Help buying fullrange speakers for $1500

Lets not forget room dimensions.

lots of nice used speakers for that price..but not knowing what you have or like, its tough to recommend 'one'.

"Full-range" means a speaker that can cover all ten octaves, 20 Hz. to 20,000 Hz., and in particular, that has flat bass to 20 Hz. - such speakers are rare and very expensive by most people's standards. Assuming that you mean "basically full-range", we're talking about something that has flat response at 40 Hz., which is the lowest note of a double bass or electric bass. It's difficult to find a basically full-range, quality speaker for $1,500, especially one that has accurate bass response.

If you do not have a large room (say, bigger than 15' x 20'), I would recommend a pair of used Dunlavy SC-3's. Dunlavy has been out of business for 5+ years, but in the event you would blow a tweeter, they are user replaceable and not particularly expensive. Having five drivers per speaker (two woofers, two mids and a tweeter), they go fairly loud, but more importantly, they are accurate and musical. Check the threads and you'll find a lot of enthusiasm.

The very best speaker that you could possibly purchase, and I am talking full range with lots of bass, perhaps not the very most musical bass, but bass never the less would be, in my opinion........................drum roll please..............a good pair of monitors ( merlins or reference 3A or Harbeth ) and later get a subwoofer.

A small caveat here, I am a dealer. Not for any of the above mentioned speakers but a dealer non the less so as audiophile would say take my comments with a grain of salt. I know you were real taken by the serious tone and were on the way to becoming a true believer. So sorry.

Have fun.
Jim

Mirage's new owner Klipsch has discontinued Mirage's higher line speakers. The good news is that the last of these gems are being blown out at fire sale prices. You can get the Mirage OMD-15 floorstanding speakers, originally $2500/pair and very competitive at that price point, for $800/pair at Vann's with 7-day return privilege and full factory warranty. The flagship OMD-28, originally $7500/pair and linear down to about 22 Hz, are being finished off at $2600/pair. Man, I wish I could get a pair of those.

I have used a pair of OMD-15s in my main listening system for two years, powered by a 100 wpc integrated amp and they are outstanding. Definitely good usable bass down to about 34 Hz, very transparent midrange, and smooth, airy treble. They are forgiving of upscale electronics (to a point), yet are resolving enough to yield big improvements when source and amplification components and cables are upgraded. The main break-in period takes about 100 hrs, but they keep getting better for the next year of listening.

At $800 a pair nothing can touch them. Nothing.