Speaker Recommendation up to 70k
Be prepared to make adjustments, regardless of speakers chosen. You are seeking speaker following all the rest of the system. That is not ideal, but it is part of the audiophile experience eventually. Do not hold your hopes up so high that if it's not sensational, you will be disappointed. I could make a system with shortcomings with any of these, or a seemingly flawless system, if I had control of the components and cables selected. But, when given one set of gear preselected, there is no telling which outcome would transpire for any of these transducers. No one here can answer your question, and if anyone claims to, I would not heed their opinion. :( A bit more information such as what speakers you have owned, or currently are using, as well as your preferences in sonic attributes, would assist the community in making recommendations. |
@emerald -- I would go a bit differently here than the direction I assume you’d prefer; if "workman" or industrial looks doesn’t bother you too much, and you can rid (that is: relieve) yourself of any want to "experiment" ad nauseam with amps and expensive cables, I’d choose a pair of actively driven ATC SCM300 ASL Pro: http://atcloudspeakers.co.uk/professional/loudspeakers/scm300asl-pro/ These are great speakers by any measure and will go up against most anything out there, period. No - and let this be said once and for all: you don’t need a huge sized listening room to make these sing. I’ve heard them in moderately sized spaces, and they sang wonderfully - in the lower octaves as well. One of the best midranges ever build, twin 15" per side for authentic LF to lower mids, ATC’s recent and self-developed (like the rest of their drivers) 34mm tweeter, and not least active configuration all superbly implemented into a sonically coherent whole. This is a proven design for years in the pro field, build like a tank to last many years - even driven hard and continuously. Don’t bother their pro origins as anything that’s claimed to fall back negatively on their sound in a domestic environment. That’s just B.S. Anyone with a pair of functioning ears and a minimum ability to openly and honestly assess sound quality will acknowledge the serious merits of these active speakers. Forego any fancy, finish luxuriating and overly expensive passive "high-end" speakers, and step off the merry-go-round with a sensible, active solution like the above. That’s my advice. |
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This sounds like a real high priced crapshoot, especially without specifying the electronics. The Tidals can sound mesmerizing setup properly with the right gear. I would bet on them over Wilson in most rigs. Honestly, at these prices I would be looking at the Vandys or Rockports. Perhaps your best path would be talking with someone like highendbroker and confirming you can trade back for credit less a restocking fee if plan A doesn't work out. Cheers, Spencer |
Depends on what you are looking for in terms of sound profile. My preferences in this price range are: Vivid Giya G2s. Amazing speaker that sounds BIG. These are transmission line speakers where all of the drivers are made from the same material. Incredible similarly of tone and not metallic sounding despite the metal drivers. Vivid has a somewhat brighter tonal profile and is best paired with neutral to slightly warm amplification. Wilson Benesch Resolutions - I have a customer who has these. They are phenomenal speakers. Incredible coherence in terms of timing. Amazing accuracy and a monstrous soundstage. He stepped up from Harbeth 40.2s to these and said they are better in every way except bass is less pronounced. WB is neutral and needs neutral to slightly bright amplification Raidho TD 3.2s I think will come in at that price point. One of the historic critcisms of Raidhos (and now Borresons) is that they are hard to place. And they take 500 hours to break in. Since Michael left, Benno has worked to make the speakers easier to live with. They are brilliant and deliver an immersive listening experience rather than the sound being presented to you. They do tend to be neutral to a hair warm of neutral. Your list above has speakers with wildly different sound profiles. I can only say I would never use the same amplification for Stenheim and Marten for example. Without a description of the soundprofile of the gear, at least warm vs neutral vs. forward, it is tough to make a tight suggestion or warn you off of any products. |
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Stenheim Alumine 3 gets raves, and apparently do well in mid-size rooms. https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/stenheim-alumine-three-loudspeaker The Vandersteen Kento and Seven intrigue me, but I’m a Vandy guy (I’ve heard the Quatro CT, and the Kento and 7 are more of that same goodness). https://www.stereophile.com/content/vandersteen-model-seven-mkii-loudspeaker-m7-hpa-monoblock-power-... The Zellaton Stage is said to be amazing, but maybe over your price range? Do you live in US or Europe/OCONUS? If I lived in Europe, I’d probably get EU made speakers like Stenheim or other. A friend auditioned the Wilson Sasha DAW before he decided on Vandy Quatro CTs, but he likes the DAW. Good luck... sounds fun! |
