Joseph Audio Pulsar is a wonderful speaker, and it fits your budget.
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@russbutton beat me to the punch. Pick up a pair of Dutch & Dutch 8c’s and don’t look back. Retail brand new is slightly more than 15k and you can find them used for <$10k. They are a cardiod design so you can put them within a few inches of a wall and they are active speakers so you can sell your current amp (and possibly preamp as well). They can truly do 20Hz-20kHz without a need for a separate subwoofer. They are also Roon Ready and connect directly to your network with Ethernet cables. I’ve owned a pair for almost 2 years now and they are absolutely phenomenal. Check out their review on Erin’s audio corner. | ||||||||||||||||||||
An audiophile acquaintance who often writes reviews on audio products reviewed some Danish speakers and immediately dumped his expensive Harbeth speakers in favor of the speakers he was reviewing. He especially liked their very musical sound and its naturalness. Here’s the scoop: The Buchardt S400 MkII is one of the most highly regarded bookshelf speakers from Buchardt Audio, a Danish company known for delivering high-end audio performance at a relatively reasonable price by selling directly to consumers. The S400 MkII is an update to the original S400, which was already well-loved for its natural sound and wide soundstage. Key Features of the Buchardt S400 MkII Passive Radiator Design The S400 MkII uses a rear-facing passive radiator instead of a traditional ported design. This approach helps improve bass response and avoids “chuffing” or port noise often found in ported speakers. The passive radiator extends the bass response down to around 33 Hz, which is remarkable for a speaker of this size. Custom Woofer The mid-woofer is made from customized aluminum. The woofer is designed to handle both low and mid frequencies with precision and minimal distortion. It provides a very tight, controlled bass while maintaining midrange clarity. Waveguided Soft Dome Tweeter The S400 MkII features a 0.74-inch soft dome tweeter with a carefully engineered waveguide. The waveguide ensures even dispersion of high frequencies, resulting in a broad sweet spot and smooth treble extension. The tweeter is crossed over at a low frequency, which helps improve integration with the mid-woofer. Crossover and Tuning Buchardt spent a lot of time refining the crossover network. The goal was to create a natural, cohesive sound with accurate tonal balance. The crossover uses high-quality components to minimize phase distortion and maintain consistent sound across different listening positions. Cabinet and Build Quality The cabinets are made from high-density MDF and are internally braced to reduce resonance. The finish options include high-quality wood veneers and matte lacquers. The rear passive radiator and tweeter/woofer combination allow the speaker to deliver a bigger sound than its size would suggest. Room-Friendly Design The S400 MkII is known for being very forgiving in terms of placement. It performs well even when close to walls, thanks to the rear passive radiator tuning and controlled dispersion pattern. The wide soundstage and off-axis response make them suitable for various room sizes and configurations. Sound Characteristics Bass -Deep and tight, especially for a bookshelf speaker. Midrange: Natural and well-balanced; vocals and instruments sound lifelike. Treble: Smooth, never harsh, with a refined high-end sparkl Soundstage: Wide and deep with precise imaging. Dynamics: Strong micro and macro dynamics; handles both soft and loud passages with ease. Specs
Pros: Natural, balanced sound Deep, controlled bass for a bookshelf speaker Wide sweet spot and expansive soundstage Forgiving of room placement Excellent value for the performance
Cons: 4-ohm impedance may require a more powerful amp Rear passive radiator means placement too close to a wall could affect bass quality Not ideal for very large rooms Price and Value The S400 MkII is priced at around $2,000–$2,500 depending on the finish and region. Buchardt’s direct-to-consumer model helps keep the price competitive compared to similarly performing high-end speakers from larger brands. The Buchardt S400 MkII punches well above its price point, delivering the kind of nuanced, room-filling sound that many people associate with larger floor-standing speakers. Its combination of deep bass, detailed highs, and wide dispersion makes it suitable for both critical listening and casual enjoyment. It’s particularly well-matched with high-quality solid-state or tube amplifiers.
