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Small room, "budget priced" speaker advice, please

Hi,

I recently sold my dearly beloved, old Vandersteen 2C's here on Audiogon (and I hope SgtPeppers is loving them at this moment!) :-) I did this because in our remodeled house, my new listening room (which will double as a guest room) is just too small for the 2C's. The Spousal Acceptance Factor was just too low. ;-)

I have a PS Audio Elite-Plus integrated amp for power (around 70 W/Ch) and a soon-to-be-shipped-off-for-a-refurb Sota Sapphire for an analog front end (I have "miles" of vinyl)! I will also get a CD player at some point.

For now, I need to find a pair of best-of-breed, truly "budget" speakers. By "budget," I'm talking upper limit of $850/pair. (Gone are my free-spending, single days... I'm a dad now...) :-)

Listening habits: lots of 60's and 70's folk and rock, some jazz, Donald Fagen/Steely Dan, a little classical. Listening volume: not too loud. Sonic preferences: I value transparency and imaging/soundstage. Bass should be accurate above all, as opposed to chest-pounding powerful.

I've looked at Paradigms, which I know are highly regarded at lower price points. Trouble is, our one, local dealer is primarily a TV/home theater outfit, so you're trying to hear them in a showroom crammed with other stuff... you know the drill. I've also hit a high end shop. Listened to a pair of PSB small towers and disliked them; they sounded muddy and veiled to me. Listened to a pair of the smallest Rega's and liked them quite a bit, but would want to go back to listen again. I even wrote to PS Audio for advice; they recommended the "baby" Epos monitors, but they're out of my price range.

Thanks if you've read this far. Knowing how subjective all this is, I'd still welcome any advice you have to offer about what I should try to audition.
rebbi
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knownothing
1,553 posts
 
Rebbi,

Will be curious to hear of your results. The cables will need some time to settle in as well, at least ~100 hours of continuous play or so. With that said, you should notice a difference right away with improved resolution.
rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
Knownothing,

Thanks, and I will report back. I have to say that I'm impressed with HCM so far... I ordered this morning and already have a tracking number from them. :-)
audioangel
37 posts
 
Try the Dynaudio Audience 42.

A little, but really good sounding monitorspeaker.

Keywords: Transparent, dynamic, very musical.

Very good sound/price performance.

Best regards,
Kenneth P.
rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
Audioangel,
Yes, I'd heard the Audience 42's at a local dealer. Since Dynaudio seems to be discontinuing the Audience line, they were discounted... under $1000, IIRC. I liked them... very good imaging, nice soundstage. But as I gravitated toward a floor-standing model, I dropped them from my list. I ultimately went with the Totem Arro.
rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
Guys,

Well, I got the Audioquest GBC speaker cables and Coral interconnects the other day, and finally got to plug just the speaker cables into the system and listen today.

While the new speaker cables sound more powerful and full in the bass notes, the top end sounds harsh and very bright compared to the old Monster Cable Powerline 2 cable I'd been using. To use my "reference CD" again, James Taylor's voice sounds edgy and bright, and the air and space around his voice is absent. Does this sound like a matter of break-in to you?

Additionally, it turns out that the spades are too small for the Arro speaker terminals. I can attach them firmly by inserting one side of a spade into the bare-wire-hold in each speaker post and screwing down tight, but I'm wondering if that's copromising sound quality and if I need to return them for that reason alone. (They're just fine on the Amp end.)

Thanks in advance for your insights! Help!
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