Speaker Recommendation Needed

Jonathanochi,

I have not owned TC-50s. I used the REL strata with Spica Angelus, with the crossover set at 27Hz, and now with the GMA Europas crossed at 48Hz. Of the two setups I think the crossover at 48Hz with the Europas is more seamless. The Angelus was a little difficult to integrate as it has very deep, but very lean bass ... it's easier to integrate with a speaker that has a more pronounced rolloff.

I would imagine that the Spica TC50s would cross at around 50Hz also, so I would guess that the REL could work quite well with them.

To be honest, adding the REL is one of the best things I ever did. It is tricky to setup and integrate and I have found I need to have it out in the room next to the main speakers, which is rather obtrusive, but it fills the music out and gives it a depth I really enjoy. It also means my system can play anything from string quartets to AC/DC depending on my mood, and handles both well.

Of course at $900 for the Europas and $800 for the used Strata maybe I could have found a floorstanding speaker for $1700 to do it all. I honestly don't know if mine is the optimum solution, but it does sound very good to me, and I'm quite happy with it.

I'll add my 2 cents to what Seandtaylor99 said about the Rel integration. I also can't address the Spica TC=50's, but I have a Rel Storm I, and a Storm III. I've run the III with Totem Sttafs, and now it's set up with Mani-2's. I ran the Storm I and III with GMA Europas (at different times, of course). I found it easiest to integrate the sub with the Sttafs by far, and hardest with the Mani-2s. The crossovers were set at 35 Hz for the Sttaf, 48hz for Europa, and 29Hz for Mani-2. My hypothesis is that in general, the higher the crossover is the easier it will be (although I expect there's a knee in the curve if you go too high). I think the sweet-spot is in the 40-60Hz range. With the Mani's, the sub isn't even in play for most music, and it almost doesn't make sense to have it. Further, I think (conjecture on my part) the only reason Europas were more dificult to integrate is because they're phase coherent/time aligned and I had to fiddle with the positioning of the sub a lttle more than for the Sttaf.

The Rel/Sttaf, and Rel/Europa combination is really satisfying, and even though for the money you can get a full range, It may not have the quality of deep bass, and perhaps not the quality of the upper bandwidth either.

I agree with Soulbrass - the PSB Stratus series, especially the Golds (or Goldi's if you can get them their narrower cabinet may allow them to image better than the older Golds)will do very well. Their natural timbre in the midrange and weight in the low bass make them a good choice (used).

The little Magnepans