Speaker recomendation

Was in your position precisely and bought the Tekton Double Impacts. They are perfect for your room size, will work with your budget, and, easily, have enough volume and dynamic range.
If you research these, pay attention to DI speaker owners, not disconnected responses. You will note that all real owners of the speaker praise it wholeheartedly.
Eric Alexander, the owner, is fine to deal with if you are straightforward. Make him promise to send you the grills if these are needed.

OP - Where did you get the idea that the Golden Ear References are better for rock than other types of music?  I have heard the model Ones and found them to sound quite good with a wide array of musical types.

The GoldenEar Reference has some flaws in the upper treble, and integrated subs are almost never a good idea.

1) Get drapes/curtains. Room treatment in general would be very benefifical, $750 goes a long way, Acoustimac is a good site, I’d get a lot of their 48”x24”x2” panels (or short/narrower, but you want the same thickness).

2) Probably Salk SoundScape 7F for the speakers, or the Ascend Acoustics Sierra Tower with RAAL upgrade for 90% the quality at 50% the price ($3K vs $6K).

3) Get dual subs, that room is very large, even in close proximity the bass will be too low. Dual Rythmik F15HP’s would run you $2400, they have very low distortion and are very fast. If you want them in a custom finish, Salk buys the drivers/amp from Rythmik, but makes a better cabinet (thicker and more bracing), and you can get them in whatever finish you want (if getting the Salk speakers, you can get them to be perfectly matched), dual of these would run you $3600 plus shipping.

4) PSAudio’s Stellar Gain Cell DAC and S300 Amplifier combo for $2700 ($3200 if purchased separately). An excellent DAC/preamp and an excellent amp.

5) If you are tech savvy, I would recommend $300 for a MiniDSP 2x4HD with mic, which would allow you to DSP correct the speakers and subs. If you are not tech savvy, no big deal.

Check out the new Bob Carver line arrays with integral sub's. They can certainly fill your large space!

I have a similar space and a wide range of musical interests (renaissance to 20th century classical, chamber to full orchestra and chorus, classical rock to jazz, female vocals. . . ). My 14.5x23' living room is at one end of a huge 23x45x16' space. I wanted to be able to listen while seated in the living room near the speakers, but also fill the larger space with music during other times. I tried various speakers and ultimately settled on Zu; I now own a pair of ZuDef4s driven by a 300bSET. But it was trial and error - both for the speakers and the amplifier. 

You have a couple of good options, the Tekton’s are a great value, they are however, ugly as sin and are a very boxy looking speaker, we have heard them at two seperate demos and the speakers do a lot of things well but are a bit on the recessed side. 

You can get a pair of Legacy Focus for $10k and they move a lot of air, have very deep bass and are very efficient 95.6db and they sound fantastic for all music. The Legacy’s are quite attractive for a good sized speaker and can come in many different veneers so you and your wife can find something that you both like.

The Golden Ear Reference are a decent choice they are a love or hate in terms of their looks and sound quality, we have heard them Golden Ear Reference twice and both times were not blown away.

You need a big speaker with prodigous bass, which means a physically large speaker, you can go the other route and use subwoofers, but then you have an acoustic integration issue as well as one or two large and ugly boxes in your living room.

As per amplifier, you can most likely find a nice power amp to use with your integrated and viola you have a nice new setup.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

There's a very nice demo pair of Acoustic Zen Crescendo IIs here now for $12k.  They are an easy load so should work fine with your current amp, but they will certainly reward you for upgrades down the road.  Best of luck. 

The Acoustic Zen are okay speakers and were never worth their original price point we heard them on numerous shows. Also they are not 96db efficient so they are not going to play as loudly as easily to fill up a large room as the Legacy's. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

My listening space is 16.5' X 34' w/cathedral ceiling. I built a pair of custom Tannoy HPD 315 (ca 1975 12" dual concentric drivers), that are rated at 94 db sensitivity. I get very enjoyable sound with either a 500 Wpc Class D amp, or a 9 Wpc SET 300B.

You may want to opt for the 15" version for your situation, should you consider them. They treat all genres of music equally well (with the possible exception of Hip-Hop or electronic synth, which I've never heard through them). I used vintage drivers, as I could not afford the current Prestige line of Tannoy, which are beautifully enclosed in fine cabinetry.

