Need help to select a speaker


Hi Audiophile people,

I need help to select the smoothest speaker of all.

I grew up using Spendor, Rogers, Tannoy, Wharfedale. I was always fan of British silk sound speakers like Rogers LS35.

The harshest speaker that I had was JBL which still has a smooth sound.

I don't have time or chance to listen to all the new speakers but in need to select a near field listening speaker for Jazz, Blues, vocals, Acoustics with maximum details in low volume.

I am looking at both Bookshelf and Floor standing but I should get better sound quality from a Bookshelf speaker in my experience.

Please share your experience and let me know what I should look at.

I am looking at Brand New and under $5K.

Cheers

Mike

inteliaudio

Maybe a bit more homework to narrow down the field could help?

  1. Passive or active?
  2. dipole, or not?
  3. Sealed or ported?
  4. Narrow dispersion or wide?
  5. Is full range required? Or how low should they go?
  6. Are ye Ok with using a sub or not?
  7. Do you already have an amp? And what is the power?
  8. What SPL are you aiming for?
  9. What is the size of the room?

If one starts out with some “Requirements” or “Goals” or “Desires” then it gets easier in theory to find solutions to those.

Hi Holmz

You are right, I was thinking of obvious and didn't add all data here,

History:

I have a NAD M33 using Tidal and Apple Music mostly that want to move it upstairs to my bedroom and want to add a silk sound speaker to that. Cables are Nordost Blue heaven 6 FT only.

I bought a McIntosh MA7900 for downstairs with AudioQuest Rocket 88 cables and BlueSound Node 2i for Livingroom serving my Kef Reference R11 that I am going to sell and buy Focal Kanta No.2.

  1. Passive or active? Passive
  2. dipole, or not? No, I hate Dipole
  3. Sealed or ported? I am open to both
  4. Narrow dispersion or wide? Not important
  5. Is full range required? Or how low should they go? Full Range preferred if I am choosing a floor standing speaker but I can use Rel T9i Sub along with a Bookshelf speaker
  6. Are ye Ok with using a sub or not? Yes
  7. Do you already have an amp? And what is power? NAD M33 200W/Ch
  8. What SPL are you aiming for? As I said, this is for a bedroom so anywhere between 65db to 75db, I don't need it loud.
  9. What is the size of the room? 400sqft

 

Fritz, Monitor Audio and Dynaudio are some you should listen to.

 

Dynaudio isn't the smoothest, but it excels at low volume.

Some candidates so far are:

1- Sonus faber Electa Amator III

2- Falcon LS3/5a Gold Badge

3- Harbeth P3ESR XD

  • New or used?

(That seems like a large bedroom by the way.)

 

Some candidates so far are:

1- Sonus faber Electa Amator III

2- Falcon LS3/5a Gold Badge

3- Harbeth P3ESR XD

Are you in the UK?
Or where are you?

If auditioning is possible add Proac Tablet Signatures to your list and possibly Audionote UK too for their evolved Snell designs, probably the K or J but these are meant to be used in corners, or at least with a wall in close proximity to their backs.

Over the years ,I have owned many British speakers. I just sold the larger Falcon IMF-100 that has the same drivers and xover that the LS35A has. The Harbeth P3ESR is the one that I prefer over all of them including the larger Harbeths and Spendors that I have owned. This guy gives an accurate review on the Harbeth P3ESR.

 

@holmz 

I know, I wish I had two smaller bedrooms instead of this one.

No, I am in California US, but I love British (and European in general) speakers better than these harsh sounding Americans.

The first time that I listened to a Klipsch I was wondering if I was missing something or what? I couldn't get it what is all that fuss about big boxes with distorted loud bass

@yogiboy I agree this small box looks like a solid choice.

I am going to listen to a few Sonus faber today.

I am trying to find someone here in SoCal to audition Harbeth.

Did you have any experience with ATC speakers? how do they sound?

“Dynaudio isn't the smoothest, but it excels at low volume.”

 

hmm that’s the complete opposite of what I have found with Dyns. 

My friend had the ATC SCM7 and he thought they were great. He lives in North Carolina so I never listened to them. Gene Rubin is in Ventura and he sells Harbeth and Spendor. I have bought many speakers from him including Harbeth and Spendors. You should give him a call!

 

Post removed 

No, I am in California US

@inteliaudio 

I would suggest that you go try some Vandersteens.
(And they’re made in Ca.)

 

but I love British (and European in general) speakers better than these harsh sounding Americans.

