Since most of your listening seems to be rock, I would hesitate on single full range driver design. The Dynaudio Audience 52 that on your local craighlest would certainly be worth having a listen to, and might indeed, serve your listening wants and needs. Good luck in your quest.
Looking for new monitors - $300-$600 budget
Hello, all.
New here (first post), and I'm sure this topic has been done to death, so if there are are any "greatest hits" threads on this topic, please feel free to direct me there.
I'm currently using a pair of KEF Q10s I picked up at an estate sale with my setup (Rega Brio 3 and P1, unremarkable Sony single disc player). This is the living room setup so we listen to the occasional movie, podcast, etc... over the system too.
The KEFs were a definite improvement over our old speakers, but not quite my taste. They seem to have a bit of a bump in the low end that I'm not wild about. I'm looking for something a little more honest.
In terms of listening habits, I'd say:
65% rock
15% acoustic/folk
15% jazz
5% classical
Listening levels tend to be pretty moderate. Below a list of what I've listened to so far, as well as a list of others I'm curious about. I'm just curious to get some input. Maybe there's a pattern to what I like that might suggest some others to listen to?
liked:
Morel MLP-202 MKII (current front runner) Balanced-sounding, nice imaging qualites, extended but not fatiguing high end. Extreme low end stayed musical and under control.
Rega R1 - (new version) Fairly neutral-sounding to my ears, but not boring with rock. I just can't seem to get that excited about them though.
B&W 685 - a little sizzly I guess, but I actually liked them better than the larger model in the line.
Vandersteen VLR-1 I liked these quite a bit but at $600 EACH they are way out of the budget.
did not like:
Usher S-520 Too lean/clinical sounding.
Quad 12L2(?) Low mids seemed a bit wild n'wooly. A little too hyped-sounding overall.
Rega R1 - (old version) Too "cardboard-y" if that makes sense.
Snell Acoustics Type KII - Fatiguing treble, bass seemed overly reigned in.
curious about:
Tekton 4.5 and 6.5 I definitely find the idea of a single, high quality full range driver appealing, but I've never actually heard this type of speaker design.
Linn Kan These seems to be in my budget when they pop up used. There seems to be some debate about the relative merits of the different versions. Somehow I think these are probably all wrong for me.
Dynaudio Audience 52 - There's currently a pair up on my local craigslist.
New here (first post), and I'm sure this topic has been done to death, so if there are are any "greatest hits" threads on this topic, please feel free to direct me there.
I'm currently using a pair of KEF Q10s I picked up at an estate sale with my setup (Rega Brio 3 and P1, unremarkable Sony single disc player). This is the living room setup so we listen to the occasional movie, podcast, etc... over the system too.
The KEFs were a definite improvement over our old speakers, but not quite my taste. They seem to have a bit of a bump in the low end that I'm not wild about. I'm looking for something a little more honest.
In terms of listening habits, I'd say:
65% rock
15% acoustic/folk
15% jazz
5% classical
Listening levels tend to be pretty moderate. Below a list of what I've listened to so far, as well as a list of others I'm curious about. I'm just curious to get some input. Maybe there's a pattern to what I like that might suggest some others to listen to?
liked:
Morel MLP-202 MKII (current front runner) Balanced-sounding, nice imaging qualites, extended but not fatiguing high end. Extreme low end stayed musical and under control.
Rega R1 - (new version) Fairly neutral-sounding to my ears, but not boring with rock. I just can't seem to get that excited about them though.
B&W 685 - a little sizzly I guess, but I actually liked them better than the larger model in the line.
Vandersteen VLR-1 I liked these quite a bit but at $600 EACH they are way out of the budget.
did not like:
Usher S-520 Too lean/clinical sounding.
Quad 12L2(?) Low mids seemed a bit wild n'wooly. A little too hyped-sounding overall.
Rega R1 - (old version) Too "cardboard-y" if that makes sense.
Snell Acoustics Type KII - Fatiguing treble, bass seemed overly reigned in.
curious about:
Tekton 4.5 and 6.5 I definitely find the idea of a single, high quality full range driver appealing, but I've never actually heard this type of speaker design.
Linn Kan These seems to be in my budget when they pop up used. There seems to be some debate about the relative merits of the different versions. Somehow I think these are probably all wrong for me.
Dynaudio Audience 52 - There's currently a pair up on my local craigslist.