Tannoys will reflect improvements made in the gear that drives them, are explosively dynamic when called for (they still scare me at times, even after eight years of listening to them), and are very robust.

Just another avenue for you to consider, and in my mind, a very suitable one for your needs.

Best of luck, regards,
Dan

Revel F228be + Anthem STR Integrated.  You’ll have plenty of power, ARC to help tame errant reflections in the room, a beautiful set of speakers that can play louder than you’ll ever need without breaking a sweat and can handle anything from light acoustic jazz to full orchestral recordings to heavy metal with aplomb.  

Plus, with the STR Integrated you get real bass management so if you want to add a subwoofer or two later on it’s plug-and-play easy.  

I just heard Legacy Audio(Focus SE) speakers for the first time. I think they sound really good and represent outstanding value. I would love to hear the Aeris as possible replacements for my speakers.

Are you planning dance parties when you have more people over? Or classical and jazz cocktail party only?

The reason I ask is you could get either great aesthetic speakers or excellent audio quality big box coffins for that price. Probably not both. The aesthetic designs won’t be trance dance party capable but would look elegant and do jazz and classical ok at low levels.

Hey @audiotroy -- It’s one thing for you to come on here and try to peddle your wares. I don’t personally like it and find it quite tiring, but okay, it is what it is and I just put up with it. But when you start disparaging honest product recommendations from other members -- like mine above for the AZ Crescendos -- by using your own personal opinions (based on audio shows no less) and to push your own products, that is NOT COOL AT ALL!!! The purpose of this site is NOT to be an advertising vehicle for your business and for you to be able to discourage the sale of competitors’ products based on your personal and biased opinions. In fact, that’s the exact OPPOSITE of what this site is all about and the value that it brings. 

We might have a similar space / issue....

have a 36’ long x 15’ x 10’ to 9’ sloped feiling with wall of windows cantilevered over view of Puget Sound ( So drapes and acoustic treatments on those windows ain’t happening- we opted for a mix of Totem floor standers and in ceiling for fill with switches on the in ceiling only.
having said that. This is not my primary 2 channel critical listening rig.....
the questions about music, use and what wall are speakers going on are spot on
??????
i ran AMROC on your room assuming 9’ ceiling.... certainly some very interesting nodes going on, might seek some room treatment help, several mentioned GIK, Lambvin, Acoustimac, ASC all really good, as others may have mentioned a sub with EQ might be good and or DSP


beware dealers running other product down..... enjoy your search !!!!!

@soix A Big +1 I quickly lose respect for any dealer that disparages a brand they don’t sell and then promotes a brand their audio emporium carries. Worse, as you pointed out, they were basing their opinion on hearing them at shows. Anyone who has listened at shows know that conditions there are problematic.

Lastly, Audio Doctor, you broke a cardinal dealer rule....do not knock the equipment of a customer or gear you don’t carry. Extol the positives of what you do carry to your bottomline’s content but never...☹️

Soix, way too many people have over inflated opinions of products that are mearly okay, that they for whatever reason they personally love. 

You may think this applies to us as well but if you examine our product portfollio our products are mostly main line well respected manufacturers that can provide proper service and support as well as making some of the best sounding and top rated products in the industry at their respective price points, we sell: Kef, Dali, Paradigm, Legacy, ATC, ELAC, Cabasse, PSB, JL Audio, the only really micro sized company we endorse is the Rethems, which we got for their sound quality and novel steam punk look. 

In the past we had Acoustic Zen, Jantzen, Usher, Esoteric, Amphion, Polymer Audio, Escalante, and System Audio, Gradient, and probably a few other brands we forgot about. 

We hear way too many times a recommendation based on some weird product from a company that has not really received the kinds of universal accolades that a product of the price range should receive.

That is not to say that the review based world is purly objective but when a companies products are so rarely shown or reviewed or owned or raved by many reviewers it has a lot to say about the company.

We used to sell Acoustic Zen cables and speakers although we did not sell the more expensive Crescendo we did sell the lesser model. 

We had them on display and they were good speakers but in the annuls of audio for a $4k price point there are a lot of other companies products we would prefer to own and recommend.

The AZ cables were good, better then the Harmonic Technologies cables but in term the AZ cables were bettered by Audiquest, and Nordost and Wireworld cables which we moved into later.

Soix you miss the point, there are other posters who have talked about products we don't sell and we tell them sure go check them out like the Focal Sopras, and the Magico A3. 