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I concur with @jastralfu Marten Parker Duo. I think it will be hard to beat the open and airy sound of this brand. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Vimberg makes wonderful speakers for sure, great suggestion! Personally, I don’t like not having a full range sound. For my clients in your particular situation, I like to recommend the Vivid Audio Kaya 25. It’s a fantastic pair of speakers that don’t take up any more space than a pair of standmounts and stands. They are magnificently coherent, have wide dispersion / sweet spot, work with all sorts of rooms, and can just completely disappear. Best of it all, they are not that heavy (55lb or so) and the cabinet is typically twice as big as large bookshelf speakers, so the bass is more palpable. I should also mention that I think the Kaya 25 is one of the sexier speakers on the market, especially in custom finishes. The one I recently ordered for my floor are in a Porsche Agate Grey and it makes a nice improvement visually over other Vivids I have that are in their stock colors. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ditto on sjsfiveo's recommendation of the Vimberg Amea. The Alta Alyssa has been recommended by at least two persons. I owned a pair. It is an excellent speaker. But, I replaced them with the Vimberg Amea, without having even heard the Amea beforehand. I rolled the dice based on reviews I had read and having heard Tidal speakers at a friend's home. The performance of the Amea greatly surpasses the performance of the Alyssa in every aspect of music reproduction. But the Amea is approximately 2.5X the price of the Alyssa. Naturally, the next question is whether the difference in performance was worth the increased cost. The answer - absolutely! | ||||||||||||||||||||
I just bought a pair of YG Acoustics Tor loudspeakers. They sound amazing and look amazing (my wife has STRONG feelings about speaker size). The Tor speakers are in your price band and work well with a range of amps, and in a variety of rooms -- they are 88 db, 7 Ohm sealed-box speakers (with a minimum impedance of 3.5 Ohms). I have a REL S-510 sub as well, and they blend perfectly. Reach out to Bill at GTT Audio. He's great. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Be cautious with Borreson and Raidho. They don't work in every space. You need minimum 9' between the speakers and typically 3-5' behind them or the glorious image that you are paying for will not come together. Incredible speakers in the right space, a huge disappointment in the wrong space. Note how they setup at shows. That is not accidental. I would look at TAD, Marten and I think Vimberg might fall in this price range. They are the best designed products in this price range IMO. Fully disclosure, I am a Raidho dealer but have no relationship with any of the other brands I have mentioned. They are just good products. It is funny that I really have nothing in that price range. The Audiovectors and Wilson Benesch fall just below with stands | ||||||||||||||||||||
$10-$15K for a bookshelf? With that budget, I would start with the Alta Alyssa at $5K (passive) and force myself to justify spending more. You could have a whole Linn system on that budget. If going for a bookshelf, I would make it a 2.1 system and add a sub. For the same money, you could have Buchardt A500 Signature actives with two Purify long-throw drivers and pair it with a T+A streamer-DAC-preamp-headphone amp and call it done, and have change left over. | ||||||||||||||||||||
You don't have to spend $10K. Consider Golden Ear BRX's,(https://www.crutchfield.com/S-gQks8FY3S0i/p_317BRX/GoldenEar-BRX.html?XVINQ=BI0&XVVER=15B2&awcr=76622396292438&awdv=c&awkw=goldenear%20brx&awmt=e&awnw=s&awat=&awug=44268&msclkid=ccc75a455d2d1e9959bb3d8fe96fb6ca), Genelec G3's(https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/G3BW--genelec-g-three-active-speaker-polar-white), or MoFi SourcePoint 10's,(https://www.musicdirect.com/speakers/mofi-electronics-sourcepoint-10-bookshelf-speakers-pair/) | ||||||||||||||||||||
I wonder if your wife would be cool with the Amator Maxima https://www.sonusfaber.com/en/products/maxima-amator You could argue it takes up the same amount of real estate as a bookshelf. | ||||||||||||||||||||
@jastralfu + 1 - I've had my Marten Parker Duos for a couple of years now and I love 'em... | ||||||||||||||||||||
@deep_333 Thanks. I have a set of TAD 1603 LF drivers w cabinets, etc in work.. lots of options for nuance with no need for high spl…. unless all that beryllium impacts my hearing…. | ||||||||||||||||||||
@tomic601 imo, the e1tx floorstander is the sweet spot for tad w.r.t bang 4 buck. I had the original reference og from Andrew in the past for quite a while, but, sold it to finance other things. If you put some effort into incorporating subs with the e1tx and perhaps not listening at rocket explosion levels, you can make it sound like the reference model.
