I'm going to take a several hour road trip to the Washington DC/Baltimore area to demo some speakers in the $10,000 range for a once in a lifetime purchase. I plan on listening to some Magico A3's, Aerial Acoustic 7T's, and Spendor D-9's. One of the dealers also has Paradigm
Persona 3F's on the floor, so I'll take a listen to them too. While I'm up there are there any other speakers in that price range you'd recommend I try to locate and take a listen to. I'm open to and welcome your suggestions and will take the time to research each one as well.
I'm not in the market for used equipment. Thanks for any and all suggestions.
We all we all wish you GREAT luck on what is to be an enlightening road trip. We all have our own opinions in the end you will make your best decision.
For my 2cents worth, having owned many brands over many years including Revels, Kefs, Legacy, Harbeth, B&W N802’s and most recently this year Paradigm Persona 7F’s, I hope you do get to hear the Persons 3F’s. “Happy Trails”! You are doing the correct thing by listening to several or more brands. Bogey
Try Revel Performa F 228 Be. Also see if you can find Sonus Faber. Olympica III are over your budget, but they can be found (new!) on sale for about $10000 from time to time. They are definitely worth a listen.
As an earlier poster suggested, call in advance and make sure you can bring your own CD. Many, if not most, of the places try to demo with Tidal. Anything I tried was not actually there.
A good suggestion to check out CAF in November. I would also recommend calling Mark at Linear Tube Audio in Takoma Park (MD) just outside DC. LTA is producing some of the best value for money tube electronics based on David Berning designs. He has been showing with Lou Hinkley of Daedalus Audio recently (they will be together at CAF) and I believe Lou has shipped Mark a pair of Muse speakers which are in your price range. Pair them with an LTA Ultralinear and LTA Microzotal preamp and you will have a system that will keep you smiling for years to come.
Hopefully the demo will be with similar equipment that you currently own, for example, if you like tubes, demo the speakers with tube electronics. You will need to match speaker specs to your amp specs. If you are in the DC area, go demo Totem loudspeakers, I would rate them better than some you stated. Too bad you don’t want used. If you like the revel “f” series, for < $10k, you can get a pair of revel ultimate salon 2 or studio 2’s depending on room size and amp power you have. Thes speakers would trounce anything you stated IMO, even over the Magico’s. 1 suggestion, I would attend the RMAF audio show next month so you can hear 100 different speakers. The last time I went, I heard the revel ultimate 2’s and the Usher x-towers, and bought the usher’s.
Three more I'd highly recommend hearing if you can:
Joseph Audio Perspective ProAc D48r Nola KO
David Lewis Audio in Philly in theory carries all three brands (along with lots of other great ones) if you can detour there, but I have no experience with them so as usual call before to see what they have to demo.
Call John Rutan at Audioconection. He is in NJ, but can recommend a place where you can listen to Vandersteen. And, considering you owned DQ-10's, I think Vandersteen should be very high on your list. If you like planar speakers, I believe Magnepan offers a trial period on speakers ordered from the factory. B
Mike, FYI and IMO, just be aware that some of why that 1975 demo sounded so good could be related to the electronics used and not just the speakers. If the dude was driving the speakers with quality tube electronics, that could account for how great the sound was. An audio society guy in NYC likely knew what he was doing and was using some great electronics. The audio source and amplification can make a significant difference.
Scorpio, I was looking for a Vanderstein dealer in Virginia last night as a matter of fact with no luck, maybe because it was getting late and I was getting tired. . I'll try again today to find one. Thanks for reminding me.
Mtrot, thanks for the tip on Capital Audiofest. I'll check into what manufacturers will be represented there. Maybe I can listen a variety of the above recommended speakers there, if I can't find them elsewhere..
Dwelle,r I'll check out the B&&W's you suggest. I would like to if possible find a speaker with enough bass to not need a subwoofer. I will be checking out the Revels, Paradigms and Magico.
Yogiboy, Do you know off hand which Harbeth falls into the $10,000 price range?
Soix, I'll only know the answer to your questions once I listen to a few speakers, which is why I am looking for a variety to audition. Right now I'm used to the sound of my late '70's vintage Dahlquist DQ10's, but have no idea what I might like at the $10,000 price range.
I think I'd like an uncolored, clean accurate sound. I know that sounds vague. About 1975, when I purchased my DQ10's the dealer invited me to a meeting of the New York Audio Society. I thought from the sounds of it, this would be a high class affair. As it turned out we met at some guys seedy two room apartment in Queens. This audiophile had expensive equipment piled on boxes next to his bed and laying around on the floor. Well, he turned on an Vanguard recording of Joan Baez live and she sounded like she was performing right there in the room with us. It was unexpectedly beautiful and unforgettable, and I'm not even a fan of Joan Baez. As close as $10,000 can get me to that experience is the sound I'd like.
You should really give us an idea of what sound characteristics (i.e. tone, micro/macro dynamics, imaging, soundstage, bass, etc.) are most important to you, otherwise you're just going to get recommendations for what other people like.
Bache, yes I'm looking for the brand names and models of speakers in the aforementioned price range. Thanks.
Mtrot, I'll track down the models you suggest and find the Virginia Legacy dealers you mentioned. Thanks
Kcpellethead, appreciate the advice. I'd only considered bringing along my own CD's and records.
Nitewulf, I'll look into your suggestions as well. Thank you.
Anybody else out there, your suggestions are welcome as well. I'm only going to be able to do this once so I'd like to be thorough and not overlook any good possibilities.
I am in the process of doing something similar. Not that you asked, but here is my advice. Call ahead to these dealers. Tell them what you’d like to hear. Ask them what source they use for demos and/or ask them if they can have your preferred source ready. If possible, burn a CD (or two) with your demo tracks. Make appointments.
What I’ve learned is that a great demo of some pretty average equipment can sound amazing while a bad demo of some otherwise well regarded and reviewed equipment can sound poor. This can and will make whole this process a bit confusing.
Of your choices, I’ve only heard the Magico A3s, and they were not yet broken in. However, I liked them. I agree with the suggestion to here Revel F228be and the Legacy Focus SE.
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