If you look at the myriad of loudspeaker choices too  many weird difficult or impossible speakers to demo makes potential buyers loopy.

As per recommending Legacy, at least they have displaying dealers not that many but if you look at their dealer page at least they have some decent dealers that someone may be able to actually drive to, please let me know how many displaying dealers throughout the country have AZ loudspeakers available for demo?

Soix if you noticed we said the AZ speakers were okay that doesn't mean we think they are terrrible but ask yourself if the speakers were new would you shell out $25k for a set and even at $12k are there perhaps better alternatives. 

The likelyhood of us by endorsing Legacy is going to make the OP magically apear in our shop to purchase a pair is doubtful as the OP is probably on a different Coast then  us.

If you notice we have been recommending Legacy for years because they are a screaming bargain for the sheer quality and amount of sound quality for the money.  They belong in a rare class of high end audio  products which are a huge value for a hand made American product with really high quality European drivers.

Hope that helps understand our points.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ 

+1 for the Legacy's. Despite the fact that you don't like dealers hawking their wares I believe the Legacy's would be a great choice for this space.

Bache Audio's extraordinary augmented widebanders are my favorite high end speakers.  There are five models ranging from $3K to $15K, and designer/owner Greg Belman will let you try them in your listening room.  I recently replaced my Merlin VSM's with the Bache Metro 001's.

Here is a paragraph excerpted from Laurence Borden's July 2014 review of the discontinued Bache 001 for Dagago. I think it gets to the heart of the augmented widebander advantage:

"In a typical 3-way speaker, the crossover point between the midrange and tweeter is typically between 1 and 2 kHz, which is smack-dab in the region to which our ear is most sensitive. No matter how well designed a crossover might be, the tweeter and midrange drivers invariably differ in their dispersion characteristics, transient response, and distortion characteristics. Making matters worse, the crossover often introduces phase shifts. Although these differences are often not recognized per se (except in especially poor implementations), they become apparent when they are absent, as they are in a speaker based on a wideband driver. As implemented in the Bache Audio speakers, the Tangband covers the range from about 100 Hz to about 10,000, or almost seven octaves. Not surprisingly, they are superbly coherent. As a result, music has a wholeness — or oneness, if you prefer — that makes it seem more lifelike. One has a sense of being more relaxed while listening, a trait I find very desirable in a speaker. Not surprisingly, instruments that span many octaves — like the piano — are especially well served, yet all instruments benefit".

Here's the link to the full review:

https://www.dagogo.com/bache-audio-001-loudspeaker-review

  

@audiotroy -- No, that doesn’t help me understand "your points" at all. It’s an irrelevant and incoherent rambling -- and of course containing yet another ad for the products you carry -- that is a sorry excuse of a defense of an indefensible and harmful act here on Audiogon. Where to start?

"We hear way too many times a recommendation based on some weird product from a company that has not really received the kinds of universal accolades that a product of the price range should receive.
That is not to say that the review based world is purly objective but when a companies products are so rarely shown or reviewed or owned or raved by many reviewers it has a lot to say about the company."

Well I certainly can’t argue with this, mainly beacause I have no idea what it means. But it has nothing to do with what you did here.

"Soix you miss the point, there are other posters who have talked about products we don’t sell and we tell them sure go check them out like the Focal Sopras, and the Magico A3."

Again, this has nothing to do with what you did here.

"As per recommending Legacy, at least they have displaying dealers not that many but if you look at their dealer page at least they have some decent dealers that someone may be able to actually drive to, please let me know how many displaying dealers throughout the country have AZ loudspeakers available for demo?
Soix if you noticed we said the AZ speakers were okay that doesn’t mean we think they are terrrible but ask yourself if the speakers were new would you shell out $25k for a set and even at $12k are there perhaps better alternatives."

And you think I’M the one missing the point here? SERIOUSLY??? You’re once again comparing speakers I recommended to the OP in a relatively negative light to the speakers you recommended here AND SELL!!! You should not be expressing negative opinions on other products and recommendations in any way while you’re promoting your own products here at the same time. PERIOD!!! It’s a pure conflict of interest that makes you look unethical and undermines your credibility here. 

@falconquest -- That I don’t like that audiotroy pushes his products here is irrelevant and you miss the point entirely. The Legacys could be a fine recommendation and I’ve never said or implied otherwise, but again that’s not the point here.

