best all-round,full range at $2000


Looking for a full range offering at the 2K price point. I'll be playing orchestral, big band jazz, small combo jazz, male & female vocal bits, solo acoustic instrumentals, and classic rock. So, what say ye? What's the best all-rounder at the 2K mark. New, or gently used works for me~
gregcon57
Hi Greg
I've had several speakers in that price range here in my home. I have a 17 x 13 room, a little larger than yours.

Tried the VR 2's, could not tame the bass boom even with the lead shot and with speakers 4 feet from the walls. They sounded this way at the dealer but I thought I'd try them out anyways...whoops. Not good for my room.

I had a pair of older used Vandersteen 3A's here but thought they mixed up things a bit and upper freq. tended to be on the harsh side in my room.

Had good luck with the Vandersteen 2ce sigs. and was suprised that there was a lack of annoying bass boom despite the rear firing 10" woofer, full sound..but wanted better resolution.

Meadowlark Osprey's were great..everywhere, except I wanted a little more bass extension..might work great in a smaller room. Beautiful speaker.

Revel F30...wow, now this is a good speaker, they look like big thugs but sure can carry a tune, midrange fabulous depth and wide dispersion, bass is well extended, could at times overwelm the room with bass heavy material but usually well behaved. May not work in a small room. I sometimes wish I had kept these.

Had the Gallo Ref. 3 here also. Great little speaker, tight bass, detailed (highs almost 3D) they possess perhaps the best tweeter I have had here. But I kept wanting deeper bass extension and the small mid range drivers lacked depth I thought.

Now I have a pair of older Meadowlark Herons. Full range fantastic bass with a terrific overall balance. I would recommend these but they are rare on the used market.
Don't think I helped much but good luck!
Courious as to what you end up with!
None of the above mentioned can stand up to the Infinity Kappa 9's. Tough to drive but worth every penny.

Have fun
Well, on day #15 my missing Vandy 3A Sig was found.... not by FedEx, but by my seller. It had lost it's labelling and was returned to the Vandersteen factory. It looks like my original idea will come to fruitation. I'll let ya all know how they pan out when I get em dialed in. I'm hoping they won't overwhelm the room. I should be able to sit 8-10 feet away from them. It may work after all...
Thanks for lots of great ideas!

Greg
TVAD wrote: "The Gallo Ref 3 frequency response is 35Hz-50Khz. The owners here no doubt love them, but IMO bass response to 35Hz misses the definition of full-range by at least 5Hz."

If that 5Hz really bugs ya, you have 2 options: Use the Gall SA amp and go flat down to 22Hz or pair them with a subwoofer - which is what I did. Sounds great!!

-RW-
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