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Looking for speaker recommendations that I can purchase on Amazon.com

Budget: under US$5000 and would prefer a price point of less than $3000/pair. The most expensive speakers I have owned so far are Polk RTi A7's, so this will be a big jump for me.

Purpose: music

Room: I tend to move every few years, so I don't want speakers that will work best only with very specific room conditions. Currently, I will be using these in a medium size room of about 22 feet x 18 feet. The room has carpet and window treatments.

Music sources: CD's, lossless music files stored on computer and MP3's when that's all I have available. I don't ahve any SACD's yet, but I plan on purchasing more high quality music once I have this system set up.

Music styles: acoustic, Indian classical (sitar, srangi, flute), alternative rock (Portugal. The Man, Sleeping with Sirens, etc.), older rock (e.g., Rush).

The speakers should sound good playing the Tanpura (aka Tambura). It is a classical Indian accompaniment instrument in the "drone" category. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanpura) Example of sound here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7tlqXix_eo
With bad equipment that sound is fatiguing to me. Live it is beautiful and relaxing. Hopefully I can find speakers that will do it justice.

Personal Preferences: I am looking for non-fatiguing, warm, musical qualities. In another discussion topic here on this forum, @mtrot and I agreed about "smooth, sweet, soft, silky treble" and "shimmery, airy cymbals" as goals.

Amplifier: Yamaha P5000S

DAC: to be determined, but probably something like the Teac NT-503

Finally, the speakers of choice must be sold on Amazon.com, Bestbuy.com (or possibly some other similar retail website). I have personal reasons for this limitation. It isn't always true that I will need to buy all my speakers or audio gear from one of these sites, but for the moment, it is a requirement. Please don't recommend anything that isn't available on one of these sites. Thanks.

lowoverdrive
lowoverdrive OP
169 posts
 
I'm not here to promote Amazon (or BestBuy). I am not suggesting Amazon is an ideal place to buy high end audio gear.

I came here to get answers to a specific question, and I have gotten a lot of good answers. I appreciate all of those. That's going to help me make a more informed purchase on Amazon or BestBuy this time around.

I don't know much about audio gear. But I know relatively much more about Amazon. Having a debate about Amazon (in another thread) could be worthwhile. (I probably won't participate.) But it is unfortunate that many of the people offering opinions about Amazon in this thread clearly don't have their facts straight. A worthwhile debate about the pros and cons of Amazon might be educational and useful. But when people conflate Amazon.com corporate with independent third party merchants, as was done time and again in this thread, all that does is misinform the reader. I'm well past that stage of understanding Amazon, and I am well aware of Amazon's many pitfalls, so all these opinions have no influence on me. I'm here to learn about speakers and other audio gear. Thanks

lowoverdrive OP
169 posts
 
@yyzsantabarbara - Yes, that's another valid point. One will often pay retail or above retail when shopping for certain products on Amazon.

It's absolutely ignorant to say that the independent third party merchants selling on Amazon.com, who often operate local brick and mortar stores, who are authorized dealers, who know their products, and who sell at retail are guilty of all the supposed evils mentioned earlier in this thread.

I don't have an interest in countering all those earlier incorrect or misinformed statements. I'm also not interested in debating the pros and cons of Amazon's business practices on Audiogon. (If I wanted to do that, there are better forums for it. And if I were participating in one of those discussions, it is very unlikely that I would be defending corporate Amazon or their platform.)

However, I'll try to stick to what I'm here for -- learning about speakers. I'm definitely not promoting Amazon.

The title of THIS thread is "Looking for speaker recommendations that I can purchase on Amazon.com". I've been pretty clear about that.

If anyone wishes to start a NEW, separate discussion on the topic of "What's wrong with buying high end audio gear on Amazon?" or "Where is the best place to buy high end audio gear?" maybe that could be useful. However, I didn't ask those questions.
caroleg
6 posts
 
@lowoverdrive - Sorry it's taken me a few days to get back to this. You asked, "Do you have any links to audiophile reviews on these speakers that you think are authoritative?"

I haven't found a review of Emotiva's T2s online, but there is a good review of their T1s on Absolute Sound. The T1 came out first and is what I'd liken to a little brother to the T2, smaller. 
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/emotiva-airmotiv-t1-loudspeaker/

The T2s were not available to purchase until middle of this past summer, but they were featured at last year's CES (2017) as part of a larger home theater setup. There is a positive review of that here: 
http://www.avsforum.com/best-of-ces-emotiva-airmotiv-t2-tower-e2-surround-c2-center-7-2-system/

I heard the T2s this past September at their Emofest event in a two-channel demo room, and they were amazing. (Two-channel music listening is my thing, so I spent more time in that room than anywhere else.) As different groups of people would come in for a demo session, someone would invariably say, "where's the sub?" and be astonished to find that there was not one, however I will assert that the big bass end is just one of many great things about these speakers - crystal clear with "clean edges" to the sound and beautiful imaging, lots of depth and separation. I have their older XRT 6.2 towers which I love, but have to admit, I am longing for the T2s with their monoblock amps after that listen!

I really would encourage you to reach out to the Emotiva folks and chat, try to audition them in your home. I feel pretty sure you'll be very surprised (if not amazed) at the big bang for the buck! And I feel like the Emotiva staff would work to accommodate your need to purchase through Amazon too. It is a fairly small company, very personal and family-like, with wonderful customer service.
lowoverdrive OP
169 posts
 
@caroleg - thanks for the extra information.

RE: "...but have to admit, I am longing for the T2s with their monoblock amps after that listen!"

I have been feeling a little hesitant to listen to equipment beyond my budget and that's the reason why! lol
imhififan's avatar
imhififan
2,205 posts
 
@clarinetmonster2
If you want to put a pair of Sonus Faber on your list, the Venere line sounds much better than the Chameleon line, if the looks are ok for you. Either the Venere 2.5 or 3.0 fit into your proposed budget.
Yes,  Sonus Faber Venere sounds much better than the Chameleon, but when you recommending a pair of speakers to someone, you need to consider the amplifier to pair with it. OP's amplifier is a Yamaha P5000s ( A very good amp for the price! My friend has one, he use it to power some outdoor speakers at the pool side ), I think the Chameleon is a better choice in this case. If you demo a pair of Venere 3.0 powered by a McIntosh MC275 and powered by a Yamaha AV receiver you will know why.
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