Best Speakers Down to Midbass for 5.1? ~ $2K/Speaker


To build a 5.1 system, my goal is to find speakers which resemble neutrality/tonality/warmth mixture (e.g. Acoustic Research A3 acoustic suspension speaker??), and with a large 3D soundstage, airy highs with great dispersion, accurate imaging, lifelike superbly textured midrange and midbass and very good x & y off-axis response.

But bass response of the main speakers need only extend to the low midbass, as subs like these will handle content below ~65Hz.

https://jamesromeyn.com/speakers/subwoofers/debra/

https://www.rythmikaudio.com/F12SE.html

https://gr-research.com/product/sub-series-double-trouble-with-flatpacks-copy/

My room is 20 ft x 16 with a triangular ceiling from 11 ft down to 8 ft. And as those like Geddes, Toole and Welti would still consider my ~ 2850 cu ft room to be small, I doubt that my ears could safely tolerate SPLs over 50db @ 6 ft from ~ 2kHz to 700Hz, assuming properly mixed music recordings and DTS-MA movie soundtracks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour

And also because given 5 speakers, every speaker adds at least 3 db to the apparent and/or actual acoustic loudness.

Therefore, the mains would not have to be designed to play at high volume nor to conform to any such THX standards. Thus, speakers with only ~ 86db/watt sensitivity @ 3 ft should be inconsequential in my case.

Another concern: In reviewing this HT configuration from Triad      

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/triad-inroom-gold-home-theater-speaker-system-page-2  it was noted that

As you'd expect, the LCR and Center speakers exhibit a superb timbral match - although the overall sound is balanced to err slightly on the warm side of neutral, rather than providing the hyper detail you sometimes get from speakers………… A slightly warmish tonal balance like this is often a good fit for many movies……………”.

Similarly, a reviewer found this to be a speaker with warmth but without sacrificing HF detail.  https://www.audioholics.com/bookshelf-speaker-reviews/sv-61r/measurements

And as my 5.1 system will chiefly be used for DVD and BD movie audio would not such speakers be better choice for a surround system than, for example, Genelec, ATC or others which may tend to accentuate highs or upper midrange in pursuit of maximal detail-and which might therefore further accentuate sonic flaws like clipping distortion from overloaded mixes or other such errors hardly uncommon with vintage or low budget movie and TV soundtracks?

Unless I’m wrong, those Triad and RBH speaker models seem to be the kind that most movie/TV viewers with sensitive ears would select for DVD/BD movie sound.

However, the major reason for this post is to request any other recommended any other bookshelf/ stand mount models which you believe might ideally satisfy all of the described speaker performance parameters even better. And while the off-axis response won't be so great if you're standing, it looks like those RBH SV-61R’s will be hard to beat, at least for ~ $1K/speaker.

My budget is ~ $2K/speaker.    

And recommendations for a center speaker?

 

ajant