I am looking for a pair of easy to drive speakers that have excellent bass response for rock music as well as good imaging. At the moment I have a pair of B&W CDM-1 NT's driven by a McIntosh 6450 integrated. I need a little more punch than what I have right now. I have had 2CE's, VR4jr's, Tylers, Meadowlarks & Triangles. I loved the VR4's the most & felt the Triangles had a simular sound to the B&W's but lacked the bass. I need to stay around $1500 used & eventually want to try some of the low cost tubed integrateds in the 40-60 wpc range hence the reason for higher efficiancy speakers. I also want to switch back to a tower speaker.
I loved the VR-4jr's the most but sold them to "downsize", I also really enjoy the B&W's but I am looking for a change. I am looking for a larger speaker with greater impact, something I miss from the jr's.
Hi ! For $1500 you can try Zu Druids. They are very easy to drive ( 101 db - actually after my friend test them they were more like 98 db ) . We drove them with a $100 digital amp. at 10 watts per channel. No problem - it worked like a charm. The characteristics of Druides are : 10 inch. woofer with build in horn loaded supertweeter , very high efficiency , small foot print & and awesome cool look ( a specially in Ferrari red ). Very good in separating different dynamics. Excellent for ROCK. Happy lisenig !!!
Also, I forgot to mention that I really enjoy my B&W's & would love to stay within the line but don't feel they are efficient enough for what I am trying to accomplish. At this time I don't feel like going for a monster SS amp, I am missing tubes & if I do switch from the Mac it would only be for a tube amp.
How about a nice Vintage pair of Klipsch Forte 2 or Cornwalls...Maybe not quite as refined as some big $ speakers but all else is pretty darn good......
The Revel suggestion is an interesting one, looks like they might fit the bill. I have never heard a pair of Revel's, how would you describe their "house" sound?
I'll 2nd the Druid recommendation (my current speakers), but good luck finding a pair for $1500. Also, if your looking for more bass I would 2nd the Klipsch Heritage recommendations, i.e. Cornwalls, LaScallas, or Chorus. All in your price range used.
I've owned the Cornwall's (I & II) and LaScalla's. I regret to this day letting them go. As a matter of fact, I'm on the look out now for nice pair of used Cornwall II or III's to be used in a 2nd two channel system (more than likely tube based). One of the all time great speakers IMO.
I also owned the KLF-30's, but only for a couple of weeks. To my ears they were harsh and hard to listen to, not so with the CW's or LS's. As a matter of fact, except for the Heritage line just about every other Klipsch I've heard sounded a bit harsh (I've not heard many of their recent models).
I'm currently using an Acurus A200 with my Druids with excellent results. Really brings out the bass capabilites of these speakers. The Druids are keepers. Good bass, but nothing like what you will get with the Klipsch (15" bass drivers).
I've not heard the Zu's with tube equipment, but it seems most owners do use tubes for these. However, as Mrjstark mentioned, I too found them to not be quite as sensative as rated. Still very good in this regard.
Jack dotson . I meant used . New ones - I can probably get it for you, for around $2400. I also know that Zu is going to increase they prices - soon . With Melody, Cybers or CJ they sounded just wonderful. Tubes bring a little extra sweetness that solid state is missing ( at last in Druids case ). Overall great speaker.
I can make an arrangements but you would have to let me know a couple days in advance if you decide to do so. Gay live in Jersey about 20 min. from Manhattan. He also knows owners of Zu speakers very well ( he was working with them on the room during HE Show in N.Y this year ). It's very, very possible that if you decide to go with Zu ( anyone - from the Zu line speakers ) he could give you a nice deal. Next week I'm going to Florida for 8 days. You can email me at www.mrjstark@msn.com if you want to make the arrangements & contact info.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
