Best sub 4000 dollar standmount.


I'm in the market for a standmount with a big sound that can work in a samller room yet have a big enough sound for a larger one too. I have amps with plenty of power. A musical Fidelity KW550 and a Krell Kav 400xi also.

I'm particularly interested in The Usher 718be and how it compares specifically to the Sonus Faber Auditor M, Dynaudio Contour S1.4 and possibly the Proac D2.

Any opinions greatly appreciated.
neilb
So, about the speakers you actually mention...

You mention you have a smaller room, which is never good, even with monitors.

The Dynaudio S 1.4 (I used to own them, bought new) certainly have a big, dynamic, room filling sound - but they have 2 problems with smaller rooms, first the huge rear port in back will cause boomy bass in a smallish room, (40-50hz bloat), and Dynaudios don't open up and sound dynamic and full unless there is some current running through them, which small rooms prevent because of room gain and reflections.

if your room is 16 x 16 or larger, then by all means, I think you'd be happy with the Dynaudios...

The sonus faber is a much different sound... it has much more of its own sonic signature, which I find a bit muddy and warm in general. I prefer speakers that are more clear and transparent, so I am hesitant to recommend sonus faber, but a lot of people like them, so I would just say to listen first before buying with these...

I haven't heard the ushers or the Proacs. Good luck. I've been trying to get big, bold, dynamic and powerful sound in smallish rooms for several years, and I'm more and more realizing that it's not an easy thing to do.
the friend of mine that has the revel gems has them in a small room and they sound amazing, huge soundstage, well beyond the room boundries, one of the better systems i have heard. the rest of the system is belcanto dac3, rogue audio m150 tube monoblocks, revel b15 sub. lots of room treatment also helps . good luck ! chrissain
Interesting to finally hear a comment on the auditor M. It seems they haven't really set the forums on fire. Not suprising in some ways as its a lot of money for one 6 inch driver and there are lots of options at that price. For example, for just a little more you can buy some Thiel CS 2.4's. Thats a lot more speaker for your money.

The S 1.4's haven't gone down too well in the UK mostly due to placement issues and the fact that homes have smaller rooms there. The Focus range is very popular though. In the UK now Audio Physic seem to be very popular as well as neat and living voice amongst the more well healed. Usher has only just arrived.
ok, just last night I was at my friends house , the one with the revel gems, holy crap does he have his system dialed in !!! it is one of the best sounding systems I have ever heard, just amazing. the fact that you can now buy the gems for under 4 grand is just a steal, they just simply kill anything even close to that price ! you will need a good sub to go with them though, he has the revel b15 and it works really well, I wish the rest of you could of heard what i did, becouse you might not belive it . chrissain
I wouldn't buy anything until I heard Green Mountain Audio's offerings. I have a pair of Europas and they are pretty unreal. Can't imagine how good the new models are.