Best Speakers for Symphonic Line electronics

Turek,

Curious to know if you've done the RG3 vs Erleuchtung comparison side by side.

I am interested to discuss further on your observation.

Just wanted to thank everyone. I'll have to check into all of these speakers.
Gregm, Do you think the Audio Artistry Beethoven grands sounded better than the Belcantos with the Kraft 250?

Bombay I hadn't noticed you got a CAT for your RG4's! That's a magical combo -- K.S. MUST have used SL to voice his pre... Good show and, please, forget "upgrades"!!

In re, speakers, my most exalting experience with dynamic speakers, was with a pair of Audio Artistry Beethoven Grands driven by 250. For anyone with the skills to diy them (very difficult) or the money to buy them ($+20k?)...

Cool Turek! Another Symphonic Line user.

I have the RG4 Mk3 connected to a CAT pre. I have talked quite a bit w/ Gregm re. this combination. The amps drive B&W DM604S2 speakers, which are quite cheap I'm sure in your opinion (!). However, the sound I got from them was very delightful 95% of the time. Since I do not listen much to classical music the congestion of sound from these speakers rarely showed up. B&Ws like tubes from my experience & the Nautilus tweeter forgives quite a bit when there are some tubes in the signal path. Sound was very non-fatiguing to my ears - I can listen to music 3 hrs at a stretch in my dedicated room at which pt. I need to get up ('cuz there's no blood flowing in my cheeks!!!).
You might not like B&W speakers - that's another matter - but I do recommend them w/ the limited experience that I have.
A friend's friend has a Kraft 250 dual mono which I have listened to. He drives Newform Research R645 speakers. These are ribbon tweeter speakers. Sound is very relaxed - too laid back for me but he loves it. He used to drive Aerial 10T with the Kraft 250 but found them too much in-your-face.
I concur w/ Gregm re. the Vandy 5A - when I heard it w/ a Rowland Model 10 amp (Theta Cassanova pre & Theta transport & DAC), I was not impressed w/ the sound. The sound was too "distant" for me as tho I was sitting beyond the 20th row in a concert hall. I couldn't get involved w/ the music. Maybe the amp-speaker didn't synergize?

However, some sort of time-aligned & minimal phase speaker would be musically correct & non-fatiguing. How about some of the GR Research speakers or VMPS or Green Mountain Audio?

Hope this helps you some.

Hi Turek -- I'm far from biz connections with the audio manufacturers! I met Mr Gemein of SL, talked about jazz & Brahms, tried his equip & liked the sound.
I also have a pair of RG & Kraft mono's at home. (I also have other amps -- this is a disclaimer)
As to speakers:
I admire the Vandies for their "correctness", but I'm not enamoured by the overall sonic result. It's a matter of taste, really.
For me, the Soundlabs are another matter. The big ones are magical (but don't drive them TOO loud with a 250 -- the 250 outputs lots of voltage when asked for, it could damage the speakers). The Belcanto are not that far removed, soundwise, from the Soundlabs. They have more dynamics, while the Soundlabs have better nuances, reminiscent of a "full-range" Quad.

You noticed my preference for stats. Take what I say with a grain of salt. Your 250 will drive them anyway, so it's up to your ears. Cheers

Gregm,
I had the RG3 MK3, but much prefer the tube pre. The sound stage is broader, focus is better and it eliminated a harsh high pitch (I'm being very picky. the RG3 MK3 is a great preamp.)Also all music sounds more real now.
When I first got the Kraft I had Audio physics Avanti Century speakers and I thought it was a terrible match. They were very bright sounding and everything sounded kind of light weight. To remedy that, I bought the Gershman Avant Garde's (They are known to be non fatiguing - much better in my opinion). Now to me most music sounds natural and accurate.
I should probably leave my system alone, but I'm really curious how much better top notch speakers would sound.
Other than the Belcanto's, I'm considering the Vandersteen 5A or a big Sound Lab speaker.What do you think? would one of these be better than the belcanto's. Any other speaker suggestions? I'm looking for music to sound as real as possible. Not too warm or bright.
Just curious, how do you know so much about Symphonic Line? are you a hobbyist or are you in the business some how?

Thanks

Hi Turek -- I'm pretty familiar with the K250. In the absence of info on personal tastes, I can only offer general comments. So here goes:
The 250 can drive practically anything and I've rarely (if ever) felt there was a "mismatch" with the different brands of speakers I've heard driven by it. If anything, it was just the inherent "musical character" of the speaker coming out; one either liked the speaker in question, or didn't...
So it all boils down to:
a) the volume limits imposed by your room size and treatment...
b) yr tastes in reproduced sound, i.e. which speakers reproduce what you cannot do without and compromise where you don't really mind!

OTOH, I find (you're the better judge, however) the tube pre a bit on the warm side, stronger in the mid (& upper mid) region So, maybe, speakers that are generally termed as very "flat", "a bit on the dry side", etc, could also apply.

BTW, SL make their own speakers; 1-2 models sound beautiful (but they are expensive)!