@hifiman5 ...a big +1 to you and a +2 to @soix .  They seem to bash Belles as well whenever they get the opportunity which really displays a sense of idiocy.  Then I realize they’ve probably never even heard Belles.  Never bash anyone’s gear or taste in music I say.  Most of what I’ve seen that they sell is junk!  Oh boy, I guess I broke my own rule.........

Soix you are entitled  to your opinion about us, but you are mistaken. 

The reaon we mention Legacy is that the Focus is one of the very few loudspeakers that is affordable and can play loud enough with enough bass to fill up a giant room and the speakers are attractive and they can be made in many different finish options to fit in with someone's decor and they sound fantastic and they are 95.5 db efficient.

The Tekton's would also work and are very inexpensive even the DI Se are only $6,500.00 and they would do the job nicely for this gentleman, the only issue with those is they are big and boxy and kind of ugly for most people''s Living Rooms and in our opinion the Tekton's are a bit recessed in the top end and detail department. 

We started with Legacy  for this very reason, high power handling, high efficiency, very deep bass, easy to drive and attractive with a huge sound stage and great detail how many $11k speakers offer all of these options? 

Of course the OP has to like them what is interesting is how many people have heard Legacy at shows and have been blown away by them. 

The other options are much more complicted and probably not Living Room/ Wife acceptable. 

One of the reasons why we post is the complete lack of understanding that many of the forum writters seem to lack.

Not everyone desires a set of giant subs in their Living Room, perhaps the OP doesn't mind but don't you think someone should ask that first?

Carmenc, we never bashed the Acoustic Zen's we didn't say they were terrible we said they are okay. Again if the Zen's were so wonderful you would be reading about them, people would be talking about them seems like they pretty much disappeared from the converstation a number of years ago.

"We hear way too many times a recommendation based on some weird product from a company that has not really received the kinds of universal accolades that a product of the price range should receive.
That is not to say that the review based world is purly objective but when a companies products are so rarely shown or reviewed or owned or raved by many reviewers it has a lot to say about the company."

This is a simple statement, it simply states that  great products generally gain market mommentum, when you can't find almost any mention of Acoustic Zen's products in years that is not a great sign that their products are competitive. 

Yes Soix, I am sure the OP is going to get on a plane and fly to our Jersey City office to purchase a pair of Legacy's from us. I highly doubt he is located near us so please explain how we are selling these speakers agian?

As per bashing Belles, we had Belles gear in house not this series and the sound was not remarkable. Again for all the Belles fan's what have you compared it to have you listened to our recommended amplifier that also has a lush  tube like sound better still it actually has tubes in it. 

Do you want to know of an Aria compettitor that sounds just like an Aria yet costs $600.00 less? It is called a Unison Reserach Primo an 80 watt tube solid state hybrid amp from Italy any of you guys like to do a shootout in our shop with an Aria. By the way, never said the Aria wasn't good we haven't heard one, just the last series which was nincely made but didn't wow us. 

You guys need to carefully read what we write. Saying a product is okay is not bashing it, okay means not bad but not great. 

Yes Carmec, all the brands we sell which are many of the major brands in audio are junk I guess, Conrad Johson, Manley Labs, Lumin, Aurender, Innuous, T+A, Electrcompaniet, Unison, KEF, KEF Reference, KEF Blades, Dali, PSB, Legacy, Quad, Paradigm, JL Audio, Micromega, and ATC, Mytek, Naim, Parasound, M2 Tech, Benz, Lyra, Acoustic Systems, April Music, Cary Audio, Rega, Nottingham, Anthem, Nuprime, Wireworld, Audio Magic, AQ, Nad, Aqua Hifi, and a number of others, yes these are junky brands, what you smoking? 

Before you jump to your erronous conclusions why don't you pick up the phone and actually talk to one of us and see if we can't guide you into better sound who knows you may actually like our suggestions.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

I absolutely agree that it is best for the OP to use a high sensitivity speaker. The Legacy Focus may work, but I don't consider it's sensitivity to be high. The spec is stated as 95.4db (2.83V @ 1m), however since it is a 4 ohm speaker, this is a 2 watt rating. The 1 watt rating should be used for comparison to 8 ohm speakers, and that is 3db lower or 92.4 db. This may still be too high. Stereophile reviewed an earlier version of this speaker that was spec'd at 96db (2.83V @ 1m), but measured 94.5db (2.83V @ 1m), so an actual 1 watt rating was 91.5db.

