Looking for New Speakers - Suggestions

Tsciame,

Budget is $2k for me so nowhere near Marten Design or Dunlavy.

Budget is $2k for me so nowhere near Marten Design or Dunlavy.

I really have never found a home speaker that was dynamic and exciting but could also quiet down and let me enjoy some old jazz vinyl I picked up from my father.

Well at $2K budget you are still gong to struggle - my suggestion (at this price) is a well cared for but rather old pair of JBL 4435's.

If you think that you can find what you are looking for in small cute looking monitors - you can forget it.

Let me rephrase. Since I work for a customer retailer in the business $2k is probably more like $4k to $5k retail pricing.

For loud, I like the Legacy Whisper with Tube gear. I own Maggie 3.6 which will not go quite as loud, but has all its own attributes. I would not be using maggies for bombs and gunshots, but for music DVD's they would be great. I like mine, have no wants for others. They are great with Bryston 4BSST or 14BSST. Biamp with 7BST in the bass and the 4BSST in the mid treble and a sub.....very nice. jallen

Skent12
Let me rephrase. Since I work for a customer retailer in the business $2k is probably more like $4k to $5k retail pricing.

Well then, you have your answer. Get whatever your money will get you through those people respective of the lines they can acquire... get the highest sensitivity and input impedance rating you can find with the esthetic you like.

However, the issue, then, now and always is going to be matching. Like nearly everyone here has pointed out. Matching, amps to speakers, speakers to rooms, and to your preffs.

This is no slam dunk simplistic matter. It's doubtful too as Shateren said, if you'll achieve your goal... even on the $4K MSRP - $2K reality level, if that's doable in fact.

I’d suggest other things too like cabling, power line conditioning and isolation, as well as running in speakers for more than a couple days, or even three. I know that’s a long time, 3 whole days but new good speakers usually take a wee bit more than that to run in completely. Try thinking in terms of hundreds of hours, like 3 or 400…. And at least, 250.

I doubt you’ve blown out or up any speakers you’ve personally owned though, right?

Shows are ok I presume for getting some idea… but hearing thoroughly run in speakers set up well can and will change your mind about speakers you may have already heard.

I’ve never been in a mid fi box store like Tweeters, Sound Advice, etc, not actual high end salons, and found much if anything they had on display besides their TVs to be run in completely or properly, for that matter and the Setup? Their setups frankly stink the biggest percentage of the time.

A good idea might be to start a bit lower than you wanted and go with really nice two ways, if bought well/smart you can keep saving up… keep listening… and keep on checking out other ones… then flip these for the ‘intended’ ones or at least the closer ‘ones’… then like shampoo, wash, ship, and repeat, until you get what you’re after.

You’ve got to admit if you have been around audio gear as long as you say, putting a thing into your own system is the best way to find out what will work for you. I wonder how much of that you actually do. Why have all those amps? Sell a couple and add that to your speaker budget for a start.

For HT having several dissimilar amps is not conducive to a cohesive or coherent sound field… neither are different speaker brands… or widely dissimilar models within that same brand. Then there’s wires too…. Etc. etc.

$2K of real money ain’t chump change anywhere these days, but to achieve your goals you should reassess things some IMO. The speakers on your list have some very good contestants in there. Not knowing them all, I get the impression all are two way units. Monitors. Start there.

ASk for units that can play loud for two grand and that isn’t hard. Ask for units that play loud in HT and that’s not much more trouble. Ask for units that play loud, good for HT, and as well for low level music, it get’s tuffer…. Ask for all that for two grand and you’ve a job ahead of you. Many great suggestions here already…. But your power trains on hand are possibly not the best suited for the types of speakers you seek.

PSB got a great review from stereophile recently on some that go for $4.5K new. Zu’s new line up also has some great press. AP’s Scorpio II also reportedly is great too but at $3700 via a dealer here. Silverline Sonata IIIs as I have also will do much of if not all of what you desire, yet again, they go upwards of 3500 - 4000 used.

Room size will aid you too if it’s not big… so will having a great sub.

Good luck…. More importantly, good luck to your neighbors too.