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Thanks Cruz, those are supposed to be outstanding speakers.
They are out of my price range new but there is a used pair on Agon right now for $1500. |
Worldwide,
I know that you wrote "sealed box monitors" only but I had to write this post!
Consider the Green Mountain Audio monitors - Europa Max, Callisto & the latest Eos.
They are ported but they are correctly designed ported monitors. They sound right & the port does not detract from the overall sound. The Callisto has gotten tremendous praise & respect from virtually every owner & at all shows that it was taken to. It truely is a world-class speaker that sounds like music.
I'm sure that you will be happy w/ this speaker (as many, many others before you).
Callistos come up for sale on Audiogon fairly regularly. |
OK, I'll check them out. Thanks for the suggestion. |
NHT SOO and MOO is an option but wall mount could look ugly due to power cords.. |
Selah Audio Tanzanites, etc. |
One thing I noticed about most so called sealed designs is that the Binding posts are not sealed and will let air through this causes a chuffing noise when played loud. If you have a sealed loudspeaker play some bass heavy music loud and place hand over BP most will let air by. I have had good luck removing BP and silconing the back. |
Try Danny Ritchie of GR Research's NEO-2X. It easily imo competes with speaker costing $3k. And if you use the right amp there is no need for a sub. |
There is a body of opinion out there that many vintage sealed designs are superior to modern day speakers. If you're willing to broaden your scope, you could grab a bargain classic for much less than the numbers bandied about above.
Look for Spica TC-50 of TC-50i and Ensemble Reference. These need stands and if the lowest 2 octaves (20-80 hz) are of importance to you, a sub will be necessary. |
You can't really go wrong with the ATCs. Just make sure you have lots of juice (min 100W) on tap, well so the theory goes, cos my dealer actually uses tubes to power the SCM35s. And why are you going for the SCM7s when you can go for the 11s? I am sure your dealer can give you some discounts if you pay cash and especially likely in the view of the current economy. |
Hi Worldwide,
Check out the NSM loudspeakers, all acoustic suspension designs and within your budget. |
Also, sealed speakers tend to be fairly inefficient. 87db is usually common. |
Here is another vote for the GR Research Neo 2x. They are available in kit form, but there are those whole will build them for you on Danny's forum on Audiocircle. The cabinets are available fully built from Parts Express.
I had a pair built for me and they are really, really good. Substantially more transparent, open, and clean sounding than the $3000 Dynaudio S1.4s that I had before (still great speakers). Brand new, built for me, all upgrades (cardas posts, upgraded caps, etc) cost me a little over a grand. Where they lose (in a major way) is the under 60hz response, and bass dynamics.
I disagree however with Trianglezerius on the sub issue. These are subwoofer required (as are most, if not all, other sealed monitors). With a good sub (ie. GR Research server sub, can be had for around $700) then they are unbeatable. |
Wonderful, price is the deciding factor on the 7's vs. 11's.
I'm really intrigued by the ATC speakers.
You're right about going with the 11's if possible and maybe a dealer could make a deal. |
Ask Rick Craig of Selah Audio to build a pair of "SSR" monitors in sealed boxes, substituting ScanSpeak D3004/66000 tweeters in place of the Fountek ribbons. John Krutke of Zaph Audio has a ported floorstanding kit sold via Madisound using these same drivers and his website has great info. For an ultra frugal guy like him to design this new kit speaks volumes about the drivers' quality. I have Selah line arrays, essentially big, sealed 2 ways, using the same midbass drivers. The upper bass and midrange are outstanding. For a 2 way monitor in your price range I'd use the soft dome - I don't like the low treble distortion of most ribbons used singly. If you're committed to these new speakers for the long haul and, like me, embrace the "sealed box mains plus subs" paradigm, you might ask Rick Craig to estimate the cost of his sealed "SSR" monitors with the RAAL 140D (the bigger RAAL) ribbons. In the $2500 ballpark such a sealed 2-way might likely have no peer.
Just my 2 cents. jb |
Looks like Rick Craig has already designed the crossover for a sealed monitor using the ScanSpeak drivers I mentioned in my last post. Use the homepage Selah Audio link to their Audio Circles forum. Look at the "California Monitor" thread from June. A picture and pricing are there. Looks like $2000 or so gets custom built cabinets. I'd not use the Parts Express prefabs. |
Having suffered B&W nautilus tweeters for 10 years I understand your aversion to metal dome tweeters, also ported designs. The Aerial 5b titanium tweeter is way better than this, not harsh but still very revealing, for my money the Aerial's are the best acoustic suspension design in this price range. Their top to bottom coherance and neutrality sold me. Caveat here is that you need a quality high current amp. |
Another vote for Merlin TSM |
Sequerra Monitor Speakers are SEALED. |
Spendor 3/5's are a great sealed speaker,I own them. |
