Check out the Dynaudio line. For the money, they are tough to beat. I have a pair of 1.8 MKII's and my wife loves the looks, even though she would prefer to have nothing instead. We too have alot of wood and glass where the speakers are and they match beautifully. You will be hard pressed to find a better speaker line in terms of build quality, looks, and most importantly -- sound. You can find alot of good deals on this website. I got my 1.8's for $2100. They are cherry and flawless. I can build any system I want around them and probably won't need another speaker for at least 10 years.
Hope this helps. |
Go with the Tyler Ref. Monitors. Best component/perf. value around period. Read the reviews. Also Ty will sell these for around 1400. |
That's an easy question, answer is Dynaudio Contour 1.3 or 1.3SE. If you have too much cash, buy the Confidence 3. |
Sonus faber Electors. Not Elector Amatuers. Very small speaker with big speaker sound. Made of wallnut and look abosutelty gorgoues. Sonus Faber also makes matching stands. They retailled for $3500 but stopped making them a couple of years ago. I have seen used models for $1500. |
If you want a beautiful speaker that sounds great, try anything Sonus Faber. Or a Dynaaudio with an exotic wood. |
You must take a listen to the Silverline SR12 or SR15's before you decide, My wife loved them for appearence and sound, I could not believe the incredible soundstage these speakers through out. Also audition the Coincident "Triumph signatures (if you can find a dealer) and try the Sonus Faber Concertino's |
the ensemble mini-monitors from switzerland are in a class of there own. the aliante monitors from Italy are also a highly refined speaker. call me at (949)362-6080 to discuss. these are the finest small speakers money can buy. thanks, brian |
Before you buy...Soliliquy 5.0's. Gorgeous! Sound incredible...blows B&W 805's, Aerial 5's away!! I've auditioned all 3...check out Soliliquy! |
I have owned a pair of B&W 805 matrix speaker for quite a while. If you are still searching for your speakers, I have not heard anything that reproduces the voice as well as these do for the price. I run these speakers with a Proceed Amp 2 directly from my cd player. I have tried a number of tube preamps and solid state preamps with this combo. I you are still interested, look for a pair of used 805 matrix. They'll be a good deal. The B&W CDM1 sound very similiar for even less money. I'd also recommend listening to a pair of Proacs, but these are more money and I would recommend listing to a pair of Meadowlark Kestrels. The Kestrels are great speaker for the money. |
If you are still looking for a more conventional speaker that sounds like the B&W Nautilus 805, try the speaker that it relaced in the B&W line, the Matrix 805. The sound is very similar, if slightly less efficient. The Matrix 805 looks like a conventional bookshelf speaker with a tweeter on top. You can still find some old dealer demos around, and you may find used ones for about $800 a pair. The appearance of the Nautilus is much more exotic, but the sound is very close. You can find information on the Matrix 805 on the B&W website at: http://www.bwspeakers.com/800/805.html |
This is one of my favorite bookshelf speakers. The Chario Academy 2 speakers from 1992. They use a 6 1/2 midbase and the Tweeter. I saw someone selling them for 2000 dollars on Audiogon. These speakers look and sound great. My friend has these speakers. The person selling them, his email address is lulubell@strato.net Here's a pic of them. http://www.strato.net/~lulubell/chr1.jpg |
I just saw a photo of the new JM Lab Micro Utopia on enjoythemusic.com Go to CES 2000 advance report. |
The finest loudspeakers in the world are the Wilson Audio. Watt 5 or the wilson cub are the best for wife appeal. You can hear every sound in those recordings accurately and clearly. It is spooky!!!! Amazing detail!! Sound so smooth and sweet regardless to what you listen too!! |
Try Platinum Audio Solo's. They are around the same price range as the 805's and are more traditional looking if that's what you're after. They are very transparent and they produce absolutely incredible bass for such a small size-- around the 30 hz range! It's soundstaging is quite large too. I think that they are in their second generation now and haven't heard them yet but the first generation Solo's are quite excellent in my book. |
