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Is There a Speaker for Me/Impossible Requirements? (budget: $2000)

Well, I just lost a very long and detailed post. Here’s my second shot:
After years in headphone purgatory I’m finally dipping a toe into ’real’ hifi. Turns out, its not as straightforward as I expected.
My equipment: 320-lossless files into a Moon i-5 in a 9 1/2 x 11 1/2’ room with 7’4" ceilings and a large rug. No issues or concerns regarding acoustics nor any interest in treating. Listen at 60-90 db for 3-8 hours a day- music is all over the map but a strong preference for neo-classical/ambient (Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm, Jonsi and Alex, etc), baroque/solo piano, fingerstyle guitar, and ’indie’ (whatever that means nowadays).

After reading a whole lot I purchased the following speakers based on my headphone preferences (HD650):
Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniv: VERY forward, VERY mid-centric, and not at all for me. They seem to have the veil people associate with the Senns, though I’ve never experienced it myself.
Spendor S3/5: These are much more interesting. Imaging is amazing- they do seem to disappear completely on certain tracks. However, the sound is rather unexciting. Perhaps this is closer to neutral but I find the speakers end up falling into the background and don’t really pull me in to the music. Tonally, the 3/5 seems very coherent though the lack of visceral bass is quite evident.
Spendor SP-1: The best of the bunch to my ears. The imaging is maybe a little behind the 3/5 but the sound seems much more balanced with more bass presence. On some songs they sound a bit U-shaped (maybe a little ’thin’ vs the ’non-present’ 3/5) and not quite as unified (lack of mids?) as the other Spendor.

My hope is to find a speaker I can keep for a long time that fits my listening space and music preferences. Given my experience where would you head from here:
A) Keep the SP-1s and spend more time placing them within my space/experimenting with stands and/or upstream gear?
B) Get a sub for the S3/5 and compare against the SP-1 again?
C) Try for another speaker altogether? If so, my max budget would be $2000 with a preference for value. I do have a pair of Meadowlark Kestrels on their way to me, but I haven’t heard them yet. Harbeth, Totem, ProAc, Vandersteen, Ohm, and Revel all sound interesting to me.
Grateful for any thoughts,
NM
joincoolkidclub

Showing 1 response by russbutton

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russbutton
460 posts
 
With $2000, what I'd do is score a pair of late 1970's vintage KEF Calinda loudspeakers and then pair it with a VTA ST-120 power amp.  A buddy of mine has a Calinda pair he drives with a Marantz 8B power amp.  Absolute magic!  Will make you forget about everything else.

Your best bet for finding a pair of Calinda loudspeakers is at the hifishark website.  They go for about $400 or so.  Most of them are in the UK and Europe.  Not often for sale in the USA, but still very affordable.

https://www.hifishark.com/model/kef-calinda

VTA sells directly through their website at http://tubes4hifi.com/

They sell their amps as kits and fully assembled.  There's an enormous satisfaction you get from building a kit, but the premium they charge for building it for you is reasonable.  Their 60 wpc ST-120 is comparable to a Mac 275 and some say better.  In kit form, with tubes, is about $1200.  Preassembled is about $1700.

I'd build the kit and buy the Calindas and then enjoy the magic.  Really.
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