Need Recommendations for a pair of Speakers around $1,000

i kinda hesitate to recommend my beloved Linton because they exceed your price range and a used pair is hard to find.  But since the Audiogoners keep mentioning them, let me render my recommendation to you here with a reservation.  That is your Adcom 545, which has damping factors around 3000 at 50Hz, may not match with the Linton well.  Such a high damping factor may give the woofer of Linton, that already has tight bass, more control than necessary.  With my Parasound A23 (DF=1000), for example, the Linton's bass sounds a bit too tight to my taste.  Otherwise, I will render my reservation without any reservation if you could raise your budget.

Kef Q350 bookshelf  in walnut: $750 + speaker stands should be just under $1000.00

I checked and it seems the JBL sale seems like it's over but thank you for the head's up!

I didn't think of it during my original post but ....

We have two granddaughters with the oldest being just over 2 years old and something tall and narrow might not be the best choice for a while. We babysat this weekend.

She doesn't touch any of my gear because it's either in or on top of a cabinet but tall, narrow speakers within reach?....Who knows? LOL

Some tower speakers can be filled with sand/lead shot that not only improves sound but would make it virtually impossible for a young child to tip over.  Not sure if the Joseph Audio RM25s I recommended earlier can do this, but this might solve your problem if you can find a speaker you like with this feature. 

Oversized bolt-on outriggers can make any speaker very stable.

https://www.parts-express.com/search?keywords=outrigger&order=relevance:desc

I have an inexpensive pair of speakers in the BR that have AMT tweeters. The speakers aren't great but the top end is smooth so.....

Any opinions on the Elac Carina BS243.4 which also have AMT tweeters and, on paper, a pretty good frequency range? Not sure I can listen to a pair locally but I did find a dealer who sells the Goldenear AON 2, and AON 3 speakers also with an AMT tweeter.

I appreciate the suggestions here even more because no one has anything to gain by offering an opinion.

most people recommend what they own, so there are all sorts of psychological influences that may not be as nefarious as a saleman looking for a commission… but it does not make the suggestions here automatically better.

OK, you have a fairly large room. But the main part of that equation is where will you be sitting when you are doing your listening? How far away will you be from the speakers?

Small bookshelf speakers can play loud but they’ll never sound "large" or "scale" (in general - I know there are some exceptions). But if you want scale, you should probably go with floorstanders, and even then, at $1000 for two speakers your choices will be limited.

Even in a large room if you are sitting no more than 10 feet or so away, you might get by with bookshelf speakers, and later add a subwoofer.

I note that the Polk R700 are on "sale" now as of 5-16-2022 for $899 each. Yeah, that is nearly double your budget, but in the long run you might be happier with larger speakers in that room if you can stretch your budget, plus you might not need a sub (at an extra expense) down the road.

Good luck. Oh, I looked up the Adcom GFA-545 at hifiengine. I could only find it specified to output 100W/channel at 8Ω.  Make sure it will be happy driving lower impedance speakers.  6Ω might be OK, but 4Ω (unless it is OK with that) might be harder, and many 4Ω can dip even lower at certain frequencies.

I have a few options with distance.

We have hardwood floors and our furniture sits on small pads so they can be easily moved to vacuum. I can slide the small recliner to the center of the LR anywhere from 5' - 15' from the speakers.

Otherwise the recliner built into the sectional couch is about 19' from the speakers.

The manual on the 545 states that it has the "ability to drive very low impedance loads" which isn't very specific but I don't see 4 ohms as an issue and I don't listen to music at ear bleeding levels.

Massive upvote to @danager - The Lii Audio F15 is worthy of in-depth consideration. I ordered an F15 pair directly from the manufacturer. Got em on sale for $399...that is still the price on the site. This gives you plenty of leftover money to build your own baffles or have a woodworker crank some out.

My living room is 14x16 and these drivers fill the space with the most detailed and airy soundstage. When I listen to An American Place, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, I can hear every instrument in its own space. Runs by the flute section move left to right and back across the right half the room. Timpani and gong hits come from a place deep in the concert hall....it’s almost like a massive worm hole opens up behind these drivers and the sound is transported directly from the Barbican Centre in London. Vocals, guitars, drums, modern, old, etc....everything I put through these gems transports me to the time and place of the recording.

