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Excellent Speakers for Classical Music - $2,000 USD Budget

Hello All...I am primarily a classical music listener, leaning more towards solo piano, symphony/orchestral, and chamber music. I have a Rotel A14 integrated amp in which I plan to add mono amplifiers to at some point in the future. I let a pair of B&W 804 Nautilus Speakers slip through my fingers recently. There is a B&W 804 Matrix set for sale near me, but don’t know if the Nautilus are better than the Matrix. So, I let a good pair slip through my fingers. But, it got me to thinking...Are there any other brands that I should consider besides B&W? I had in mind to audition Magenpan and Martin Logan electrostatics. Seeing that I only want to spend around $2,000, does anyone have any ideas?

In my office, I use Adam A7x nearfield monitors with ribbon tweeters, and for headphones, I love my Sennheiser 800S’. I like a nice detailed, clear, and forward sound. Would another ribbon tweeter floor standing set do it for me? Electrostats the way to go?

Looking forward to your suggestions.
128x128dfwbach
yogiboy's avatar
yogiboy
5,656 posts
 
" I’ve heard Harbeth is great, but I had to chance to hear them in Japan and they were too warm for my taste."

If you found the Harbeth is a warm sounding speaker, a Spendor would sure not be the speaker for you! I have owned many of both brands and the Spendor is a warmer sounding speaker than the Harbeth!
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
If you found the Harbeth is a warm sounding speaker, a Spendor would sure not be the speaker for you! I have owned many of both brands and the Spendor is a warmer sounding speaker than the Harbeth!

yogi is not wrong on this statement, but spendor’s product line is bifurcated... the standmount 'classic' series is warmer (old school bbc lossy cabinet design)... floorstanding 'd' series (d7 d9) is a much modern hifi sound (rigid cabinets etc etc) ... i would say that newer harbeths pretty much fall in the middle of the two spendor lines
dfwbach's avatar
dfwbach OP
7 posts
 
Hello All - Well, I pulled the trigger and bought a new to me pair of B&W 803 S.  I blew my budget a little bit, but I couldn't be happier.  I did a cursory listen to them tonight, and I am hearing such lovely details and layering in my music that I have never heard before.  I also think the Rotel and the B&W are a match made in heaven.  I'll probably have to add a power amp down the line, but I'm in audio heaven.  Thanks for all of your help and advice!
ghdprentice
6,959 posts
 
Congratulations, worth the money. You will have them for a very long time. They are a good match for rotel and sound even better if you decide to add a more powerful amp… or for that matter upgrades to any of your components.  I’ve owned 7 B&W 800 series for over twenty five years. They still sound great after many upgrades in electronics. Don’t for get they will sound even better after 100 hours or more of play as they break in.
edcyn
1,876 posts
 
Enjoy yourself!
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