Try these small speakers: Dynaudio 1.3 MkII; Harbeth HL-P3 ES; Harbeth HL-K6; Proac Response 1SC or Tablettes; Spendor (I forgot the model); Totem Model 1; They are all good/classic spkrs. Some are used for monitoring reference (i.e. Harbeths), and some are regarded as good-all-rounders. If you really want to get a small speakers that can sing, get LS 3/5a. They are manufactured by KEF, Spendor, Rogers, and Harbeth. Good luck! PS: I personally use Harbeth Compact 7. Not so small, but can be categorized as standmount spkrs in the US. |
We had shoot out with the following speakers last week: B&W N805, Dunlavy SM-1, & Dynaudio Contour 1.3mkII. It was the first time I had heard any of them, including the just released Dunlavy SM-1. The SM-1 was so far superior, that we thought there might be something wrong with the others. You should have a listen to all 3 (all of which are about the same price). Also, when reading the hifi magazines, keep in mind who is advertising the most, and who's getting the press that follows. 1 page ads in some of the hifi mag's run in the $10,000.00 per page range. Keep this in mind. SM-1's are the best monitor we have EVER heard. I purchased a pair for myself in Kavazinga wood. www.dunlavyaudio.com If you know what live music sounds like, then this is the speaker for you! |
Hi! Lamm's web site is www.lammindustries.com. You should look at their site & read some of their reviews. If you are interested, a home demo could be arranged through my dealer here. My e-mail is davidknyc@aol.com |
I have very much enjoyed my avalon monitors. I listened to many of the mini-monitors listed here and the avalons were by far the most analytical (you mentioned how you had enjoyed hearing things you hadn't noticed before). They probably aren't as dynamic as the revels but when mated with the right front end, they are beautiful to look at and sound tremendous. They aren't sold retail anymore but if you keep your eye out you can find them occasionally on the internet. Good luck |
Hi. You should audition the Proac Response 1 before purchasing the revels. It will surprise you and save you a lot of money as well. I am quite familiar with both the Revels & the Proacs. You will not miss out on anything if you listen to the Proacs before purchasing. Also If you intend to spend that much money, you're better off spending some of it for a better front end. Re preamps; stay away from the Krell or Sonic Frontier units. The Krells are harsh and totally unmusical. The SF on the other hand are overly colored and lush with no real bass control to speak of. The Mark Levinson is the best compromise out of the lot. But again before purchasing you should listen to a Lamm Audio's Model 1 or Model 2 preamp. These 2 are the best and most ignored preamplifiers on the market. You have other alternatives from VAC & Conrad Johnson that will be much more musical than your 3 choices. I do not know which speakers you currently own, but if you are seriously considering spending that much money $6000-$10000 on upgrading your system, you should budget a good part of that for a better front end first. Once you have a good source you will be in a better position to get maximum benefit from the rest of your system. Do not forget the old addage "JUNK IN - JUNK OUT!!! From what I can see your dealer is steering you totally in the wrong direction. Expensive speakers + expensive preamp when you are using a budget lofi turntable with a 10 year old amp. A system is like a chain and is a good as it's weakest link. Your current equipment does not warrant the money you want to spend on speakers & preamps suggested to you. Change your dealer before purchasing anything. He should know better! If you don't believe me ask the opinion of a few other fellow audiophiles on these pages. |
805s are great rears the 802s with correct power are the best this producer has ever heard. |
