As a lifelong diehard Dynaudio fan, I only very recently have gone another direction. My current lineup consisted of Dynaudio Evoke (50's. 25C, 10's-I do both audio and HT). With the recent 30% sale on Revel Performa3 I felt I had to at least give them a listen as I have never heard Revel speakers before. Heard and owned many others including B&W. Dynaudio stood far out above all the rest. Went to my local dealer and had a very long session with Revel Performa3 208's. I bought them on the spot (along with the 208C and M105's). Hard as it was for me to believe and fathom, for the first time I would no longer own Dynaudio's. If you like the Dynaudio sound have a listen to Revel. I found they had all the qualities I so loved about that sweet Dynaudio sound, and added to it. I'd never heard a speaker imnage and disappear like Dynaudio does. Revel not only does that but I can only describe their soundstage and image as 3D like. It's like listening in 3D.
I have had the Revel's for 3 months now and they just continue to amaze me. I will be sadly listing my Evoke's and saying good bye to Dynaudio. This is not at all a knock on Dynaudio but rather a testament to Revel. If you like that Dynaudio sound just give a listen to Revel...
Best of luck and remember to enjoy the journey-that is the fun part😁!
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Are you a form follows function guy or form then function? In the price range you specified, if you insist of beaustiful woodwork and aethetics, you’ll pay over half for cabinetry finished like a 17th century restored antique. If you’re looking for the best sound, eschew the polished finish. You’ll see there this takes you.
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Tekton Moab? It's on sale for $4700 now.
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Unless you plan to upgrade your amp... you really need to find something efficient to mate well with your PrimaLuna.
If your into jazz, classical, acoustic sounds... or... even some rock... you’d be pleased with the Klipsch speakers.
If rock... the Zu’s...
But... if you are up for upgrading your amp to something like Hegel, you will be very pleased with Harbeth M30, or 5 SHL, or Vandeersteens.
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Good comment @bassdude
Even if he stays low power, there are nice upgrades from PL.
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Though these posts usually end up as a confirmation bias for people's own purchases or wishlists, let me add my own to the mix. For some of the best monitor speakers I've ever heard, I went with GR-Research NX-Studio monitors. They have all the detail, tone and texture in music you could ever want, surprisingly play very well with whatever gear you power them with, and respond very well with placement restrictions. You could DIY a set for about $1600, or they are now offered as complete built options for $3K.
Closest to them performance and sound wise is Fritz speakers, but I'd still say they're not quite on the same level to get that air and space soundstage detail that the NX-Studios do so well. Just my humble opinion.
-Lloyd
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"what sounds best" is what you like. I have listened to a boat load of speakers. From Wilsons, to Sonus to Dynaudio, Josephs, Paradigm, etc, etc.
I have settled on a few for my tastes. My tastes run on lively, in the room performers, good sound stage and correct timbre. If I can feel bass, that’s enough for me as I like it articulated and w punch w/o bloat.
I’ve heard your amp. Your amp is kind of "just there" for me. Nothing spectacular. I am not into "beautiful" sounding as much as accurate so no "rounding off" for me. So with all that said I can recommend two speakers: For dead on "truth"...Verity. For a combination of truth with just a wee bit coloration to sweeten things up just a tad but still remains very flat..Proac monitors.
If you have a clue with what I like and it parallels your tastes, it’s a starting point.
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@richardmathes: I haven't read through this entire thread. As such, I'm sure there are/were many great speakers mentioned and/or recommended here and this is probably redundant, to some extent. However, that being said, a few years ago, I spent LOTS of time in reading, researching and orchestrated critical listening sessions in order to replace my two-channel system speakers. As with most things HiFi, proper component matching and careful consideration of your room dimensions and acoustic properties are very, very important factors here. Here are some of the speakers I did serious seat-time with during my quest and liked very much: Monitor Audio + Focal + Sonus Faber + Martin Logan + Vienna Acoustics (would need to stretch that budget range for new and needs beefy amp) + Paradigm + Aerial Acoustics (would need to stretch that budget for new and needs beefy amp) + Vandersteen + Dynaudio + Spendor (needs careful amp-matching and room placement) + GoldenEar Triton + PSB + Revel. The good reviews are too numerous to mention. That, you'll need and should do for yourself.
As you are probably already aware, speakers are likely THE MOST personal or subjective choice for a HiFi enthusiast or audiophile. Only YOUR ears can and will tell you what sounds "best"
Enjoy the journey!
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Audiovector R1 Arrete with incredible AMT speaker.
