious "audiophiles" would laugh at the Polk name those R700's are stupid good for the money. I grabbed a pair for $1800 & kept them for over a year I liked them so much. They scale well with better equipment. But you have to have the room or space for them or they will be unbearable at times. In my narrow rectangular room they over energized the space, boomy.. muddy, bright, & slight sibilance. With sidewalls beyond 6 to 8 feet & a couple feet behind them, keeping the tweeter under 95db around 9-10 feet away I truly enjoyed them. These speakers opened me up to a lot of jazz music. Meaning it made a genre I normally didn't listen to very enjoyable. The ring tweeter beams a bit in the higher frequency but I really liked the sound of it. My first ring tweeter. For the money & in the right room I think the R700 would surprise a lot of people. 

I purchased the Martin Logan XT B100 bookshelf when they 1st came to market. That tweeter is phenomenal. It can make certain instruments sound very realistic & dynamic. It really stands out for the price of these. I don't like the way it was implemented with the mid/bass driver & crossover linearity. Too hot for me. After I returned them I listened to the bigger floor standers. While I feel they were greatly superior to the bookie I couldn't get away from the thought that even if I could have afforded them at the time I wouldn't like it's sound signature long term. Too bright & extended up top for me. Adding DSP/PEQ made the little bookshelf better though. 

I can't comment much on the Pinnacle's but I do feel that they are better than one would think by just going off the SVS name. They are not as cheap as the Polk's but I think many people wouldn't consider the SVS right away because of the name & cost.  Many people here wouldn't be interested in any of these speakers on your list because of the manufacturers name. I'm a little more opened minded & feel that most speaker companies have the ability to throw a gem out there every once & awhile. Regardless of their makers pedigree. 

I'm not a snob when it comes to equipment & speakers. I don't have the financial resources like many in this forum. We have some members with insanely great &: expensive equipment. They could easily point you towards some phenomenal & lesser known to the masses speakers up to the $7k range. But I still think the R11 Meta's & SVS Pinnacle are worth a listen. I've bought & tried a lot of the hyped up mainstream stuff like the R3's, the Vela's, & Linton's. All very good when considering the price. The Vela JET tweeter is one of the few AMT/ribbon types that I could appreciate long term. Though sometimes in side by side comparison's I felt like this tweeter doesn't have the longer decay or trailing off in high frequencies...like more conventional tweeters. 

With $7k to spend one should be more open to looking outside the mainstream market. The last bookshelves I purchased are made by someone that's been around awhile but lesser known. Fritz speakers. My REV7 SE's are comparable in price to a lot of mainstream speakers but the quality of drivers & crossovers are a step up from what you get in mass marketed speakers. The Fritz midrange/vocals are great & kinda unique vs other box speakers. 

A lot of good speakers & builders were mentioned so I have nothing to add to that. . Nothing wrong with your list though. If I ever come across the Q11's for a great discount price I'll probably buy them & line the insides with no-rez or equivalent.  I would enjoy them for what they are then find something else to play with. This audio stuff is truly a journey for some of us. For me I don't think trying to find end game is my goal. I just like to try lots of different stuff. I can't do that in the higher end market though. If I spent 7 to $10k on speakers I would make sure I loved them & expect to hold them awhile. That's a lot of commitment for a person like myself. I'm never satisfied long term with anything outside of my wife, kids, & dogs. Dabbling in DIY has changed everything for me the last couple years. If you are up for it you should consider or look into DIY speakers. You really get your monies worth. 

Probably a lot more info & personal sharing then was asked. But I was in a chatty mood. I'm definitely interested in what you eventually end up choosing & why.   Good Luck.