Using a high sensitivity speaker will increase the probability of accurately reproducing the wide dynamic range of classical music in a large room and also allow use of the current amp, Moon 340i, to achieve this. For that 10k price, IMHO, this should be on the list to consider.

https://positive-feedback.com/Issue62/athenas.htm

@audiotroy It’s like talking to a wall. Somebody else wanna help me here? This has nothing to do with my "opinion" of you or anything else here. It has everything to do with documented facts and your unethical behavior on this site. I apologize to the OP that this discussion has taken this turn, but there is a serious violation by a retailer going on here that cannot be left unaddressed. It’s apparent to me now that @audiotroy is so arrogant and enamored of his own products that he actually doesn’t see how what he’s doing is wrong, or he’s so hell-bent on selling his products here that he doesn’t care. Either way, it’s bad.

"One of the reasons why we post is the complete lack of understanding that many of the forum writters seem to lack."

This is the essence of the arrogance. You know better and other opinions are wrong and need to be corrected by asserting that the product YOU SELL is better. Case in point...

"Do you want to know of an Aria compettitor that sounds just like an Aria yet costs $600.00 less? It is called a Unison Reserach Primo an 80 watt tube solid state hybrid amp from Italy any of you guys like to do a shootout in our shop with an Aria. By the way, never said the Aria wasn’t good we haven’t heard one, just the last series which was nincely made but didn’t wow us."

That you would say this after the discussion to this point shows you just don’t get it. And again in my case earlier...

"The Acoustic Zen are okay speakers and were never worth their original price point we heard them on numerous shows. Also they are not 96db efficient so they are not going to play as loudly as easily to fill up a large room as the Legacy’s."

When you write that immediately following my recommendation for the AZs you are disparaging another member’s recommendation and a competitor’s product in favor one THAT YOU SELL. It matters not one bit that you think you’re right or that you may be helping the OP make a better decision. As a retailer promoting your products here you inherently give up the right to criticize other products as several other reputable retailers here duly respect.

Ok, I’m done here. I can’t make it any more clear except to say, @audiotroy if you continue to behave this way and speak negatively of other products and recommendations in favor of your own products you will incite the ire of many more members here and irreparably damage what’s left of your reputation here. Peace out.

@soix  Hard to believe how tone deaf people can be.  How does @audiotroy not see the terrible impression they are making for themselves by their condescending, negative comments about owner's appreciation for gear they don't happen to sell?  My son is graduating with a Public Relations degree this coming Saturday.  I can only imagine how difficult it would be for him or anyone else with the requisite PR understanding to rehabilitate the despoiled image of @audiotroy .  Who shops there?  🤔😧

http://pbnaudio.com/speakers/montana-speakers/master-reference-iii-loudspeaker


Go full range :-)

From its maker 

Good Listening

Peter

"Soix, way too many people have over inflated opinions of products that are mearly okay, that they for whatever reason they personally love."

Wow, just wow. And that's just one of the misguided attempts to "justify" his postings.  @audiotroy, I appreciate your attempt to save me from myself, but you may just want to sit the rest of this one out.

Sorry boys, don’t see it. Soix facts is facts.

A product is either growing in the market or shrinking. Many people view a consensus on a product’s performance as one way to validate or weed out what they are going to purchase or look at.

Sure it is easy to say go look at x y or z that doesn’t mean the product is good or practical or will work for the poster.

Never said the AZ speakers or products were bad, and WE WERE DEALERS! So we had actual experience with their products and how they compared, we also heard the AZ speakers at a couple of shows as well for the Cresendos. In our opinion the Crecendos are decent speakers but I posed the question if you were currently in the market for a new set of speakers and at the $25k price point would you rush to find a AZ dealer or would you be looking for a Wilson, Magico, Rockport, KEF, Paradigm, Vandy?

You may think that we have an over in flated view of our products, the facts is that there are many respected dealers with the same products we have throughtout the country and most of our products are highly rated in the press, but if you managed to read what we said about press you would understand that point.

We were also accussed of bashing Belles, on the contrary we reported the facts that we did have the previous series of products and they were not remarkable, and that we did not hear the Aria.

