Paradigm reference studio 10s might be worth listening to. Have a paid in my office. They are biwireable.
Triangle's bookshelf speakers might be interesting as well.
Stereophile has had a review of several of late that also might fit the bill. |
Also, ACI is shutting down. Their monitors were a great value. Go to their website and see what they have left in inventory.
http://www.audioc.com/ |
Era D5 are astounding for the money, and can be purchased used for under your budget. |
|
Used Spendors can be had in your price range. They tend to be warm sounding. While the bass is not deep, there is a hump to make it an easy to listen to speaker. |
I own some Triangle Comete's and B&W 602's. The Triangles are a bit bright. I recommend the B&W's especially with SS. I use the Triangles with my tube amp and it balances nicely. |
I thought the Silverline Audio Minuet (list is $600/pr) sounded very full for their small size. IMO, they were not bright, even when run off of budget electronics. With these, you'll have some money left over for stands, cables and software. |
|
Used Ushers - very musical and easy to drive |
Re Silverline Minuets - I heard them 'stacked' (two pair) and driven by a modest Monarchy amp (though modified I believe) and an old and also modest CDP, at Silverline's shop a couple of years ago. Alan certainly has an excellent ear for creating a live like sound - we listened to mainly jazz. If I hadn't already focused on my speaker choice I would have been really tempted. I was very impressed! FWIW. |
the fritz loudspeakers are pretty special. |
Thanks everyone for your recommendations. I've spent time reading up on the Silverline Audio Minuets. The reviews make them at least sound pretty special. I just spoke, I believe, with Alan who was of course very confident about his product and quite enthusiastic. He quoted me a great price of under $500, which sounds like a great deal. I'm somewhat hesitant however because of the no-return policy. Despite what I read, I imagine that the small size of the Minuets might not sound full-enough for my taste. They appear pretty easy to drive, which makes me think that even my smallish 55w exposure integrated amp will be enough. |
Dmloring: Your amp is indeed powerful enough, provided your room is of modest dimensions. The demo I heard was with a receiver that output around 30 watts/channel.
As for the "fullness" of the minuet's sound, that, IMO, is one of the most surprising aspect of the Minuet. You expect a mini-monitor to have a big soundstage, and the Minuet does, but it also gives off the impression of having a lot of bass output. I doubt it actually extends very deep, probably not much below 60Hz, but I was surprised at how much it sounded like it did indeed go deeper.
I agree it's a leap of faith to buy speakers unheard with no return policy (which is why I had to drop Silverline Audio's Adagio - since discontinued - from my potential upgrade list). That said, most used pairs sold here on the 'gon seem to sell for around $350 or so. So keep that in mind as a way out if you're not happy. Lower priced gear tends to sell fairly quickly if it's in good shape and a current production model. |
Thx bondmanp. I think I might give them a shot. If I go forward with the purchase I'll followup with a review. |
As a side note, I presume that no-one hear has had any experience with my Wharfedale Evo speakers (for comparision purposes)? |
Hello Dmloring,
I do not have experience with the Wharfedale Evo, but I do have experience with the Wharfedale W25's. They are a sealed two-way with an 8 inch woofer. Beautiful sounding with classic jazz and vocals as well as classical music...violins, cellos, piano sounds very real. Lots of warmth and natural detail. Very musical. They are of course long out of prodution but can be found on the used market for as little as $40-$60. Beautiful walnut cabinets, solidly built. My main system cost tens of thousands of dollars, but I bought these on a whim to use down in the cabin of my boat and I absolutely love them. I have also used them in my den and bedroom. They are also very easy to drive. I'm using a nice little EL84 tube amp that's putting out 15 watts max and it is lovely.
Try to find a nice little pair of these speakers on ebay or craigslist....they show up from time to time. If you find a pair in excellent condition and don't like them, shoot me an email and I'll buy them from you....that's how confident I am about them.
You may also consider the Wharfedale W60's too. They are a larger bookshelf and came in both a two-way and then latter a three-way(I prefer the two-way version)both using a twelve inch woofer. You can't go wrong with either the W25's or the W60's but the W60's will be from $100-$300 most likely.
Good luck,
No Regrets |
I second the recommendation for Fritz! |
