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Help me with a pairing.....

HI all,

Somewhat new here. I’ve decided that it’s time to up my two channel game. I’ll be moving from Monitor Audio Silver 6’s powered by my Marantz AVR that has served me well for a long time. Initially I balked at the notion of HT bypass on an integrated but now i’m all in. I listened to a few different products but based on what I had read coming into it I sort of knew what would win, and that’s the Luxman 509x. It was exactly as advertised....very precise and powerful with no slowness to speak of and little coloration. We even compared it to 1.2k Mcintosh monoblocks and I felt the Luxman gave up very little if anything, but that’s a story for another thread. I was listening on Focal Sopra 2’s and have to say they did not suck! So while that’s a possibility they are really darned big. I would love to hear other suggestions on where I might look to find a somewhat neutral speaker that supports primarily indie rock (think Wilco, The War on Drugs, even low fi favorites like Guided By Voices) as well as jam bands (Phish, GD) and classic rock. Also if it’s any help we listened to Magico’s the same day and I didn’t care for them nearly as much. A bit warm for my liking.

Ideally footprint is a bit smaller, and has a center channel that isn’t 24w x 12" high since that would be challenging on most racks. Price maybe 10K per pair MSRP but i’m flexible for the right product.  Would considered used.  Brands on my radar include: Revel, Monitor Audio (clear winner last time I did this, but wasn’t shopping quite as upmarket), Focal (maybe one notch down from Sopra?) Kef and maybe Paradigm. I’d really like to get feedback on people’s experience with these combo’s, and knowing what I’m favoring at least start in the right spot. I’m in a big metro area so should be able to find a dealer with most anything.

Thanks very much in advance.

EW
mtbiker29

Showing 4 responses by mtbiker29

mtbiker29's avatar
mtbiker29 OP
174 posts
 
Thanks mastering92.  I forgot to mention that another goal would be a very wide sweet spot, which the dealer mentioned Focal was great at.  So much so that he turned speakers 45 degrees outward and they still sounded surprisingly good.  

If I were to move down the Focal line would you expect similar (albeit not quite as good) characteristics?  In other words are they pretty consistent?  

Thanks again!  
mtbiker29's avatar
mtbiker29 OP
174 posts
 
@erik_squires I have not heard the MA platinums but would definitely consider them or even Gold, as they both have that tiger stripe finish that is gorgeous and a center speaker of reasonable size.  I'm definitely a believer in that brand. I am having an acoustics guy come over on Tuesday to survey my listening area and make suggestions.  

@noromance I hadn't heard of them, looks like only available online?  
mtbiker29's avatar
mtbiker29 OP
174 posts
 
Some great suggestions within, thanks all.  

@basser-x not sure why I can't find a Dali dealer anywhere near CHI?  

@speakermaster I would welcome suggestions for vintage brands and models.  Klipsch and JBL seem to come up a lot.  

@millercarbon same as Dali, not sure how I would demo Moab? 

mtbiker29's avatar
mtbiker29 OP
174 posts
 
Hi all, 

Just wanted to update this thread and thank everyone for their original observations.  When I picked up the 509x I was able to demo several speakers yet again.  Focal Kanta 3's were OK, but didn't have me jumping out of my seat.  I believe this was because they were first.  Magico A3 was the same as last time, to my ears downright muffled and that sound just isn't ideal for me.  That said I'm assuming Sonus Faber should not be on my list.  Paradigm Persona 3F was pretty darned nice, and might be the leader at the $5K price point.  And I have to say again Sopra 2 is simply fantastic.  

Having said all of that I must say that the 509x has breathed new life into my Monitor Audio Silver 6's.  I also made some source changes and have been working on soundproofing but A/B testing tells me the power of this thing has tightened up the bass considerably.  I'm at a point where I can live with this for a while, and really decide what's going to work in my space size wise as I optimize the room.  

@erik_squires is it wrong if I leave the loudness button on 90% of the time? 🤣🤣 They really nailed it with this unit.  
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