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I agree most with @bigtwin - up-level by buying more expensive gear, used, in great condition. I'm one of the rare fans, here, of Meridian speakers and have never paid anywhere near full price for them. Find the brands that excite you and look for deals (sometimes, for me, it involved waiting a while; now, with the audiophile business releasing a lot of new, must-have products it's much easier for me to get great gear as [those of greater means] move to the next level); the patience pays off in getting products you never would have considered ... but listen/consider first and have some fun on the journey.
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LOL, we have as many nominees as we have posts. Perhaps testimony to a good question, right?
@retrocrownfan You nailed it. The OP didn’t feel it necessary to share what sound characteristics he’s looking for, and the result is recommendations from all over the place that may well have nothing in common with his own tastes — like throwing darts at a board blindfolded and mostly useless. As with all posts here, you get what you give.
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I got my used Magnepan 20.1s right here on Audiogon for $5500 ($12,500 new). I'm extremely happy with that deal and I don't think better sounding speakers can be found under $10,000.
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I really like my Canton Reference 9k stand mounts. Fantastic finish in walnut and a great sound. Also available in black or white if that matches your room better. More bass than most small speakers and voices are wonderful.
https://youtu.be/g3TRcjgTE-M
I also looked at Fyne. F700 and F1-5 was over my budget but may fit on yours.
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I have been very happy with my Harbeth SHL5+; I imagine a previously owned pair from a good source would be in your price range, and/or that a model by them in your price range might be worth a listen (If my memory is correct I compared them to Dynaudio and Sonus Faber when I purchased them). Bought mine from Sound by Singer in NYC, they always have discounted gear on offer so might be worth checking the webpage. Tell us what you decide, and enjoy!
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(And +1 for suggestions on buying used gear in good / trusted condition - it’s how I built much of my system, and it has worked well for me)
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+1 for the Philharmonic BMR Towers
I had Martin Logan Monoliths 2 for over 20 years. They were a little lacking in bass. A series of events mandated a change. I considered another ML hybrid but decided against them primarily for cost and the WAF wanted smaller speakers. I auditioned ML 60XTI and sent them back.
A significant amount of research led me to the BMR Towers. Unfortunately, Philharmonic sells them direct... no dealers. That makes it tough to audition them. Unless you come over to my house. They don't need a subwoofer.
I strongly recommend them.
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Audiotroy +1 , Havocman -1
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What about the KLH 5 for under 3 grand with the risers?
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Hi @richardmathes
Your room size is similar to mine with hardwood and openings to other rooms. I have not heard a wide range of speakers, but my research led me to Fritz Speakers. I chose the Fritz Carbon 7 SE Mk II. At $2500, they are on the lower end of your budget, but I also paired them with a Rythmik Audio F12SE Subwoofer to fully round out the frequency range.
I have been very pleased.
Good luck!
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I would look at Revel and Sonus Faber. In your price range, alot of good technology is included in the less expensive lines.
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I listen to strictly rock and roll, loudly. Tekton Double impacts upgraded in large room. Smaller secondary room, same rock and roll, great bookshelf speaker, Fritz carbon 7SE, both within your price range. Enjoy Robert TN
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With your amp I would check out Audiokinesis speakers. A very interesting speaker concept, that can sound optimal with tube amps in a moderate / fairly large room. The point here is not just the speakers and their components, but how well they manage to play "with" the room on the one hand, and matching the amp on the other hand.
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Spendor A4 + Rel T/9x using Hi Level Speaker connection
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@bigtwin +1 for goldenear 1.r and they're only $5k now to boot!
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there are a lot of speakers in the price range.
hope your not busy for a year, so many to listen to.
personally, i would save some scratch, and i would get the Acoustic energy 520.
don't pay for a company name. buy what your ears like and make the hair stand on arms and neck, THEN you will have a keeper, regardless of price.
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I was auditioning Focal 936s and 948s roughly at the high end of your range at a dealer who also carries Tannoy and ended up with a pair of Tannoy Cheviots for a bit outside your range, but IMO better. Ons selling point that may apply to you is that my audio advisor pointed out they are a little more forgiving as to speaker placement and listening room issues, and you mentioned a wife who is an interior designer, so you may have limitations based on her requirements.
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Magnepan with a big amp always win!!
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Happy owner for 12 years of Ohm Walsh 2000s. Provided your room volume is compatible, I would highly recommend an in home audition. Ohm gives you 120 days to let them break in and sound their best.
My review is posted in the review section here. Since that review, I have made many upgrades to my electronics, but have never felt I need to upgrade my speakers. The 2000s have made each upgrade easy to hear, for better or worse. Plus, I can barely listen to most box speakers now, since the drivers stand proud of the cabinets on my Ohms. Plus, John Strohbeen, something of a legend in the industry who owns Ohm, is extremely accessible and helpful. All his speakers are built in Brooklyn, NY, too.
