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Floorstanding Speakers for Bluesy Rock 5-10k ?

I currently have a sweet little apartment system (Naim/Harbeth/Michell). This system has been wonderfully versatile in the sense that it's compact, highly musical, excellent at low volumes, and provides a very natural and organic presentation. My only gripe is the dynamic range and bass response, but you can only expect so much from a mini-monitor with a 5" driver. I can't change the laws of physics.

I hope to purchase my first home in the near future, and with it, a proper full-range hifi system. This time, I want to get floorstanding speakers that can really bring ALL of my music to life.

I listen to two genres EXCLUSIVELY:

1. Bluesy Rock (Black Keys, White Stripes, Dead Weather, Spoon, Hendrix, etc.)

2. Indie/Folk/Acoustic (Feist, Cash, Conor O'berst, M. Ward, Ben Harper, Sufjan Stevens, etc.)

My current system handles the Indie/Folk/Acoustic music beautifully, but lacks the dynamic range and bass oomph to really bring that bluesy rock sound to life. I'm looking for floorstanding speakers in the $5-10k range that will excel at BOTH of these genres. I still want the immediacy, delicacy and clarity for tracks with solo vocals, but I also need something that's capable of handling that big, fat, crunchy blues sound. In other words, I need floorstanding speakers that can make these 3 albums sound as best as they possibly can:
- Black Keys: Chulahoma
- Feist: The Reminder
- Bright Eyes: I'm Wide Awake it's Morning

To save on costs, I would use my existing electronics and simply move the Harbeth P3ESRs to a different room with a small inexpensive integrated amp. That means the floorstanding speakers would be paired with Naim gear (Nait 5i or XS range) and the Michell TechnoDec. I wouldn't mind UK speakers, if only to keep the British theme alive.

So, what are the likely candidates given my criteria? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
jferreir

Showing 1 response by soix

soix
10,015 posts
 
I'd take a look at the PMC floorstanders in that price range that have been getting some very good reviews (I remember seeing one in Soundstage not too long ago). I think they feature transmission line bass that should satisfy your need for more complete bass response, and as the company has professional speaker roots I'd think they'd offer up good dynamics across the upper ranges as well. Not sure how they'd mate with your amp, so that's something to check out.

Since you like your Harbeths the other option would be to add a couple high quality subs from the likes of SVS, Rhythmic, etc. Of course you'd need to spend some time and $$ on integration hardware to get it dialed in right, so not sure if that's something you'd like to get involved with but it's another option.

Anyway, hope this helps and best of luck.
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