I thought the term when traveling was “Ugly Americans” or “Loud Americans”... ?

I’m enjoying the ELAC VELA 403 right now. At $5K if you can spare 2K more, maybe the Wharfedale Elysian 2. Thye look stunning.

If you’re looking for good performance at low volumes, to me, that means high sensitivity speakers.  I think Tannoy is your obvious choice.  

Graham Chartwell LS3/5 owner here.  I listen mostly at low volumes. For my tastes,I am not lacking any detail whatsoever.  They are mainly driven by First Watt amps. (J2 or F5) occasionally by a pair of Monarchy Audio SM70 mkII’s.  I think any of the British mini monitors would be a solid choice. (Harbeth,Spendor,Falcon,ProAc,Rogers…..) 

Everyone has an opinion but Dynaudio do not excel at low volume. I sold a pair of Evidence Temptations for that reason. Plenty of high end brands need the volume up a bit to sound great in my experience. 

  Klipsch might be known for brightness as a brand but I heard the Cornwalls today at a dealership and they were downright smooth. Classe amp powering them. Probably not what the OP has in mind.

Look forward to hearing your impressions of the Sonus Faber. I first bought a pair of SF Cremona as an experiment to confirm my theory that these had the sound I was looking for. They confirmed it… incredibly natural, musucal but detailed as well. I ordered a pair of Olympica iii within a week (first shipment to the US, on water at the time). After seven years upgraded to Sonus Faber Amati Traditional… helping my system become the best sounding and looking I have had the pleasure of listening to ( I have listened to more than one million dollar system… impressive but not as musically involving). I find it difficult to drag myself away from it after three hours of listening a day.

I've had four pairs of Dynaudio over the years, from the entry level Audience line to the Confidence 2's and 4's... definitely not a speaker that excels at low volume and not recommended for the OP.

I agree with @rocray on recommendation of monitors from Spendor (Classic line), Graham, Falcon, Harbeth, adding Vienna Acoustics Haydn.

Nothing good about Dynaudio at low volumes. Good sound at low volumes is complex and not related to sensitivity either. There are some speakers with a deserved reputation for good sound at low volumes, Harbeth comes to mind.

How your system attenuates volume matters hugely in this equation too. Autoformer volume controls like those from Slagle excel at low volume listening as they are at max current when at high attenuation, unlike resistor ladders.

As a rule 90% of the low sensitivity monitors out there with main drivers in the classic 6.5" range sound best with SS amps that thump a bit in the midbass (ie Pass) That is where many fall short at low volumes, they need to be playing louder to come on song and sound balanced. An amp that hits a bit harder can make up for that at lower volumes.

Old Tannoy professional system 10 and System 1000 are excellent at low volumes and don't need a ton of power to be on song at low volume. Pretty sensitive too.

@inteliaudio -

For smoothness and low distortion, it's hard to beat electrostatics. You might consider the Janszen Carmelita passive. Janszen's current lineup are unusual (if not unique) among electrostatic speakers in not being dipoles.

As you might expect, the speakers are somewhat directional in the high frequencies. This leads to a somewhat smaller sweet spot (though not head-in-a-vice), and also means greatly reduced interaction with the room, so less trouble with reflections from sidewalls and ceiling. Bass is handled by cone woofers.

I use the bigger model, the Valentina passive, with Apollon amps built around the PuriFi modules -- if I'm not mistaken, the same technology used in your NAD M33. I find the combination to be excellent, the best I've had in my many years of owning audio systems.

I love my ATC SCM 11 v2s, which I use with an REL T7x sub. With your budget, you could step up to the 19’s, which would likely be better yet. I listed to classical, alt/indy rock, acoustic music with vocals, and heavier rock, and everything sounds great, including at 65-70 db, which is where I do most of my listening.

P.S. Regarding my recommendation of the Janszen Carmelita Passive, I forgot to mention my listening habits. They are mostly classical, with an emphasis on chamber music, piano sonatas, choral music, and occasionally lieder, organ music, or music for full orchestra, especially concertos. I also listen to quite a bit of contemporary jazz (including male and female vocalists), to bluegrass and string-band music, and to other eclectic stuff like this album from the NJ Percussion Ensemble. The Janszens do great on all of it.

NJ Percussion Ensemble

I listened to some Fyne speakers but then ended up with Canton Ref 9K  which are stand mounts with a port (on the back of the speakers). Sounds great to me but I have not compared them to Brittish speakers. Fyne are otherwise small and could fit in better in a bedroom. The Cantons have more bass than the Fyne I've heard.