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Since everyone's throwing their hat in the ring here's mine:
- Vandersteen Treo (used if you can find them)
- Magnepan 3.7i (used)
- Ohm Tall 3000 - There's a gorgeous pair for sale on eBay right now
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This may be the most asked question in the aspiring audiophile’s mind: best speaker for $2500 ($5000 new in the used market) followed by "but what amp now???"
I know it’s a cliche but Dynaudio Contour 20
(the Evoke 30 is on sale for ridiculous prices btw)
or the Special 40 with a sub, if you can tweak it correctly
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@robshaw and @nyc_ben +1 for Tekton. I have Encores and they thump for Rock and Roll and are easy to drive as well.
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Tekton = cheaply made PA noise boxes for Clowns 🚫
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Tekton Pendragons upgraded with the 7 tweeter array (6 are producing midrange ) or step up to the Moab. Best buy in that $ range.
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For the above party. Do you own them, or have you owned them? I believe I have a rather nice system in a very good acoustic area. I listen to R&R loudly, mid- 90's spl. Have an ATI 6002 amp, Benchmark LA-4 Line amp, Meitner DAC MA-1, Project RS2T Transport, LTA linear power supply for same, SVS SB4000 sub and a pair of upgraded Tekton Double impacts. Stream qobuz also. My area is about 20x30 maybe a little more. It is like going to a rock concert, clear, dynamic, accurate music, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rush, Fleet-wood Mac, YES, Super Tramp, etc. Sounds great to me, couldn't be happier.
As to gimmers post, I think he would agree. Rock on!
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If you have a smaller sized room, check out the KEF LS50 Meta + KEF KC62 sub. I bought the LS50 Meta as a backup speaker after my old LS50 got damaged. The plan was to buy the $10K USD Yamaha NS3000 monitor from Canada. It is very much like the NS5000 that is sold in the USA, but for smaller rooms.
However, after hearing the KEF pairing, I realized the money for the NS3000 was better kept in my pocket.
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Monitor Audio Silver 500 7G. Stereophile didn’t put them in ’Class A’ for nothing. Amazingly clean, effortless sounding great soundstage. Dual-8s with dual ports mean more than adequate and room-tunable bass. For smaller rooms or placement nearer walls, the Silver 300 7G is the same midrange and tweeter with dual-6s and offers the same amazing midrange/treble clarity with bass to the low-mid 40s. My personal daily listen. FWIW, I also have a pair of LS-50s and Maggie LRS, with a subwoofer available, both speakers I admire greatly, but neither worked well in my living room (too big for the near-field LS-50s, couldn’t place the Maggies properly). There’s no shortage of excellent speakers in this price range, but I now have no desire to change. Since the MAs might leave you with a bit of a budget cushion, I would strongly urge you to consider some room treatment panels. I've found Acoustimac https://www.acoustimac.com/ great to deal with - flexible in their offerings, affordable and quick delivery. You'll be amazed at the results, and their fabric and design options make achieving a high SAF entirely possible.
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Lots of great choices mentioned. You may need to consider a large monitor or mid size tower to fill that size room, but if you’re limited to a smaller monitor: Often overlooked but worth investigation are the Aerial Acoustics 5t, Stereophile Class A rated and also super sexy in Ebony finish, ~$3K used if you can find them.
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If I were in your position—needing a speaker that is both aesthetically right and that sounds great—I would start by selecting some possibilities among those that will look good in your room, and then choose from there. There are many choices.
Twice, I was in the position of wanting to choose something that both sounded good and looked good (or at least appropriate) in my living spaces. In both cases I researched and tried a number of options. These choices likely won’t apply to your situation. In a medium-size room I chose the KEF LS60s, which are proving to be a perfect visual and sonic choice for our living situation. The second choice might be controversial, but for our large room we eventually chose the Magnepan 1.7i with the light-colored, natural grill cloth. While the panels are large, the light shade and ability to move them easily if necessary makes the size almost a non-issue. I haven’t had to move them out of the way yet, and they’ve been in use for 8 years.
Enjoy making your choice!
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Four of my friends own Legacy Signature III speakers. Available at $2000 or under. Sure they are used. They beat out every speaker mentioned in terms of dynamics, deep bass, ease to drive (except Harbeths), besides not losing anything of great significance to any of the others. However, they are moderately large size and weight 135 lbs. I have them in my second system (paid $1600). What a bargain!!! I'm looking for another pair for my TV audio room.
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I purchased a used pair of Vandersteen 5As for $6500. At that price, very hard to beat plus as you upgrade your equipment, they will reward you with better sound.
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I was on the same quest as you a few years back - my budget was < $5k a the time which lines up nicely with yours now. I was hoping to - for the 1st time ever - build an affordable high-end system from used high-end but still sounding good gear.
