Getting a Divorce and can now buy floor standing speakers


So, I am getting rid of the wife (divorce, I am not burying her in the backyard!) and can now get big floor standing speakers. I currently have a Luxman integrated and model 30 Harbeth speakers, and a very good sub. Very neutral/natural sound, can listen for long sessions. But I don't get a very good image, and it seems a little too laid back. I listen mainly to singer-song writers, both male and female. Lots of acoustic/piano.

There are so many floor standers now, I'd like to shorten the list. Any suggestions to start my search? I am located in southern CA, so I can listen to almost any brand. Price should be under $100K. 

I may lose a wife, but so far the freedom/cash is worth it.

Thanks all!

128x128deadhead1000

Showing 3 responses by larryi

My choice would also be low-powered tube and high efficiency speakers.  In your price range, there are not that many commercial choices for horn-based systems.  I like Charney (back loaded horn for single cone driver).  But, you can go custom build that employ vintage compression drivers that are unmatched by anything currently being made.  I would talk to Deja Vu Audio in Virginia.  Custom means they can tune the system to your specific requirements.

With that kind of money in play, you should go to a show or two to sample a wide variety of types of speakers.  That should include large panel speakers (planar magnetics or electrostatics), Multiway systems employing widerange drivers to cover most of the music (e.g., Voxativ), single driver systems (Charney Audio, Songer Audio), omni directional speakers (e.g., MBL), truly oddball unique systems (Bayz Audio), and open baffle designs (PureAudioProject, Cinnamon Audio). 

Of course, as I mentioned above, you should also consider compression horn systems.  I have not heard that many good, modern, compression horn systems except for the tremendously expensive Goto stuff ($100k might get you the drivers for a mono system).  Among the better modern systems are those offered by Volti at prices way below your target.  But, again, custom systems are much better than what is generally available.  If you insist on current, modern production drivers, the best are very expensive (e.g, G.I.P Laboratories in Japan make terrific Western Electric replicas) or ridiculously expensive (e.g., Goto, ALE or Cogent).  Deja Vu Audio that I mentioned above has made systems with only modern G.I.P. drivers, but that can be more expensive than using exotic vintage drivers.  Still, at your price level, a trip to Northern Virginia (suburb of DC) would be worthwhile.

I agree that there should not be imaging issues with the Harbeth speakers.  I've heard several iterations of the 30s and they are all capable of good imaging.  Proper placement of the speaker and the listener and proper treatment of the room should be a priority.  Given the OP's high budget, it might still make sense to replace the Harbeths, but the first thing is diagnosing whether the speaker placement and room acoustics are the major concern.

I've heard the 30s run off some crazy expensive amps and they are certainly capable of sounding very good when driven by such amps.  My local dealer loves to shock customers with how good some small and more modestly priced speakers can sound when driven by really good amps.  He typically uses an LS3/5A variant (Falcon, ProAc, Harbeth, and the original Rogers) for such a demonstration.  This dealer only sells tube electronics, so the choice is typically a tube amp from Synthesis Audio.   He does not recommend such extrem price difference between the amp and speaker; this is just to show buyers that they cannot skimp on the amp and expect to get the most out of their system.

Among my favorite real world combinations with the Harbeth 30.2s that I have heard involved the use of Synthesis A40 (40wpc) and A100 (100wwpc) amplifiers.  The sound is propulsive and lively and full with these amps.