Speaker recommendations welcomed

Another vote for the Arendal 1723 towers and Revel PerformaBe F226Be.  The Arendals have a buy, try for 45 days and return for free policy if you’re not satisfied so a great place to start. 

After for years being an almost lone voice in recommending the Eminent Technology LFT-8b, it’s great to be joined by others.

But that recommendation is dependent on a number of factors, ones that make the recommendation non-universal. Not everyone likes planar loudspeakers, or dipoles. And planars are not appropriate for all rooms, or all systems (ones for instance with very low power amps). So my recommendation of the LFT-8b has always been offered to those who are considering Magnepans, or even electrostatics. One listener who considers the ET LFT-8b (and 8c) superior to all Magnepans and electrostatics he has heard is Steve Guttenberg (The Audiophiliac). Not everyone agrees with him about that, so my recommendation is not to buy a pair of the ET’s, but just to look into them.

The LFT-8b meets a number of the op’s requirements. It’s under $5000, is not a bookshelf speaker, has a non-aggressive tweeter, and images well (in planar/dipole fashion).

ATC SCM 40a is another option if u care to check out speakers with a built in amplifier. In my opinion they sounded natural. Magnepan is also good for their imaging.

Love the Revel Performa recommendations, and I will also get behind that! I currently have Revel’s in my main system after having been through so many over the years….

I will also throw out Dynaudio Evoke 50’s. The Dynaudio sound is wildly addictive. Just keep in mind you’ll want to really give them some good, clean power to get their best…

Enjoy the journey and good luck!

You didn’t mention how big your room is, and whether you can pull speakers 3 feet to 5 feet out into it while listening to music or how far you will be from them in your listening position. You didn’t mention whether you listen loud, medium, or at lower levels. Some speakers don’t "come alive" until you get them into the 82 or higher dB range while others can excel at lower volumes. What you get should cover what your listening bases are and whether or not you are a bass head. Good luck.