We did point out that we have a very similar sounding highly rated tube integrated that may sound as good or better which sells for $600 less with a similar type of DNA, features and build quality. Again Soix that is not being arrogant look at what we actually said:

Do you want to know of an Aria compettitor that sounds just like an Aria yet costs $600.00 less? It is called a Unison Reserach Primo an 80 watt tube solid state hybrid amp from Italy any of you guys like to do a shootout in our shop with an Aria. By the way, never said the Aria wasn’t good we haven’t heard one, just the last series which was nincely made but didn’t wow us.

DID THAT SAY THAT THE UNISON SMOKES OR IS BETTER than the Aria, NO WE DIDN"T, we said sounds like an Aria, the Aria is known for a warm tube like presentation, guess what the Unison is a hybrid with tubes and it does indeed sound warm and tuby, and if we are not mistaken the Aria sells for $3k while the Unison is $2.4k and the Unison is 80 watts vs the Belles 75 watts, so these two pieces should be very competitive.

I hardly see the Belles boys ever talk about their experience’s vs other comparable products vs a Peachtree or a Unison or a shootout vs the Naim Atom. We did read the Aria review from the UK and it was a very good review.

As per the Othergreg, Wow, just wow. And that’s just one of the misguided attempts to "justify" his postings. @audiotroy, I appreciate your attempt to save me from myself, but you may just want to sit the rest of this one out.

No problem we sell some of the best a/v products on the market and have tested and sold more brands of a/v products than many, so we don’t have to worry about saving you from yourself.

As per the PR GUY the first rule of PR is no press is bad press. for all of you guys complaining of our bad behavior, for disparaging products we don’t sell, when if you actually read the post we never said either of the two products were bad, we get calls from people from all over the country that appreciate what a dealer with 30 plus years of experience and the fact that we sell many of the best products in one location means we know our products can bring to the table.

We assist way more people than you guys know, it is facinating how if you don’t agree

And lastly Soix,

It’s apparent to me now that @audiotroy is so arrogant and enamored of his own products that he actually doesn’t see how what he’s doing is wrong, or he’s so hell-bent on selling his products here that he doesn’t care. Either way, it’s bad.

Soix, It is not wrong to recommend a product that you are enamoured with especially when there are many other people who agree.

Arrogant would be saying tha the Legacy’s are better than everything else did you ever find us saying that? We laid out the facts why this speaker MAY be good for the OP but we also said that he has to like them.

We put it to you this way at least with Legacy the OP may be able to hear a pair how easy is it to hear the AZ?

and now to address your last point:

nd you think I’M the one missing the point here? SERIOUSLY??? You’re once again comparing speakers I recommended to the OP in a relatively negative light to the speakers you recommended here AND SELL!!! You should not be expressing negative opinions on other products and recommendations in any way while you’re promoting your own products here at the same time. PERIOD!!! It’s a pure conflict of interest that makes you look unethical and undermines your credibility here.

Please Soix grow up, all dealers and owners of products endorse what they sell or own, the fact that unless the OP flys over to our Store and listens to and then purchases a set of Legacy’s WE AREN"T SELLING ANYTHING!

Go back to what we wrote about why we endorse the Legacy’s and please let us know how many affordable speaker lines offer these attributes?

We know of Tekton, Golden Ear and that is pretty much it.

You also miss the other parts of this converation which is how easily can the OP hear the product? Will the company be in business 5 or 10 years from now and how easy will it be to move and service the product.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Dear OP

hopefully the net effect is help from this community

how is your search going ?

jim

Yup. Ain’t nuthin’ getting in here. I recently sent a coffee mug to a friend who works with some, um, intellectually-challenged coworkers. It said, "I can explain it to you, I just can’t understand it for you." Like I said before, I’m done so I’ll just let Pink Floyd lead me out...

"The bleeding hearts and artists make their stand
And when they’ve given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it’s not easy
Banging your heart against some mad bugger’s wall."

@soix  🤩

@audiotroy "No problem we sell some of the best a/v products on the market and have tested and sold more brands of a/v products than many, so we don’t have to worry about saving you from yourself."

I don't even know what that means. We are very much aware of what brands you sell, though, since you've taken every opportunity to list them in each posting.

Tls any speaker that is 91 or 92 db is efficient, sure it may not be 96db or 101 db but that is still a high efficiency design compared with most of the industry's 85-89 db figures. 

Looked up the Athenas, although that speaker is more electrically efficient, you have one woofer with a much more limited amount of deep bass, the greater the room size the more bass energy you would need. The Legacy uses 2 12 inch long throw woofers with a 3db down point of 18hz so in reality would be much better suited to the task of driving this room.

