Best bookshelf speakers


I’m building my first high fi system after being more of a portable audio person. I want to start with the speakers. Space is limited so bookshelf speakers are a must.

Preferences:
Balanced and revealing with a hint of warmth.
Midrange most important to get right over highs and lows
Timbre is super important - I listen mostly to acoustic music especially jazz
But I do need some bass as I also listen to some electronic music
Smaller is better but SQ is most important
A speaker that sounds good with different amps but also scalable with high quality sources
Wide sweet spot - I wont have money for a great amp at first but want them to be scalable for later

These speakers have caught my eyes - any thoughts on them?

Ascend Sierra 2s - Ribbon = dispersion limitations?
BMR Philharmonitor - See above. Also massive.
Buchardt S400/S300 - Wary of the sudden hype train and limited info
Silverline Minuet Grande - Limited info
Reference 3A De Capo - This caught my eye as a potential endgame speaker if I could blow up my budget a little. But concerns about BE tweeter as well as some potential snake oil stuff (cryogenic treatment (!?)), exaggerated sensitivity claims and wonky measurements put me off.

What else should I be looking at?

Edit: I could have sworn I had <$2,000 in the title... Anyway, my budget is 2k.

stuff_jones

Showing 5 responses by twoleftears

If you consider how many 2-way bookshelf speakers there are out there available, between $100 and $2000 a pair, frankly it's remarkable you haven't had more diverse suggestions.  The number of overwhelming, and no one can heard more than a small fraction of them.

Going back to your question of a while ago, I believe Fritz, Watkins, Silverline (all of which would be great) and a number of others.

You have to wonder what % of the retail cost of a pair of B&W or Focal speakers goes towards their massive advertising budget.

Or with a very small footprint, get the cousin, the Silverline Prelude Plus.  Within your budget and pretty sure you can find a gently used pair or a discount for even less.