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I have a ns5000 too. Yamaha has well moved on from beryllium. All their current audiophile speakers are zylon (their non-toxic in-house developed stuff). Beryllium lovers may have to go to other "high end" names for a healthy whiff of Beryllium.
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Best … ? have no idea…for me that would mean an impossible trial of ownership and long term listening and the answer would highly depend on taste, room and ancillary equipment… and expectations on SPL.. For the last 4 months or so my Winter system has included the TAD ME-1 w factory stands. You can see it as well as my reference system in the virtual system pages. The TAD are lovely as are many of the speakers i have heard mentioned above by others. I do use a JL sub w them and my room volume is 5K cubic ft. Obviously system synergy can ruin / tame / optimize just about any speaker. Finally, without writing a long gushing biased by ownership review…i am impressed enough to seek out more TAD products to audition, add to my systems…including possibly replacing my reference speakers.. Have fun, enjoy the music and the journey Jim
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Interesting fact that Yamaha was the godfather of beryllium tooling, driver dev/fab way back in the early 70s, but, apparently they are not "high end" enough for the ’elusive’ audiophile. All these "high end" names have been leeching with it since then, 50 years later (innovation? no such thing from "high end", except putting a "high end" finish on a box). Could "high end" touch the level of engineering that went into the ns5000? never... I'm curious now why the 3000 isn’t directly sold in the US...while, the big 5000 is.
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Absolute best sound speaker - Wavetouch audio Antero speaker. Compare Antero sound to Magico A-1, Focal Sopra No. 1, TAD Me1 below Alex/Wavetouch audio Antero https://youtu.be/LlYlIvmmg3c?si=EB_m8Mi5PRDD2vcJ&t=152 Magico - Jay’s voice is perfectly natural. So, this is honest A1 sound. https://youtu.be/iLQMNJi8JAs?si=7V-pIRiieDqu1_1B Focal - People’s voice sound great in recording. So, this is real #1 sound. https://www.youtube.com/live/Msaq4kCYclw?si=lJMZFA1mufR9DUxM&t=830 TAD - Accuphase + DCS. | ||||||||||||||||||||
I demoed the TAD ME1 a couple of times when I was thinking of a bookshelf. I had a similar bookshelf list. The TAD uses beryllium, which is very detailed, but you need a bit of warmth to the system for beryllium. I liked the ME1 over the others on the OP's list. However, TAD bothered me when they dropped the price to $10k and then a month or 2 later went back to the $15k (with stands) price. If I were to get another bookshelf it would be the Yamaha NS3000. I own the NS5000 "bookshelf" and the very detailed drivers on that are preferred over beryllium. Only issue is that if you are in the USA you need to buy from Canada. NS-3000 – Custom Home Automation Solution, Entertainment Systems (price is $CAN) | ||||||||||||||||||||
For a big sound - neutral, high resolution - respectable bass: the TAD ME1. For a more intimate sound - textured but limited bass: Wilson Audio Tunetot. | ||||||||||||||||||||
B&W 805 D4 signature. The spiffy finishes should please the wife. I think I saw a pair listed today for about $10k. https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisbd992-b-w-bowers-wilkins-805-d4-monitors | ||||||||||||||||||||
