Searching for the most "accurate" speaker (below 15K)

Already thinking ahead! : ) 

Thanks for sharing. 

Hi vermeer - late to the game here, and I confess I haven’t read many of the responses. But I’ve been searching for a new reference speaker in the $5k - $15k range (my budget is rather flexible) so thought I’d chime in. I’m coming from Merlin TSM-MXe’s with a REL T-9 subwoofer.

I’ve heard the Paradigm Personas, I believe the 3F - they’re $10k? To be frank, I couldn’t listen to them at all. The associated gear wasn’t great but I found them to be very hard-sounding and lacking insight and nuance. They do wide dynamics well but subtle dynamic contrasts were obliterated and spatial cues were scrambled. If I had to guess, they are using a high-order crossover network, and in my experience the circuit complexity tends to kill the subtlety and life of the music.

The same dealer also had the Wilson Sabrinas, which is at the very upper end of your price range, but I didn’t get a chance to listen to them. They look promising and I’ve been told Wilson has changed their sound over the last few years (I never thought the WATT/Puppies etc. were very musical a decade ago). My biggest concern with Wilsons is they tend to present a tough load for amps - the Sabrina drops to something like 2.7 ohms? I prefer speakers which are designed to be less reactive, as it’s easier to get good sound out of them and shows a certain care by the designer.

One speaker that recently impressed me was the Audiovector SR 1 Avantgarde Arreté. It’s a $5k bookshelf but I’d put its speed, transparency and overall level of musical insight up there with speakers up to $15k. They make a larger 2.5-way version that should have more bass and dynamics. You can read more of my impressions of the SR 1 on my blog:
http://taww.co/post/168738759687/quick-take-audiovector-sr1-avantgarde-arrete

The Focal Sopras are often mentioned but I haven’t heard it yet. FWIW, ears I trust said they are more for hi-fi fireworks and not at the same level of naturalness and musicality of stuff like the Audiovector, or Dynaudios for that matter. I’ve owned JM Lab/Focal products in the past and they were good values, but it’s a somewhat different school of design/sound than what I’ve gravitated towards over the years.

That all said, Silverline should not be overlooked. They get little to no press, and they don’t introduce a latest-and-greatest model every year. But Alan Yun makes some of the most musically accurate speakers I’ve heard well beyond their respective price points. I currently have the SR17 Supreme in-house ($7500) and it is mind-blowingly good. Alan tells me his $15k Bolero Supreme is at an even higher level. I’m planning to audition it soon, but the SR17 may be all that I need. It’s that good.

My .02! I’ll browse through some of the other recommendations here, also curious and open to suggestions. Let me know if there’s a speaker you’re really anxious for me to hear and I can see if I can get it for review.

Cheers,
MIY
http://taww.co

It's been a good thread.  Based on what you have shared and not liked, our ears may have some similar likes, lol.  Teh Wilson's are easier to listen to now, but they lack the micro and macro detail. Highly dynamic, but the midrange drivers on all their speakers are out of phase and to my ear, that hurts the detail and emotion that a great speaker will give you.  

My buddy loves the Sopra's, but I've never liked them.  I heard the Paradigm 9H's again this weekend and they are hard and not listenable. Same with the Legacy's.  Dealer said they all were off because of the DAC or components or whatever.  To me, it was the same sound I always hear with them.  

I am a Vandersteen fan.  I had the Treo's and sold them to another AG poster, Bob, who loves them.  I now have the Quatro's and LOVE them.  I went to the Vandy dealer right after listening to the Paradigms and Legacy's and heard music again.  There are so many potential speakers in this price range and you just have to go audition.  I have heard the Maggies sound awesome, but I've also heard them sound like garbage.  They are so totally dependent on the rest of the audio chain.  Some speakers are forgiving, but you will then give up a bit in detail and intimacy most of the time.

The OP has already purchase his speakers, but it's still a fun thread to jump into.  

Magnepans hands down ! For 6K you can buy the 3.7i's and I promise you will not be disappointed. These planers will out perform anything in it's price range and a lot that are way more expensive ! The upstream electronics need to be good. I am using a MC452 power amp and was just about to give up on it and switched from a C2600 tube preamp to a full Levinson frontend and now this amp has opened up and is one of the best I have tried including some Levinson mono blocks. These speakers will be so very reveling but if your source material is not the best you will know it!      Good Luck

The Personas need EQing. The Persona that's neutral is the center channel. The rest of them are down 4-5 db in the vocal range and there's a 5db treble peak at 1k, and a 7-8db peak at 10K. Needs a little work with room correction or EQ to fix.

EX, honest question.  Why would you buy. speaker that needs so much EQ to sound decent?  Why not just get a speaker that needs no EQ?  NO need to mess with the signal, which typically ruins the pure sound.  

That goes for any speaker that has the treble peaks (so many of them do because in teh store they will stand out, but when you get them home you will be fatigued after an hour and not even realize it).  JMHO