Looking for new monitors - $300-$600 budget
I own a pair of quad 11L speakers paired with a classe dr6 pre and modded dynaco st70. This setup sounds fantastic in my 10 x 10 listening room. I have owned various ss seperates and klipsch heresys, kg4's, snell type jIII, paradigmn v20 and several other speakers. None of my other systems over the years have had the warmth,musicality, and a soundstage as wide and deep with the detail of my current rig. I think it is more about matching components that work well together to achieve great sound, not just one pair of speakers, amp, etc. You have already auditioned many very highly regarded speakers, but have found shortcomings with most of them. You mentioned that this is a second system.... what are you using as a main system? I ask because from your descriptions of listening to the various speakers, I can tell you are a seasoned audio veteran and it is almost as if you are trying to find $600 speakers that have as full and detailed a sound as your main system. I apologize if I come across as a jerk for saying this, it is not my intent. But $600 for speakers even used is not going to get much more than budget entry level speakers from any of the quality speaker manufacturers..... there is a reason why there are so many speaker company's..... if there was a $600 speaker that had low deep bass, magical midrange, and airy detailed non fatiguing highs that all blended together perfectly, then no one would ever pay more than $600 for speakers.The old saying applies you get what you pay for (to a certain extent in audio gear). I would love to have most of the speakers that you have auditioned. I have heard several totem models and think they sound fantastic. I also really like the sound of dynaudio speakers. One thing I did notice in my current rig though... I recently purchased a bryston 3b st amp and put it in my system in place of my dynaco st 70.... and while it had slightly more top end detail, my soundstage shrunk and musicality all dissapeared from my system. I will probably keep the bryston packed away in case I build another system, but it is sitting in a closet now.It is all about system synergy. Good Luck and keep us informed. |
My wife and I listened to a few more today. Unfortunately the Morels were gone. Totem Rainmaker (new) - Pretty nice imaging, fairly open and natural sounding in the upper end. The bass seemed a little disjointed. Tony Williams' ride cymbal on "Maiden Voyage" sounded very brassy and flat. The salesman seemed to think these qualities would lessen with break-in. These were out of the budget anyway, so it was on to the next. Soliloquy SM-2A3 (used) - A little more detailed in the midrange than the Totems, bordering on harsh. We preferred these over the Totems but they still had difficulty sorting out complex low frequency material like the deep gong bass drum and bass guitar interplay on Luna's "Whispers". Epos ES-14 (used) - We listened to these on the recommendation of the salesman. They were immediately more musical and sounded very open and balanced from top to bottom. The imaging was also impressive, particularly with the classical and jazz recordings we brought. The only flaw I could find is they came up a bit short in delivering a proper bass kick in the gut from Fugazi's "Bed for the Scraping". The rawness of the vocals and guitars still came through though. They are also a little brighter than I'm used to, but not in a fatiguing way as far as I could tell. My wife liked them a lot with the recording she picked (Calexico, Kristen Hersh, The Be Good Tanyas). She heard many details in these recordings that were new to her. These might be it. |
PSB Image B25. Smooth, full-bodied, detailed, very linear, and mfr' list price $479/pair. Usable bass down into the 30's. Stereophile review and measurements. Even when compared to similarly priced offerings from Epos, NHT, and Alon/Nola, overall it appears that the PSB was a better all-rounder, with excellent bass extension and articulation, less dynamic compression, and better detail while sounding natural. |
Thanks for the suggestions so far, everyone. I might see about listening to the Dynaudios. This has done nothing to reduce my curiosity about the Tektons. Sigh. I've also been wondering how the 4.5 model with the FE127 driver compares. I like my bass on the light side for a rock listener. On my old Denon tuner I usually left the bass down a notch. I love my Brio 3, but the lack of tone controls is part of the deal. One of the appealing aspects of the Morels is that I was able to hear them with a Brio 3 at the shop. Re: Placement limitations, these will need to be pretty close to the wall. 5 or 6 inches from the wall is probably the most I could get away with. Current speakers are on either side of the TV, which is on a wide-ish entertainment center. They're sitting on Auralex Mo' Pads to try to decouple them a little. Arranging the furniture in the room was a bit of a challenge, so unfortunately the spacing of the speakers is not really optimal (on the close side). The basement system will be set up more properly in this regard. Hopefully the household decision maker will be up for some listening this weekend. This whole thing was partly her idea. I guess I've been good or something. |
well i'd have to say that with a smallish, not necessarily tiny, room, the tektons with the fostex 167e really does rock more than i thought it would, pressurizing the room to give you that presence while retaining that nice rich midrange, especially for the money ($350 on his site)and non-fatiguing level of detail that these speakers do so well. of course, these aren't speakers for large scale presentations of orchestra and a six inch driver can only sound but so "big" reproducing marshall stacks and double kick drums but i was usually surprised by how big they could sound (I was using a trends 10.1 t-amp). mine are boxed up because i got some mirage omni 550s, but i can't seem to let them go, even though they were too small for this room, partly because with the better midrange and detail, they sound bigger than they really are, not that much smaller than the 550s with two 6 inch drivers, though that is not fair to the mirage speakers, since i haven't heard them with a proper amp yet. |
I use a pair of Dynaudio Audience 42Ws in my office w/ my Luxman integrated amp, and they sound great. But the new Rega R1 speakers are supposed to be just the thing with the Brio amp, but I haven't had a chance to audition them yet. I'm thinking of using that setup for my daughter's college dorm room. What is your room size and placement limitations? Do these need to go against or near the back wall, or can they come out into the room a bit? If the latter, you might see if you can find a used pair of Von Schweikert VR-1s - one of the most musical monitors I have ever heard. But they do need to be placed carefully for the best sound. Good luck. |
I think one of the best spk. you can buy would be Tannoy. I own two prs. of Tannoy bookshelf spks. (Fusion 1 and the MX-1m.) Absolutely great sounding loudspeakers! Do NOT let the low price put you off. They sound way better than their price point. I've listened to them using your my Rega Brio 3 int. amp. (BTW, what a great int. amp!) Tannoy improved the Fusion 1 and they are now called F1 Custom. "Audiophile Liquidator" is stealing them for $98.55 NEW! (You can order them in two finishes. Just be aware the "Dark Oak" is black.) Good Luck w/your search! Bill |
