Spendor S5E or Totem Arro meet your criteria. |
I've really been enjoying my Monitor Audio RS-6's for the past couple of years. Outstanding bass for its size. Nice overall presentation. I'm sure you could pick up a used pair for around $700 or so. |
Interestingly, I have looked for the Monitor Audio RS-6, but just can,'t come up with a pair.
The Totem Arro is smaller, but does not play as loud as the MA's. But, the Totem is more money "used". This I can attribute to how grossly over priced they are NEW, which applies to almost the entire Totem line. I would spend $700 fora used pair of Arros, but no more. Thanks guys, Jim |
The Rega RS-3 is excellent. |
If you are considering monitor speakers on stands the Green Mountain Audio Europa and Von Schweikert VR-1 are overachievers. You can buy either speaker used in the $500 price range. |
Alon Model I fall in your price range. They are exceptional sounding and disappear effortlessly. They're petite at 9" wide, 13" deep, 38" high, yet have a surprisingly deep bottom end -- better than Arro or Sttaf. They sound particularly sweet with tube amps. |
Spendor S5E is a great little speaker. |
Mirage OS3FS is a floorstander, 41" tall with a footprint of 5.5x6.12". I have heard these and they have the speed, transparency, and absence of cabinet resonances normally associated with a panel speaker. You can buy new ones for as low as $900/pair, but you may want to find the OS2FS used, whose cabinets are extruded aluminum. These have usable bass down to around 50 Hz, but Mirage makes a couple of great tiny subs to mate with them, the 8" cube MM6 or the 9" cube MM8. If you know where to look you can find the MM8 (which is extremely lively and fast) at around $279 per (down from $799 list).
They have a sensitivity rating around 93 dB and can handle up to 175 watts, making for great dynamics. I've heard them and their ability to convey natural sounding, transparent vocals is excellent. They're also good at keeping things clear and clean while sounding lush and musical. Being omnidirectional, they energize the entire room and expand the sweet spot over conventional speakers. |
I have owned the VSA VR-1s and the Green Mountain Audio Europa and I agree those are excellent choices and are great buys, especially on the used market. I also own Mark and Daniel monitors and you should be able to pick these up on the used market for under a grand. These sound like large speakers(good weight, bass, and depth), but you need an amp with at least 100 watts and high current for these. I have also heard the Monitor Audio RS 6s, another great choice but you want to make sure you have warmer electronics and cabling with these. Good Luck |
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I'll second the Ohm Micro Walsh. |
Used Meadowlark Kestral Hot Rods? |
Although I think you're wrong about the Preludes (I use 'em, and they sound steller due to my careful setup of brilliantly matched ancillary component choices stemming from years of personal wonderfulness), I recently spent some time with a pair of Thiel 1.6s that were small, inexpensive when bought used, and sweet sounding. |
I heard the Quad 12Ls (I think that was the model) and thought they sounded great...might be worth a shot. |
Good luck finding a clean pair of Kestrels at a reasonable price. |
I'll third the Ohm MicroWalsh... |
Second the Meadowlark Kestrel Hot Rod suggestion, and for your budget, you _might_ even find a pair of Shearwater Hot Rods. |
A real sleeper in that price range is the Soliloquy 5.3 (the original one with the black mid drivers not the later version with the white mid drivers). If I recall this was a Stereophile Class B when new. |
If you can go up a little on price you might want to try Revel M22. |
I'll "4th" the Ohm Micro Walsh Tall.... call John Strohbeen at Ohm and see what he can do for you. I no longer have mine but for what they do well they're terrific. |
Look at all the Monitor Audio offerings here on Audiogon,
Silver 9i, GS 20 or the 8i
Small footprint and very attractive, sound pretty good too! |
