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"Best" mini-monitor?

I have a relatively small listening room (12x10) and have always owned mini-monitors.  Currently I have proac tablette anniversaries, but have had the original 15 ohm rogers ls3/5a, proac response 1, KEF, and reference 3a through out the years.  As you can see, these are all moderate priced speakers, having never spent more than 3k on any pair.  I am now in a position to spend a bit more money, certainly 5k, and maybe up to 10k.  So what out there should I be listening to?  I am in the Chicago area, so I would love something that I can listen to at a local (Midwest) dealer, but I do travel a lot and have auditioned/purchased things across the country from time to time.  New or used, does not matter to me.

as you can probably guess, I really don't care much about deep base, but live for soundstage and warm midrange, listening to a lot of female vocalists, acoustic rock/jazz/blues, and light (non full orchestra) classical.  

With my musical tastes, I have always loved el34 tube amps.  I currently have the prima Luna hp premium, which has 4 el34 per channel, giving me in the 70 wpc range, more than enough for a small room.  I am running naim digital source material (no bad remarks from the analog folks... I know I have have traded off).

so, what should I spend time auditioning?  I have used "best" in quotes because of the 10k price limit, but I suspect there are many more candidates below 10k than above it.

thanks.

Bill


meiatflask
meiatflask OP
151 posts
 
OP here.  Yes, I have not posted, but I am taking notes and trying to find local dealers that have the specific models in stock.  So I continue to appreciate the comments.  I have also played around with some room acoustics and demoed a couple preamps.  The only speakers I home demoed were the harbeth p3esr, which I did not like as much as my proacs.  While a bit sweeter in the mids, the soundstage was considerably smaller and the mid/high details were less crisp.  I did enjot the harbeth 30.1s, but they are way to large for my room, both physically and sonically.

the search continues, with setting up demos being much more difficult (mostly due to my schedule) than I had thought.

Bill
soix
9,456 posts
 
Thanks for responding.  After reading your experience I'd reiterate a strong recommendation to try a pair of Joseph Audio Pulsars if at all possible.  Best of luck. 

jopi88
27 posts
 
any raidho c1 , c1.1, wonderful sound.
loftarasa
171 posts
 
$10K is a lot (to me!) to spend on bookshelves when I’d have thought one could also get a compact floorstander that takes up no more room overall than minis on stands?

Having said that, I’d add the ATC SCM11 or SCM12 Pro (effectively the same) to your shortlist. If I was going to spend your whole budget, I’d try to hear the Diapason Astera!


ejr1953
914 posts
 
For several years I enjoyed a pair of Totem Fire Monitors.  Since they've been on the market for a long time, you can probably snag a great pair of used on Audiogon for a reasonable price.
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