Best speakers out there for Midrange and Highs


Hello Everyone!

I would like some advise about what are some of the better speakers out there for a 2 channel system - with use of subwoofers.

I currently use a pair of significantly large - full range speakers (Revel Salon2), that go down below 20hz. Even though my speakers go down so low, I still desired more air movement / sound pressure in the room - to make the sound as palatable as possible.

I found that combining the Salon2 with an external active crossover (JL Audio CR-1) and 2 Subs (JL Audio F113s) sounds excellent. Soundstage is close to like being at a concert, and surprisingly to me, was that imaging has not been lost. Furthermore, adjusting the phases on the subwoofers basically made the speakers and subs act like a singularity and helped the system sound even more exciting. I cross over at 90hz with a 24Db decay.

However, can’t help thinking about the obvious - that I am waisting all that available bass capability on the Salon2s. So I was wondering what speakers out there could be even more appropriate for my configuration. These speakers need not go down so low - Down to 55HZ would be more than enough. On the other hand, Salon2s also have a very strong midrange and highs, so I would like the new speaker to be either:

1) Better in the mids and highs (whether same price as the Salon2 or possibly more expensive), or
2) As good in the mids and highs as the Salon2s but less expense

Very much appreciate your recommendations.

Thank you in advance!

Ag insider logo xs@2xjmarshak

Showing 3 responses by hombre

hi jmarshak thanks for the nice response. I’ve been an audiophile for a long time and I’ve figured out that much of what audiophiles claim to hear from amps and CD players is actually a product of their own imagination it’s just that they’re unaware of this phenomenon.If they were blindfolded they wouldn’t be able to distinguish one amp from another. They listen to a four-figure CD player and they imagine that it must sound better than a three-figure CD player because it’s more expensive. I’ve read a lot of this kind of nonsense on the stereophile forums.I've argued with Robert Harley in the pages of TAS about the "sound quality" of digital interconnects. He wrote an absurd review of a four-figure interconnect in which he waxed poetic about the sound quality of it.I told him he was full of it. 
I'm now listening to a new pair of Maggie LRS speakers and a new Schiit Vidar amp and this is the best mids and highs I've ever had. I've got the bass routed to a sub with the crossover set to 80hz so the maggies are freed up from the heavy lifting and my understanding is they don't go much lower than 50 hz anyway. The LRS is not a speaker for loud rock music (which is ok for me) but sounds amazing with everything else. They are very intolerant of poorly recorder source material like compressed CD and low-res files like youtube music which sounds pretty crappy on the maggies. The Vidar amp runs warm but as long as I keep the volume somewhat limited it does fine. Still capable of room filling volume. I have ,a couple times, caused the amp to shut down from thermal overload, but only when turning the volume up really loud. But as soon as I back off on the volume a little and turn the Vidar back on it's immediately good to go. This system seems to sound better everyday but I'm not sure whether it's the system or my brain that's breaking in.My previous speakers were Polk Rtia5 floorstanders which were great for loud rock and pop and very forgiving of crummy source material everything sounded good on them although they didn't have the transparency and detail of the new maggies. The music seems to be floating in the air in the room with the LRS speakers, not coming from speakers at all. If regular speakers project sound like a flashlight the LRS is more like an open picture window. I also have a pair of ELAC B6 speakers in a closet upstairs which maybe I'll hook up this weekend they're also great for loud pop and rock. But the maggies look so cool you can kind of see through them and see the ribbon drivers. The highs are superior to any wooden box speaker I've ever heard. And female vocalists sound amazing.
hi fleschler, I'm guessing you'll have the same experience I'm having. My Polk floorstanders sounded really good to me, powerful with lots of dynamic punch and everything sounded good even poor source material. The maggie LRS is completely different. It's all about sound quality. So when you listen to high quality source material they sound beautiful and very different from what you're used to.I'm still glad I got the maggies I just think I need more time to get used to them. But if you're like me you're going to need a good powered sub. It makes a world of difference with the maggies. They sound much more dynamic. Without the sub they sound anemic. But not a ported sub, they sound crappy. Get a good sealed sub. Mine is a B&W powered sub with 400 watts built in. It really kicks. But in order to  make it mesh with the maggies I keep it turned down somewhat, otherwise it overpowers the maggies and messes up the sound.