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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
russbutton's avatar
russbutton
429 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.
joincoolkidclub OP
19 posts
 
I am streaming some material from Spotify Premium as well as playing local lossless files- I can’t tell the difference and never have been able to.

I don’t know that I’m going to continue to search for additional suggestions at this point as I already have a long list of contenders. Still experimenting with the 3/5 while I wait for the Kestrels to arrive. May end up experimenting with the Harbeths, though I’m not sure the jump from the the Spendors would be significant (let alone at 4x the price). May try a pair of Vandys if they pop up locally <500. Plenty of options certainly but I find that most people end up suggesting what they own regardless of others’ parameters- certainly not malicious, but it seems to me as though there’s a very strong drive to justification or validation as with many hobbies/human affairs. Suppose that's what essentially what I was doing (in my own way) from the jump, though my thoughts and concerns have changed since the OP. Think I'll take a step back and just enjoy the music for awhile. Regardless, I appreciate all the feedback.
pdwoods's avatar
pdwoods
3 posts
 
Hello,
I had a budget of $5,000.00 for speakers and bought a pair of Revel and then a pair of
I was, after 100 hour break-in period, comparing them to Polk A9s.....both sounded inferior
to  the Polks believe it or not....both of the $5,000. speakers lacked an acceptable presence 
in the mid-range and just acceptable in the low frequencies.
The message here is don't be seduced by high prices....I would still buy a speaker pair for $5,000.00 if demonstrably superior to the Polks.  I was just tired of moving 80 lb+ speakers
around.
I was fooled as well by listening to speakers at the dealer....all speakers will sound different in the home.
A friend suggested a pair of higher end FOCALs $6,500.00...I may give those an audition 
someday.
Good Luck,
David Woodruff


 
batman1971
96 posts
 
I’m curious what you think of the kestrel.       I really like that speaker for that price it’s really good.   I think I paid about 1200 or so when those were new and used them at least 10 years daily 
paulburnett
44 posts
 
If you like neoclassical/ ambient, you should look into Vandersteen. I have 2ce sigs in an 11 x 16 room, but you might want to try the smaller, 2-way 1c, which I have not heard.

It's true, as others have suggested, that you should try to audition the first-order crossover sound, but I will tell you that the Vandersteen design principles are pretty much ideal for the kind of music you listen to. I only find my speakers a bit congested and less-than-ideal with rock. With just about anything else, especially classical, ambient, folk, indie rock: heaven.

1c models come up regularly for $400-600. With that you could get a good sub, either the 2wq or a REL t9i, and still come in under budget.

Also something to consider, many of the classic speakers people recommend used are from companies no longer in business, e.g, Meadowlark. Vandersteen is still in business, answers the phone, and rebuilt a driver of mine that they no longer stock for 150$, shipping included. This is a guy who sells $60k speakers. That's service!

-Paul
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