The OP should see if he can locate a pair and take a listen.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

Retired now, but worked in the audio industry for over 25 years. Remember that average speaker sensitivity was 88-90db, with 85db considered to be low and 95db being high. The industry average may have shifted, I don't know, however the relationship of amp power and speaker sensitivity to achieve volume and dynamic range remains the same.

During that time, I was fortunate to be exposed to so many different products and setups. Heard Legacy speakers a few times and had a friend with a pair. Did they sound ok, sure, but never seem to be special, the goose bumps or making hair stand up thing. Some other listening experiences were impressionable and hard to forget. And please understand, this is just my opinion.

As far as the "having a bigger hammer" thing, I'm sure that appeals to many, but not me. I prefer quality over quantity. I never get focused on bass and treble, like so many do. I want the best midrange with a good balance of everything else. Basically, a speaker that doesn't have a strong point, but does everything well.

Absolutely, the OP needs to take a listen, but to as many speakers as he can.

And finally a thought for the day.

“I must go in, the fog is rising.”  -  Emily Dickinson

And a joke for the day.

What did the egomaniac say when leaving his friend's house?

Don't tell me goodbye after I say goodbye to you!!

Audiotroy doesn't bother me, because I take his recommendations with a grain of salt. If he recommends something that sparks my interest, I go listen to the component with my owns ears. I did that for speakers that he recommended and recently with T+A electronics. I listened to the T+A  PA 3100 HV driving Magico A3s. Based on that experience I don't think the PA 3100 HV is anything special. Listening always puts everything into perspective.  

Meanwhile, back at The Topic...

IMHO, if I had a room that big and $10-15K for amps and speakers, I would probably try this:  I would call John Strohbeen at Ohm Acoustics, and ask if the Walsh 5000 would be able to work in that large space.  If so, that's $6600 for the speakers.  If your space is too big for them, John will tell you the truth.  They work well with reflective surfaces, so you may not have to do as much to treat the room and those windows as you might with more directional speakers.  They also have several frequency band output level controls, which might be especially helpful in your situation.  For an amp, lots of clean power is the key.  I would go for the Arion Audio HS-500 monoblocks, which are tube/Class D hybrid designs that output 500 watts each.  I have heard them with both Nola speakers and Magicos, and they are great amps, IMHO.  I had the RS-500 monoblocks (with solid state input stage) for a while and thought they were also pretty good.  But the hybrids are better sounding and within your budget.  That's another $6300 for the pair.  That leaves you a bit left over for some decent power and speaker cables.  YMMV, of course, but both of these products are sold direct with in-home trial periods.

Harbeth 30.2 fantastic for classical music and jazz.   I'd go with a SS Amp and pre or an integrated ss!  I love McIntosh with Harbeth!   

Ricredi I can assure you the T+A gear is the real deal.

I am not surprised that you didn't like the setup, the Magico A3 are a much smaller sounding speaker with a much more reserved presentation than the more upbeat Monitor's you use. 

We have not heard the A3 but to our ears previous Magico's always sounded a bit boring. 

Bircorobit, Harbeths are lovely speakers that many people prize for their natural midrange and musical presentation, however, even the larger 40 are still not physically large enough to provide proper spl, and deep enough bass for this really large room.

The golden rule is the larger the physical volume of the room the larger the loudspeaker needs to be. 

Likely good canidates, used Kef Blades, Genesis, Legacy Focus or Aeris, used Wilson Sasha, Wilson X1,Dali Epicon 8, look for large 5-6 foot tall speakers, multiple woofers, and 90 plus sensitivity.

Tls49, we didn't like Legacy either, the older models with the yellow Kevlar midrange and the original ribbon tweeter were okay good loud party speakers, the newer models with the much better graphite composite midrange cone, and German Heil tweeer array are really good speakers. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

I would prefer to learn more about the OP requirements than all this distraction. Speakers really depend on the requirements and tastes of the OP. I think the OP has left.

My main room is 16x32, roof about 10 ft.
I have 2 preamps & amps and 4 speakers in this room.
One pair focused at this computer, the other focused on a bed where i frequently spend the night, listening to music and sleeping.
It seems to be a better plan than having one bigger amp and 2 bigger speakers.  Costs less, and is more flexible/controllable.
Almost FTM, have more preamps/amps and speakers for the kitchen and for the bathroom, never miss a beat, nothing like a hot bath with Beethoven.

