Best Speakers to Audition in the $5-10k range?

For very high quality home theater, you'd want main speakers that are free from coloration; disappear as the apparent sound source; give a wide listening area; have enormous macrodynamic capability without becoming harsh; and finally have excellent clarity, detail and articulation. This is a rare combination.

May I suggest you consider the GedLee "Summa", designed by the world's foremost authority on waveguide design, Dr. Earl Geddes (I'm Dr. Geddes' first dealer for this speaker). The price is currently under $5,000 a pair in matte black finish (for minimal light reflection in a home theater application). Here's a link you can follow to learn more about the Summa:

http://www.gedlee.com/new_loudspeaker.htm

For more in-depth discussion, take a look at the white paper accessible through that page. I think Dr. Geddes' design (using high quality prosound drivers in a unique enclosure that gives very well-controlled radiation patterns) is extremely intelligent and I think I understand it well enought to respond to most questions if you have any.

Dr. Geddes uses three Summas (front mains + center behind a screen) in his system, and has done several custom home theater rooms for clients using Summas. He has also written an excellent book on home theater, linked here:

http://www.gedlee.com/Home_theatre.htm (This really is a different link, even though for some reason it looks like the same one.)

Best of luck in your quest!

Duke

Hello Wellfed,

For quite some time now I've wanted to add a high output, high efficiency speaker to my little line-up. I've heard most of the big names out there, and some of them are very good indeed. The GedLees outperform other high-efficiency systems I'm familiar with (up to about fifteen or twenty grand) in freedom from coloration, transparency (disappearing as the sound source), coherence, and width of soundstage. Their imaging is better than I've heard in a multiway high efficiency system, but I have heard single-driver high efficiency systems that image better (unfortunately single-driver systems can't handle complex passages with the ease that a good multi-way can). Tonal balance and timbre are excellent, and you can hear very very deep into the recording. The Summas excel on human voice, and are non-fatiguing to listen to for hours on end.

The GedLees have limitations in two areas: First, they are minus 6 dB at about 35 Hz, so they really don't do the very bottom octave - you'd need a sub for some applications. Second, many people don't like their appearance. The materials and design are all chosen for acoustic reasons, not aesthetic ones, and unfortunately for us it seems that aesthetics plays a fairly significant role for many people. Of course there are those looking for maximum sonic bang-for-the-buck and/or who like the form-follows-function lines of the GedLee, or who will hide the speakers behind a screen or by turning out the lights (as in a dedicated home theater room).

Efficiency is about 95-96 dB/1 watt ballpark, and nominal impedance is about 8 ohms (minimum 6.5 ohms as I recall). The drivers are high quality prosound drivers from B&C of Italy that would never be pushed anywhere near the limits of their linear range in a home application.

Earl may well offer the speaker with the crossover optimized for either a high damping factor or low damping factor amplification.

Hope this helps - feel free to call me if you'd like to shoot the breeze sometime.

Duke
(504) 866-1730