Lii Audio sent me a complementary F6 pair as a gift for dealing with supply chain delays. For kicks, I set them up as a center channel...I might be onto something.

You can order the drivers directly from Lii Audio and baffles from Caintuck. Decware sells finished versions of this speaker starting at $3,400...the diy route will allow you to have a 3k+ speaker for close to your 1k budget.

Also, you can do what I did...just order the drivers to start. Rig them up to listening height and just see what happens. I put mine on a couple dining room chairs and propped them up with some books. Took a little tweaking, but the sweet spot wasn't hard to find. If you like them, move forward with the diy. If you are instantly captivated, sell them. Hell, I’d probably buy them from you for the right price ;)

Good luck

PS don’t listen to the full range driver haters. Most of em can’t even hear the hertz that are missing. I’ll gladly sacrifice all my dog whistle recordings to have highs and lows emanate from the same place.

Thanks BrianJM1 but I have grandchildren that come over and can't risk having that type of speaker. Too much is exposed....and kids are curious. LOL

Lil Audio Open Baffle speaker grandkid issue can be fixe for under $20.

https://www.uneeksupply.com/15-INCH-SUBWOOFER-SPEAKER-COVERS-WAFFLE-MESH-GRILL-GRILLE-PROTECT-GUARD-2-Pair_p_43238.html

Looks issue ???  A completely different problem

Here's a review by someone who listens to a lot of speakers

It depends on what you listen to in picking speakers out. At your price range I would recommend Thiel or Magnepan. 

I’m shaking my head at the small speakers others are recommending. To buy small new speakers for that large room, because you ’read’ new is better, is to shoot yourself in the foot. Restored Vintage, done by others, or you do it, will give you much more appropriate choices for that large room.

..............................

Case in point, to make my point:

the photos of those JSE Infinite Slope Model 2’s were horrible, perhaps this will give a better idea of what they are

meanwhile, the black ones with the lousy photos are exactly the same except:

high gloss black laminate

thouroughtly upgraded with the help of the original designer/manufacturer

all 4 woofers re-done by Audio Classics, the people who overhaul McIntosh equipment among others.

original design benefits from two unique patents awarded to Richard Modafferi, of McIntosh tuner fame.

1. infinite slope crossover 100 or 120 db/octave, amazing clarity

2. phase shift controlling the 12" and 10" ’progressively’ to provide amazing lows and smooth use of them together within balance of the upper mid/mid/tweet.

Those patents were originally licensed by JSE and now licensed by Joseph Audio

Someone has to need them who lives close enough. If I had room for them, I would have my woodworker sand the laminate and add a select, perhaps exoctic wood veneer.

Oh, yeah, change them to 3 wheels, put corner blocks just above the floor, no touch unless they start to tip during relocation, i.e. alternate positions/toe-ins.

here’s a review to their baby brother Model 1’s which also sound amazing, in a smaller space

talks about the two unique patents

http://www.hifi-classic.net/review/jse-infinity-slope-model-1-486.html

I widh I had another room, or my son had already bought his new house

Go through the closets basement garage whatever  and find some unused stuff and sell it. Raise your budget to 2 grand and pay cash!🤔

she will only see the 1k come out of the bank. Haha just kiddin ……. But serious. 

Magnepan LRS+ and never look back. 

Opinions on DIY kits like GR Research and CSS (Creative Sound Solutions) or others out there???

I've built guitar tube amps from scratch and although I'm not a woodworker I did make custom end caps out of HW flooring when we had our oak floors installed.

Check out Jay Iyagi’s (YouTube) build and review of the CSS. He says it compares favorably with his Sonus Faber Lumina II speakers but are probably flatter in that they don’t have the slight midbass bump that the Sonus do.

But I’m still confused. You have a very large room and are planning on sitting 19 FEET away from the speakers. Can ANY small bookshelf speakers really do such a large room justice, or vice versa? Good luck with whatever you get.

Jay ended up paying someone to veneer his CSS, but you could probably do them yourself and save $$$. He later bought the "upgrade" and was even happier.

