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


I am looking to audition some speakers that are not massive in size with a large sound stage and lots of air that are fairly detailed in the $5-10k range that will sound good off of an Ayre V-3 amp and Krell Showcase Pre/Pro. They will be used for 90% home theater. Any suggestions?
kmiller5

Showing 2 responses by macdadtexas

Used Vandersteen 5A's and 5A sigs. Klipsch horns, Innersound Eros MKIII (used), Magnepan 3.6R's, Paradigm S8 signature (awesome speaker, period), Gallo Ref3.

I like Maggies, you could prob find a used pair of 20.1's for 10k, and many people, myself included, feel that is the pinnacle of speakers at any price. Amplifying them correctly is going to run another 10K plus as well though.
I completely disagree with Cinematic systems regarding the Gallos Ref III, and pretty much every reviewer who has ever listened to them disagrees as well. I owned these for a couple of months, and they were spectacular speakers, regardless of price. When taking into account the abilty to run the second coil on the woofer as a sub, they are an AMAZING cinema speaker. If you match the very affordable Gallo Due (actually you could use 2) for a center and rears as well, you get an incredibly affordable Reference level system. With the amplification you have, this would be an amazing set up.

With regard to the "Dipoles make the the worst theater speakers" they have obviously not read the Absolute Sounds review of their ULTIMATE surround system, which is all Magnepan speakers.

Dali's are great speakers, but they do not have the soundstage and air-ness of Maggies. That is Maggies are known for. No cone speaker can match a planar for what you are looking for. Maggies, Innersound, Soundlab, or really top of the line, I hate to say it, Martin Logan's are what you are looking for.

Vandy's are really, really nice too.