What does your system comprise of? What is your room size and budget? What are your current speakers? |
I went from Avalon Ascendants to Wilson Duette's to a pair of Sonus Faber Olympia I's and couldn't be happier. |
Raidho Acoustics D-1s... If your budget permits them.
Google the reviews and check out the pics.... Stunning Standmounts both sonically and visually
Saw and heard them at an audio event - one of the very very top performers ..... bar none.
Well worth an audition. |
A lot of Totem and Dynaudio speakers.
OHM Walsh also deliver a lot of bang for their size and never sound strained. I think the Walsh driver operation and how the sound leaves the driver differently than with normal pistonic driver operation helps enable this. |
My room is roughly 18x20 with 8' ceilings. There's a fireplace mantle behind the listening spot -there are two rectangular openings in the ceiling on either side of the fireplace to promote warm air circulation from the fireplace to the upstairs
The area has an open floor plan with two large openings. One, about 7' wide on the back wall to the right of my listening spot, the other on the left which opens to a hallway, so there really isn't much of a side wall on the left.
Hence the room is not a symmetrical rectangle. Actually, if I consider the opening on the right which goes to the dining room, it's more like an "L".
Current speakers are Chapman T7's. Electronics are tube pre and mono amps. I've had the Chapmans for years and they were upgraded recently. I could not afford them now if I had to purchase new. They're about 11 or 12K I think.
Speaker budget is under 5K. I neglected to mention that. I saw pics of the Raidho and Sonus Faber online- gorgeous but beyond my relatively meager budget. I'll talk to an audiophile buddy of mine about Dynaudio- he has a pair but they cost far more than 5K. His electronics are also stratospherically-priced relative to my wallet.
I'll check out Totem online and hope there's a local dealer. This should be fun. I know a lot of folks love Pro-Ac and other monitors closer to my budget and I'll explore those.
Thanks for all the responses! |
Dynaudio Focus 340, not too big, but have the potential for great sound. |
Ps-
Thiel is my reference loudspeaker. These play everything well, IMO. Check out the CS 1.7 or CS 2.7 for openers.
Keep us posted and happy listening! |
Since one side wall is compromised, I would suspect that a speaker with a controlled dispersion pattern would be beneficial. |
look at speakers that send the soundwave right to you, they will take your l size room out of the picture . |
I would go with two Dunlavy SC-1s (used market) and an SVS sealed sub. The Dunlavys are designed to take the room pretty much out of the equation and the sealed SVS subs are really tight and fast. With the right 'everything else', a little system like this would humble many systems costing several times the amount. |
Ps,
You'll get lots of responses on this post but for my money, check out the Sonus Faber line of stand-mounted loudspeakers. I own a vintage pair of SF Electa Amators (with the Dynaudio Esotar tweeter) and I have never regretted buying them new back in the 1990s. They have several new models to choose from. Of course, you buy them for the sound but the gorgeous look of SF speakers is a bonus that you can happily live with for many years. Don't be afraid to buy used here on Audiogon. For your $5K, you won't be disappointed! |
Maplegrove:
Can you kindly give me some examples of speakers that send the sound wave directly at the listener? I don't understand what you mean.
Thanks very much.
And thanks everyone else. Dunlavy is a brand I am not familiar with but will research.
I'm afraid the bug has bitten me again- after quite a few years of "being satisfied". :) |
Hi Ps,
Looks like the problem is to narrow down the many choices that you have here. For starters, the MF120's you have are high powered tube amps so you can go with many different type monitor speakers. For me, I prefer the British sound in speakers as they have a long history of making great 2 way bookshelf and monitor sized speakers. ProAc, Harberth, Spendor - you can't go wrong with any of these manufacturers. Rogers & Celestion too; however, different models in their lineup offer different things. And you can find really good used speakers too which is what I would do if it were me.
I don't know much about Dynaudio, I went into a high end store once and heard them and they sounded amazing, but were also very expensive. I think there are many other used speakers that can be just as good for a lot less.
Besides British, for a different flavor you could also try an efficient single driver speaker like Omega. You will be amazed with the immediacy of it and the great thing about Omegas is that if you wanted to someday change electronics, you can always go to a low powered SET amp which is a wonderful match for the Omegas. With the other lower efficiency British speakers, changing amplification might just mean also having to change speakers as well. Omegas sound great with everything but really shine on low powered tube gear.
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You'll definitely want to check out the Vapor audio line! |
yes , i may have not phrased that properly . Speakers like : Magnepan , Martin Logan , Pretty much all electostats - Planars . I beleive the Audio Physics also radiate sound in a figure 8 pattern . I am sure i am leaving out some . Anyone else can add to the list |
Seems like Companies like Dynaudio , PMC , Focal , ATC , Adam , That cater to both Pro and home markets seem to get sound right . |
You guys are great! Thanks very much for all the input. So many excellent choices!
I should have a pair of "mystery" speakers to demo by the end of the week and will report back. If I love 'em, they'll likely be keepers and I'll let you know what they are.
Since I've awakened the sleeping audio bug within, dormant for about a decade, I've learned a great deal. Tastes change, room configurations change. Budgets certainly change as well as priorities. One example is I sure miss my old Linn turntable. I sold it to my brother to "upgrade" to something else, but in retrospect that Linn was a very fine piece of gear and I wish I had it now.
Ooops- I'm derailing my own thread with OT stuff. :) It's really about speakers. |
I have a pair of soundfield audio m1 monitors that are incredible for the price I paid for them. They have active 8 inch long throw woofers augmented with a kef uni-q coax mid driver for better off axis response. These speakers essentially take the room out of the equation. Check out the thread about them on audio circle.
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