Magnepan LRS+ and never look back.

while agree these are terrific, high value speakers, op said this:

The new speakers will be in the living room connected to the Adcom and also a signal fed from the TV but I don’t want a multi-speaker system. Stereo is fine and if they sound good to me with music the wife will be happy with the TV sound. She just wants them to look good and not have a lot of wires hanging around.

there will be issues with the grainy adcom driving them, but more serious issue may be w-a-f...

There seems to be a bit of controversy over the original Adcom GFA-545 designed by Nelson Pass. Some say they're very good while others, some here (I also got a PM), don't care for it.

How is it that audio engineer like Jim Williams who has worked in pro studios with people like Stevie Wonder can say these are good amps and can be made even better with a few mods while others say it's not a good amp??

Is it Adcom in general or have you listened specifically to the Nelson Pass designed GFA-545 to come to that conclusion?

Then again, could it be as simple as the Klipsch Heresy....some love them, some hate them?

over time i have had the 535 545 (i and ii) 555 - it was years ago of course

yes papa nelson pass designed them when he was a pup - but one needs to separate design and execution...

the adcoms were designed and spec’d to a specific (quite modest) price point, even for back in the day, so there were numerous execution tradeoffs in parts spec and quality, mechanical and electrical isolation... result is a nice sweet sounding product at fairly modest volumes but a glare, grain and glassiness that comes through once there are some demands placed on the amp and its power supply, especially into more reactive speaker loads

no free lunch here... take a nice resolving pair of speakers, like maggies, vandersteens, harbeths, revels, focals, get a clean source, run one of the old adcoms and then a modern day pass amp... there is a substantial, immediately audible difference

even leaving aside the capacitor aging issue, if a 30 year old 545 worth $400 could deliver for a discriminating audio lover what high-level modern ss amps can, we would all have them, and hegel, ayre, pass labs, belles, naim, exposure would all be out of business

Thank you jjss49.

It may sound strange but your criticism actually aligns with the mods for the 545 MKI. Select parts are upgraded with higher quality and some with new values as well.

Mods to:

Change to higher uf caps in the power supply

Change resistors and transistors in the input circuit to stabilize Offset Voltage

Upgrade the type and value of the Bias cap

Add shunt caps to increase the Low End and correct Phase Shift

Change select resistors and caps in the signal path with better quality components.

I'm not an engineer but I used to be a tech and still have a bench with a scope, load, freq counter, distortion meter, etc. What if any before and after tests would you or others recommend? I've read these mods which cost a few hundred dollars can transform this amp to compete with those costing thousands more. I'd like to see how this turns out.

Thank you for the input!

knowledgeable well informed diy always saves money relative to buying high grade branded gear ....and can bring other pleasures too (i.e. sense of personal accomplishment in improving a piece of gear) - there are risks too obviously

best of luck

Listen to logic ,in truth ,most speakers as a rule roughly 25% actually goes into the speaker including packaging ,the rest overhead and markup.

Walter  at Underwood  Wally bought LSA Loudspeakers and electronics and has had his engineers do some major upgrading ,you cut out the middle man and these speakers sing , even great stands for $250 delivered if you needed them 

give him a call he has a great pr with AMT drivers coming out ,and for just over $1k

speakers at a retail dealer would be $3k no BS  ,to be using tweeter that cost him over $30 each is a lot Waay better then anything at $2 k ,I have been modding speakers for years , these new LSA speakers , and Electronic line is the real deal 

well worth your time to check it out the info is more on the bottom half of the page .

Can’t go wrong with Dali speakers. Check out the Oberon 5’s. I have owned the Helicon 400’s for years just bought the Oberon 7’s for a second location.. For serious music listening and attractive design and first rate construction..Dali cannot be beat! .Oberon 5’s are highly regarded and in your price range. Suitable for a large space as well.

Polk Reserve R200.

Monitor audio has a nice balance of form and function.  I'd find a pair of their "8" model from any of their various Silver lines.  

@Brianjm1.....I have the Lii Audio F-15's with the extra Thick Wood two tone baffles for $900 pr. for sale . dennis@mbmi.biz 

I recommend taking your $1000 budget and splitting it up between room treatments, speaker wire, and stands if needed. I think if you have a well treated listening space (wife friendly of course) good cables and stands that the speakers you choose will sound their best. As far as speaker choices I would look at the bass extension first, then the finish so it looks pleasing for your wife, finally the sound staging. 