Thanks to everyone for their kind advice. My wife and I are relative newcomers to 'high end audio'and appreciate the help! Our dealer let us borrow a pair of Revel Gems to audition over the weekend. They are much more expensive than the B&W 805's but they have us pretty well "hooked". For the first time I really hear new sounds on records I've owned for twenty-five years. It's pretty exciting! We're not sure we can afford the Revel Gems, but they sure sound wonderful! Our other equipment includes a "VSP Labs" amplifier, which I think sounds very nice - (I posted a seperate question looking for info on this amp). Our pre-amp is from PS Audio and will soon be upgrade to a Mark Levinson 380S or Krell KRC-HR or the Sonic Frontiers SF usnit. We also have a Nakimichi Tape Deck which is superlative. Our turntable is from Denon. It is not 'audiophile' caliber, but it seems to work convenieand well. Thanks for al he help. KVolk |
Thanks to everyone for their kind advice. My wife and I are relative newcomers to 'high end audio'and appreciate the help! Our dealer let us borrow a pair of Revel Gems to audition over the weekend. They are much more expensive than the B&W 805's but they have us pretty well "hooked". For the first time I really hear new sounds on records I've owned for twenty-five years. It's pretty exciting! We're not sure we can afford the Revel Gems, but they sure sound wonderful! Our other equipment includes a "VSP Labs" amplifier, which I think sounds very nice - (I posted a seperate question looking for info on this amp). Our pre-amp is from PS Audio and will soon be upgrade to a Mark Levinson 380S or Krell KRC-HR or the Sonic Frontiers SF usnit. We also have a Nakimichi Tape Deck which is superlative. Our turntable is from Denon. It is not 'audiophile' caliber, but it seems to work convenieand well. Thanks for al he help. KVolk |
The N805 costs $2000/pr. In this price range, you may try the ProAc Response 1SC and the Focus FS-68 Signature. I listened to these two before and I like them very much. Other possible choices that I haven't auditioned before include the Aerial 5, the Hales Transcendent 1, and the Platinum Solo. It would be better if you state what amplifier you are using with your future monitors. |
I think that the Proacs mentioned would be a good bet. But also consider the following speakers: For the price of the B&W 805's (which I examined, but did not demo last weekend) you should consider a pair of meadowlark shearwater speakers (avoids buying a stand, but is a transmission line 2-way speaker) (see www.meadowlarkaudio.com), the gershmanacoustic x-1 monitor (see www.gershmanacoustics.com), or the nohr reversed horn 7.0 monitor speakers (see www.nohr.com). Two of these speaker use the scanspeak driver/tweeter combination which are world renowned drivers and it easy to hear why. The nohr is a radical look, which I doubt your wife will like. But I think that Nohr speakers and meadowlarks are THE best deals on the market. The gershman speaker I am not familiar with except that I own the Gershman Acoustics Avante Garde speakers (a 3-way versus 2-way) and also a pair of meadowlark kestrels speakers. These are by far some of the best speakers on the market. The Gershman speakers are known for their ability to maintain proper tonality on piano pieces, perhaps of interest to you. If you live in the Denver area, I can hook you up with Michael Cellani, formerly of Proac who designs PHENOMENAL two-way speakers. He sells for about $1,700/pair. Very traditional looks. Email me at Todd_Herrington@Parsons.com if I can help with info/experiences. Good luck. |
If I were you I'd give a try to Audio Physic Steps SLE with out a doubt in my mind that better than all mini monitors form Pro Ac....good luck |
1) Sound Dynamics RTS-3 is the best small speaker under $1000. They image beautifully and extremely musical. They are not fussy with set up either. They sound good almost where ever you drop them. You can buy them at audio advisor for $280 + stands. 2) For the best mini monitors on the market you should try the proac studios. They are unbelieveably musical, open and image in 3D. But you need care in placing them and they really require top notch stands. You have to consider if the rest of your system is good enough. |
Check Tyler Acoustics reference monitors. Go to TylerAcoustics@mindspring.com. I have a pair of them and they are so detailed. He uses SEAS and Scanspeak drivers and very good crossovers. He is building me a subenclosure for each speaker and guarentees that it will sound better than the Wilson Watt Puppies. If you have any questions email me at sam98d6@aol.com Sam |