What I found is that when you're talking about "affordable high-end" you really do have 2 different products: the affordable side of high-end (Sonus faber, Vandersteen, Von Schweikert, Revel...) or the high-end side of affordable (B&W, Paradigm, PSB, Canton ...). Typically the affordable makers are better at containing costs and the high-enders are better at well, that. I explored both with an open mind but expected the former to win out.
I listen to a little bit of everything from classical to uplifting trance. I demand a loud and dark midrange that dominates an immersive sound stage. I want nothing but punchy, powerful, tight accurate bass with no bloat and no reflections as well as rapid decay. Give me balanced highs with proper weight that are not loud nor overdone.
I drew in my mind the speaker that would fit my sound: a tall thin rounded-back cabinet, no rear ports, large midrange with low crossover points, dome tweeters, small powerful woofers - 2 - not 3 - and not large - light and punchy. I used that image in my head to search for my speakers but kept an open mind.
I fell in love with the sound of Dave Wilson's speakers but I cannot afford those although used Watt Puppy's sell for the top of your range. I was never able to find and listen to the Von Schweikert VR-4 JR nor the Dynaudio. I did listen to many and I found these speakers to stand out: the Revel Performa line, the Sonus faber Venere and the PSB Imagine (they were only $4k back then). The B&W CM series bass was too heavy for my listening room.
I settled on the Sonus faber Venere 3.0 + the center for $3k brand new. I paired them with Krell Evolution series gear (S-1200U / Showcase 5 amp - balanced - $2600 for both used - sent to Krell and topped off). The sound is unimaginably good for what I paid: warm but lively - I feel the drums as much as I hear them but not in a harsh way. I feel like i'm sitting in the bar / concert listening to the band in front of me.
I did have to use the parametric EQ in the S1200-U to get the speakers to sound how I wanted them: I boosted the midrange and cut the highs (those tweeters are really loud).
Start with Sonus faber, Revel and probably Canton and go from there. But try to imagine what speaker you're looking for up front.
Good luck!
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Thanks you for so much feedback.
I was close to dealing for a pair of Harbeth M30.2, but had second thoughts after finding ASR’s reservations. They would likely have been a short term experience pending release of the LSA 100 Statement in January, with the intention of ordering a pair of Sonus Faber Electa Amator lll later that month.
This week I added a used REL T/9i to my system, adding the SVS SB-3000 Pro to the 7.1 system in the family room. The "new" sub seems like a breath of fresh air for the Dynaudio Special Forty’s.
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So many good speakers, so little money, room, or time to own them all. I’ll vote for what I own: Vandersteen 2CE Signature IIIs, a true classic and great buy. Your spousal unit may not like the looks with the black sock, and if I replace mine I will likely get the Vandersteen Treo CT, which are gorgeous and pass the WAF (wife acceptance factor). The Treo CT is also listed by AbSound as a bargain and classic. (Of course, if I had a bottomless wallet I would ownw other brands too, in my imaginary 2nd/3rd systems!)
AbSound / 50 Greatest Bargains in High-End Audio
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Reading some love here for 3-5 year old second hand, for example, as a category?
Correct!
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Another +1 for Vandersteen 2Ce Sig III.
Wonderful speaker, does everything pretty well, does nothing wrong.
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I few years ago I was in the same price range. But I was committed to staying <$4k. i also committed to buying new from my LD because I wanted to in home demo. I settled on Focal 926 and SF Sonetto III. Both in my room at the same time. SF handled voice and strings better but I ultimately chose the 926 for their ability to bloom music throughout the room and had a nice sweet spot at lower listening levels and abilities with a wider range of music. Plus , as I have stated before here, I just could not get over the SF cheezy plastic base and the way it mounted. A year or so later I picked up a pristine pair of QUAD S-5 off Craigslist for super cheap. I was blown away with that products ability to image. I ultimately kept the 926 and sold the S-5. But months later I realized I really missed the S-5 imaging and the beautiful classic styling. I found my listening taste had changed by the speaker itself. I now dont really place a priority on how hard rock music sounds. I emailed the buyer back and told him I would buy them back and he basically said "HAHA Sorry!". I keep and eye on the used market all the time for those Quads. Pair over on USAudio mart now but they are near new. Proly wait until I can get a better deal. I also have the Dynaudio evoke 10 on my HT setup, I like them. I heard some of their higher end product paired up with Octave amps at RMAF years ago, very impressive. One of their full range products would be a possibility someday. Lover their build quality too.
QUAD S-5 review:
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Of the hundreds of speakers mentioned you would be hard pressed to surpass...
New- Magnepan 1.7i
Used- KEF 205/2
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