If you’re close to Los Angeles, I have a clean pair of Mirage M1s I’d sell you. They would definitely fill your room. You could use some small angle and affix them to the floor to keep them from being pushed over. 
 

Klipsch 600v2’s for $600!

Tekton Lore is the best I have heard by far at around $1000. They replaced the Lii Audio 15 inch open baffles and for me it was a big upgrade. 

Used Magnepan .7's, life changing experience.

Audio Advisor is currently clearing out the last generation of Monitor Audio's Silver Series. There's a couple options at or near your budget. I owned the previous generation and auditioned this gen when purchasing from the Gold Line in an A/B setting last year. Monitor Audio's are just some of the best speakers for rock I've ever heard. Bold sound, great detail, forgiving of bad recordings without coming off as dull. I havent heard anything in the 1k-2k range that i like half as much as the MA Silvers. 

Used pair of PMC Tb2 is around that money mark.

My three year old Klipsch Heresy III's sound great with my Ayon XS tube amp.

Also in the system is a Denafrips Ares II & a Denafrips Iris, all streaming from my Surface Pro 7.

I have some Tekton Perfect Set 210's on order and the estimated  delivery date is June 1. I'll try them out and if I like them, I'll sell the Heresy's for an asking price of $1500/pr.

My 2 cents, can't go wrong with a Forte II or KLF 20 or 30 from used market in good condition. Then do basic cross over upgrades and call it done. 

If only the Zu Audio Dirty Weekends were still being sold!  I love mine and had a similar situation (wife, size…)

I agree with the many commenters here that you will get your very best bang for the buck used.

that said, if I had a bit over a grand burning a hole in my pocket and was looking new I would be sorely tempted to get the BMR Philharmonitors.

I have extensive listening experience with Klipsch Forte II.

If you like rock music they are AMAZING.  They would fill a large room with NO problem.  I have them setup in my father's barn (about the size of a 4 car garage with peaked roof and open area above having exposed roof trusses) and the place sounds like a nightclub!  The high efficiency gives them an aura of effortless power and dynamics.

They also sound good at low volume too, and have plenty of detail.

Some picky reviewers say they don't like the sound of horn loaded drivers, but these are definitely worth a listen before you cross them off your list. What they can do is awesome.  They would be an end-game choice for many folks.

You would have to consider the large cabinet size maybe being a negative.

I also like KIT speakers.  You can easily get TWICE the parts quality for the same money as retail finished speaker.  Helios I have just ordered from Meniscus Audio, is higher than the specified budget here, but just to the support the argument that YES I love kit speakers.  

...to clarify or build on a couple points above:. Let me not apologize for substantially sized speaker cabinets.  In a big room you will appreciate some big speakers.

Next, I just watched a video from Danny Richey (GR Research).  He told the story of the $500/pr speakers at Best Buy that have to double in price TWICE before they get to you, so that the money spent on the actual woofers and tweeters in there is about $20!!!  There are a lot of different ways to argue this issue, but the facts are facts.  It could be the commercial speaker looks better, is easier to Re-Sell later, is supported by positive online reviews, etc.  But there is always the dream (psychosis?) of building Wilson Audio clones for $2500, hahaha!!!  

Laughing at myself for wanting the Wilson Audio clones, but the ability to get more for your money with kits is real, not laughing at that!  Good day

Yeah Danny Richie actually debunks myths even with higher end speakers companies like Paradigm. He takes apart the cabinets and exposes the drivers, parts (capacitor brand/quality) and examines bracing build quality. Often it is surprising what you get when you pay $5k, $6k and $9k for a brand you THINK is putting together the best parts......Danny often finds those are cheaper parts that cost a very small fraction of what you paid. Sometimes less than $100.

I tend to think that is why chinese brands and particularly amps/preamps/integrated amps are finding their way into America audiophile living spaces. They are often giving you the same quality or better and charging LESS money. Often the price of a well made tube integrated amp with a $200 shipping charge from China is less expensive than an ARC amp or McIntosh here in the USA. I am not really commenting on whether it's right or wrong, just the situation I have seen.

Yes, I've been reading posts and watching videos by Danny Richie. It is rather amazing that some of these expensive speakers don't have the high quality parts one would expect.

Thank you for all of the input !!

I'm considering Danny's X-LS Encore.