Non-fatiguing speakers in $10K range?


Some years ago I downsized to headphones only. Now I have access to a dedicated room again, so getting my absorption panels and ASC Tube traps back from storage... :-) The amp is going to be Accuphase E-800. I like class A, and I owned fair share of Pass gear but Pass integrated (and lower preamps) no longer have tape loop. I also like my gear to look the way I enjoy and Pass went too industrial for me.

Anyway, long story short. Speakers. I prefer relaxed, non-fatiguing sound. My headphones are Meze Elites and I love them. I also own Focal Utopia, but rarely listen to them, too forward for me.

Now, music-wise I do not listen to jazz or classical or vocals, sorry. Classic rock, hard rock, 80s new wave, punk, pop (classic and modern) and African blues like Tinariwen. People tend to insta-suggest forward sounding speakers - you like metal, right???. But I don't like piercing sound and I rarely go to concerts exactly because of this. I listen to AC/DC but NOT at 'realistic' revels. I like rhythm, melody, but I don't care about 120 Db.

The budget is about $10K, give or take, most probably second hand, but I can buy new, if I really like it. Unfortunately, there are not that many high end shops around Seattle with gear I like. Some went selling vintage and some went up selling only $100K+ systems. So most probably will be getting something blind.

It seems I should be looking for ribbon tweeters, I spent hours at youtube - it is definitely not listening in person, but some recordings are pretty decent and many show differences between speaker models.

I also compare frequency response measurements - I can easily tell that I won't like the speaker by looking at the chart. Ex, bump around 2-6K is a no-no since this is what "bright" is. Dip is actually good since this is what makes sound less "in your face/ear".

So far I more-or-less narrowed my search down to Legacy (Signature or Focus), Dali 8, ProAc (D48 or K) and - maybe - Magico A3? Legacy is huge, I am not sure I really need 20Hz extension. Magico has beryllium tweeters which may be bright....

I purchased Tannoy D700 many years ago, still own them, they are part of my TV set up. They sound good, but not as good as I would like it. My desktop speakers are ribbons too - AirPulse, I like them quite a bit.

Anything else I am missing?

mikhailark

Tannoy Gold Reference series, the best you can buy for 10k and Accuphase is a renoun classic pairing.

Give Paradigm Founders series a look. I recently went on an exhaustive speaker search. I listened to B&W 702s side by side to a pair of Founders 100Fs. I had in my my that I was going to buy the B&W s but the Paradigms were much better in my opinion. Alot less bright. Better low end. I wasn't looking at Founders at the time, they just happened to be at the dealer I went to to check out the B&Ws. I then thought I better do some more looking. I checked out sonus faber, dali, kef, etc in the 7k price range at different dealers. I brought home a pair of golden ear triton 1s that were on clearance. They were nice but a bit bright to me.  I too listen mainly to classic rock and metal.  I delve into rap, jazz and about anything else on occasion so I like bass to be solid, smooth mids and not too bright highs. I ended up with the Paradigm 100f s, which I quickly traded in when the Paradigm 120Hs were marked down 15 or 20 % around new years. I got them for about 7.5k.  They now retail around 10. They  are amazing.  Check out there specs.  Solid build. Made in Canada.  They have 3-8" active woofers each. 1000w internal amps. And have ARC room correction. Which did wonders for my less than perfect room. They fill a large room nicely. Sound good wherever you sit.  My chair is obviously the sweet spot but I find that off axis listening is good too. Paradigm also has the Pesrona series which look better and  cost more. I have not heard them though.  Anyway....worth a look. Good luck!

Another "yes" nod to the Vandersteen Treo CTs, but they are passive speakers so if thunderous floor-shaking bass if your aim, you might want to add a subwoofer...or spend more on the Quatro Wood CTs but that requires double your $10k budget. As an owner of the Treo CTs, they are are very "musically" true and go well in a medium / large room where the speakers can have some "air" around them. Good luck to you.

Any Harbeth speaker. Most fatigue free speaker I’ve ever owned. 

Agreed, but having owned 30.2XDs and as a current owner of 40.3XDs I would not recommend Harbeth for the OP's rock-centric music preferences.

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