Considering Towers in the $3000 range


I am strongly considering a purchase. I am considering the following in no particular order in a large room with high ceilings which I would be driving with a Cary Audio SL-100:

Wharfedale EVO 4.4

Dali Oberon 9

ELAC Carina FS247.4

Monitor Audio Silver 500 7G

 

Looking for opinion based on experience. My listening preferences are eclectic.

Thanks in advance for responses.

 

somebike

Hey. Did you decide on a speaker?

I just heard the Wharfedale EVO 4.4: Nice. Mellow sound. The sales guy hooked it up to a Rogue Cronus Magnum III integrated amp. Very nice paring, great synergy.

The Monitor Audio speakers are bright to me. Don't like them.

If you didn't decide and are still looking, check out Sonus Faber Lumina III or V. They are a 'little' forward sounding, but not in your face and certainly not fatiguing. The midrange is the star of the show. You got to hear it for yourself because words will not do it justice. There is also the KLH Model 5. A warmish sounding speaker. It's a toss up for me between the Sonus Faber or the KLH, but I am probably going with the SF, they play nice at low volume too.

I would put Klipsch, Totem and Dynaudio on the list, from my experienced based high opinion

 

Just make sure you demo what you are considering. Never buy blind! It never works out! I mean unless you have the cash then go for it, but if you don't like them you'll have to sell them, and if you don't have the cash flow, you'll be stuck with them for a while until you upgrade.

I was a big Klipsch fan. I agree high sensitivity speakers do dynamics far better than any other speakers, period. But their drivers aren't all that sturdy and great, just look on YouTube at all the people who buy them and end up adding internal bracing in the cabinets, and dampening the cheap thin metal drivers. 

Dynaudio speakers are nice, but they require so, so much power to make them sing, that's just not my cup of tea. And Totem, Eh, maybe for a bedroom, but they suck at hard rock, and rock and home theater forget it.

This is so subjective. For me, I think Sonus Faber are pretty sweet. 

I heard a lot of good things about Salk, but it's online purchase only, albeit I think you get a 45 or 60 day in home trial, I think. If you don't, I wouldn't bother with them. 

I was looking at Fyne F501 and F502 before but ended up with stand mounts instead. I was close to buying one, they were great small towers.

 

I appreciate all the great suggestions and have enjoyed researching each one of them.  The Monitor Audio Silver 500 7G's arrived today and I was able to get them set up for a listening session with my buddy tonight.  I have 60 days to decide whether to keep them.  I have consistently heard that they strongly benefit from break in which should take 50-70 hours.  That said, they were surprisingly good out the box and my friend commented on how effortlessly they filled the room.  I am looking forward to spending more time with them.  For what it's worth, we spent about an hour with a variety of rock music followed by an hour of jazz.  Speaking of which, if you enjoy jazz and have never listened to a A Night In Tunisia from Johnny Grffin's Bush Dance, I highly recommend it.