Best speaker used under $1000 for piano rec.


Hi,

I have some views on this topic based on numerous speakers I have owned over the last 25 years, but would appreciate others' views and experience on the best speakers for reproducing piano music. I know that this topic has been discussed at some length here, but I'm on a budget now and need to stay under $1000 new or used. I have a smallish room and now have budget/mid SS electronics. Thanks,

TLH
tlh28
Ascend Acoustics has free shipping both ways for a 30 day trial on Sierra 1s until early Nov.
I will second the Dynaudio recommendation...the model Focus 140 is also excellent with piano.

I will also add several BBC type monitors such as the Harbeth Compact 7, Harbeth Monitor 30, Rogers LS 3/5A, and Spendor SA1.
I've seen several good speakers currently listed on Agon for under 1K that reproduce piano quite nicely. Snell as mentioned above, E III, or there was a pair of K.5's (large bookshelf). Also there is a pair of their QBX towers. Snells are hard to beat at any of their price points. There are several floor standing NHT's out their - the original Ken Kantor designs, outstanding for piano. Frieds are probably the best of the money for piano, but they're hard to find for sale, people buy em' and keep em'
You might want to check out Ohm Acoustics - www.ohmspeakers.com. You can by a new pair of MWTs right around your budget. These should suffice for a small room (cubic foot ranges for each model are posted on the web site). I am currently auditioning another model in the Walsh series. Although it is much too early to come to any conclusions, piano reproduction is a strong point. Another important point is that this model line is all designed to sound identical, from the least to most expensive. The size differences in the models is only for different sized rooms. They are sold factory-direct with a 120-day (!) home trial period. Nothing to loose but the round-trip shipping.

A used speaker in your price range that might work would be the Vandersteen 2Ce Signature (the current model, 2Ce Signature II might be hard to find for $1K). These do need to be placed away from the side and front walls, and they are physically fairly large, though.