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Narrowed speaker selection down to 5 choices

I like all kinds of music. My new room is 13.5x21x9. My amp is Spectron Mus. III SE MK2 w/ all MIT cabling. Speakers are: PBN EPX, Thiel 3.7, Revel studio 2, Dynaudio Contour S5.4, and Focal 1037BE. Speaker will be on short(13.5") wall. Speaker must excell in imaging,resolution,midrange presence,dynamics,tight articulate bass(no muddy midrange,or bloat),and full freq. range. I now have Dali Helicon 400 MK 2. I love the Dali's imaging but, I can't get past a little midrange glare. Tried speaker cables,amps,room postioning,etc. Nothing seems to tame this speakers voicing in this room. Now my old room was 23x28x14 and the Dalis sang in that room. I had more weight and and bass in the larger older room. I would have never guessed that the Dali's would be leaner in the newer smaller room. Help, Opiions needed. If you can think of other speakers in the 5K to 8K range that may work for me then let me have it.
philefreak
philefreak OP
423 posts
 
Lrsky, Funny you should mention a panel electrostat in the equation. I had some Apogee Dueatta sigs. for a while. They were very nice. Still weren't neutral. But, man what a soundstage! I need dynamics now that I've heard it.

Todd
cdejulio
7 posts
 
Philefreak, You would be cheating yourself if you are not strongly condidering PBN Audio. Although I have not heard the EPX I am a current owner of Peter's new SPI. They are by far the most refined, nuanced, dynamic speaker I have owned. Coming from Silverline Sonatina III's and a nice Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor there was no comparison. Peter uses some of the finest components avaiable and cabinet construction is top notch. Most of all Peter is is by far one of the nicest people I have dealt with. Very responsive to emails and any other request I have had. Intially I was looking for the now discontinued SP3's, They have since been replaced but Peter offered to build me a brand new pair if I wanted. Ended up with a demo pair of SPI's and have no doubt I will be a PBN customer for years to come. Just my experience! Hope this helps
cdejulio
7 posts
 
I should note I had the SF Cremonoa monitors not the floor standers!!!!!!!!! Just thought I should clarify.
lrsky
1,118 posts
 
The Apogee's are not electrostatic but I think I know where you're going. Actually, the Sound Labs that I owned were VERY dynamic--not bass thumping as in a subwoofer, but PLENTY realistic enough for my musical tastes. Plus I was using them in a room that's about 25X22X20, and open into a kitchen area through two 6'plus casement doors at the opposite end of the speakers, and open above and behind them to a loft area on the second floor. Needless to say, VERY large an area. So any lack of dynamics would have been easily a problem in that size room.
Maybe at least looking at current day Electrostats of Sound Lab quality might be worth while. With your budget, I would think you could find something. IMHO
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,922 posts
 
Hey Todd,

Have you considered Dali MS4? Very nice speakers. You do need to carefully select associated components and cables with the Dalis but you can certainly make these speakers work for you.

Dynaudio S5.4 will be very good. Although these are on the opposite end of the Dalis as far as presentation. Dynaudio are smooth, with silky highs and very nice midrange with no glare at all(at least I don't get it in my system).
However, I think the Dyns are a bit more relaxed than the Dalis when it comes to dynamics. The biggest advantage with the Dyns is that you can listen to music for hours and hours and never get listener fatigue.

Another choice for me would be B&W 803D.

it will be tough to beat the resolution of the Dalis though.

Bottom line is, go and listen to as many speakers as you can. Only way to determine what you like.

Good luck.
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