Looks as though the dealers spooked the OP. Good job fellas!

Hi OP, Hope you are still around. I had a similar space, 30' by 25' open kitchen and family room with a 12' ceiling. I bought a used Salk HT3 right / left / center and 15" Sub for about $6k used and run it with a couple of Crown Class D amps with tons of power (almost 700 watts at 4 ohms) and it fills the room nicely and would be at the low end of your budget. Salk makes fantastic looking and fantastic sounding speakers. If you can find some on the used market they are hard to beat. Of course for your budget, if you go the Class D route, you can probably afford to have Jim build the speakers for you and pick out your own veneers. And no, I don't have any relationship with Jim Salk other than enjoying the way my speakers look and sound. 

Good luck with your journey. 

any mid-fi to high-end 3-way speakers with 15" woofers and a bass reflex port, will suffice. I’ve tried other variations such as smaller 2-way boutique speakers with smaller 8", 10", 12" speakers and no bass port, and no midrange- they make the highs sharper and more in your face, but at a severe loss of bass or midrange response. and you get tired of listening to them. the 3-way with bass reflex just does everything well, and ends up being a smoother, fuller sound, and bigger soundstage. even going from a 15" box 3-way w/reflex, to a 12" box 3-way w/reflex, sacrificed too much sound. the bass was noticeably attenuated i.e. lossy.  the 3-way w/15" and reflex is hard to beat overall, it's a forgotten benchmark that still holds true today.

Some of these comments are really 'amateur'.  Would you buy a car sight unseen just because a bunch of people you don't even know let alone trust tell you what to buy? Find a good hi store and listen to some different options.  Even if you don't have one where you live, for that kind of investment it's worth a drive.  I got back into hifi about 4 months ago and I'm already on my second pair of speakers.  Fortunately my dealer offers a 100% credit as long as you buy something for 2 x the cost of the original purchase.  Not sure where you live but his store is in Champaign, IL...Glenn Poors

There are some really sensitive souls on here. 

Personally, I appreciate hearing all feedback/opinions. Good or bad, dealer or consumer. We all process sound differently so one person's prized audio component/speaker is another person's trash.

I have picked up the phone and spoken to audiotroy - several times. He is quite knowledgeable with system matching and has provided me valuable input/feedback on all ideas - whether he carries the product line or not. On top of that, he's never been pushy or attempted to close the deal. That's a hell of a lot better than my local dealers. If he carries my next speaker, he'll be my first call to work a deal.

Life's too short to get your undies in a bundle over this shit. Enjoy the music and the hunt for your perfect system. I love my PS Audio BHK setup - if audiotroy were to post that it's inferior or overpriced - who cares, it's my prize. Just my 2-cents. 

Keoliphant, thank you so much for the kind words really appreciate it.

As per the PS Audio stuff, we haven't heard it or tested it vs our setups so we can't really comment on how it actually performs.

The point we make is that with the Monos at $15k plus the preamp at $4-7k plus two power cables and interconnects gets you a stone's throw from the T+A HV 3100 integrated which is an absolutely amazing sounding product.  

We would love to test the Stereo amp and preamp and see how it compares to our other lines and if it is really good we would most likely sign up to sell their gear.

Our past PS experience the Perfect wave dac was okay so we haven't really formed a pro vs con experience about PS.

Akaim that is not really the point sure a set of Cerwin Vegas will play loud but the size and power of that kind of speaker will give you is not the same as  the wave launch of a much physically larger speaker in a big room, the larger the room the larger the loudspeaker needs to be, hence our recommendations. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

I don't mind @Audiotroy weighing in on these forums.  In the past he's brought up some good points and comparisons on equipment that he does seem to have experience with.  As mentioned earlier, take it with a grain of salt the same you'd take anyone else's opinion.  It seems no different than anyone else replying to these threads with what they own or have experience with.    

And I would hope with the options available to him, he would choose to sell reputable gear.  As for bashing, as long as there is a reason given for why he feels that way, I'd like to be given the opportunity to decider that too.  

Cerwin Vega VS 150 !

Boenicke W5 or W8 are within your budget. Swiss made, immaculate solid wood cabinets, built in suspended isolation, naturally voiced, wide expansive sound, transparent.