+1 @doyle3433 Volti Lucera, or Volti Rival, maybe Volti Razz. Very efficient.
I heard Volti Razz at several audio shows, sounded great top to bottom. The new model Lucera has the same size transducers as the Rivals. I own the Rivals.
Speaker Suggestions for Next Move
I'm considering moving on from my Klipsch Cornwall IVs. I'm looking for suggestions on new loudspeakers in the $8-$15k range. Used is fine too.
Here's what you need to know (or what I think you should know):
- Modifications: I upgraded the crossovers and binding posts similar to the modifications made by Don Sachs (VCap ODAMs, Rike resistors, better wire/posts, and some internal damping). I have them sitting on acoustically near inert 1.5" studio subwoofer platforms. I feel I've juiced just about all I can out of them.
- Reasons for Changing. They do not sound harsh or bright. I'm not thinking of moving on because of that. I'd like to get a bit more depth to the soundstage and more finesse in the overall presentation.
- Things I Have to Keep.
- I need to have sizable scale in the presentation. I have a good group of audiophile buddies and a friend who is a dealer. I've heard so many high end offerings that don't really scale that well to me. I really like how you feel like you listened to live music or a studio--not a laboratory. Sound doesn't shoot at you with laser focus, but rather it blooms, bathes and surrounds you.
- Amp Friendly. I have found the CWIVs to be very friendly with both SS and tube topologies. Surprisingly, they can sound amazing with great quality SS. I have both types of pre/power amps to service speakers, but I'm not looking for speakers in this price range that need gobs and gobs of wattage. I'd be happy to commit more so to SS if needed, but I'd like to stay way from very difficult loads.
- Placement. I have a dedicated space and have leeway on placement. That said, I don't want to wrestle with a fickle speaker either.
Side Note/Stuff I Don't Really Want to Discuss Here. You can note this stuff all you want and chat with others about it in the thread (won't bother me at all), but I'm not going to engage on (a) Klipsch Heritage is garbage and awful sounding; Trust me though, I do see how Klipsch builds to a pricepoint and could easily better its offerings with better parts, bracing/dampening, etc.; (b) modifications are dumb, wasteful, hurt resale, etc. I could care less about any of that. I'd prefer not to modify stuff--fyi; (c) detailed discussions about amplification and sources. I have and have access to various topologies, manufacturers/brands, etc.
Room: A bit large for me, historically. 15.5' wide, 23' long, with 10' ceiling. Speakers will be placed along the short wall.
Music Format: Vinyl 50%, Digital 40%, CD 10%.
Genres: Pretty much you name it. Jazz ~30%, Rock/Pop ~30%, Blues/Folk 30%; Classical ~10%.
I'm curious to trying Fyne, Spatial Audio, Spendor (classic line in particular), Tannoy, Volti, Harbeth, PSB's flagship, Wharfedale's flagship, ATC, Vandersteen, Devore. Open to others.
Thank you in advance!
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OP - I'd like to respectfully suggest that before you traded in your Klipsch speakers you consider another solution for your desired "scale in presentation." I have had the Theoretica Bacch4Mac application for spacial realism and the Bacch ORC for advanced room correction. I use this with Stirling LS3/6 speakers. Take a look & do some research. You may get what you want and get to keep your CWIV's. Best of luck. |
@treepmeyer , very interesting. Thank you. This is something worthy of researching to learn more. |
I highly recommend seeking an audition of the Børresen X3s somewhere, preferably with a ballsy amp, not one of the Axxess integrateds of their sister company. I power mine with a Yamaha A-S2100. Out of ≈40 pair of loudspeakers I’ve owned over the last decade, the X3s have been most consistently good at handling all genres, and not once have I been disappointed with any particular song I’ve played through this setup. They are also the only speaker with which I haven’t encountered at least one “wart” after a couple months of ownership. The only real “weakness” if I had to pick one is the lack of first-octave bass. With most music they play plenty deep and I can enjoy them completely without a subwoofer. Coming from Cornwalls though, you’d likely be very content with their bass extension. I am very familiar with the Klipsch Heritage sound. One thing that both the Cornwalls and X3s excel at is low volume dynamics. I pretty well agree with Steve Guttenberg’s review of the X3s with exception of soundstage—the X3s are the only speaker that have managed to achieve soundstage depth equal to my departed Magnepans. One thing of which I am certain is that you’d be impressed by the X3’s level of refinement. That’s not to knock the Klipsch, merely stating that they’re on a completely different level in that regard. But then the X3s are more refined than most $10-$15K speakers IME. |
Try the Yamaha NS5000 which I have in my Livingroom with a CODA #16 and Schitt Yggi+ OG DAC. I think the drivers on it are unsurpassed by ANY cone driver speaker. The drivers are made of a material called Zylon and it is very similar to Beryllium but not harsh sounding. The 12-inch woofer is made of the same material as the tiny tweeter (and the mid). No one does that and the coherence is amazing because of this. Try finding a 12-inch woofer made from Beryllium. This speaker is the successor to the Yamaha NS1000 which was the first speaker (in the 1970’s) to use Beryllium on the tweeter and the mid. Yamaha has moved beyond Beryllium. I compared this to a few Magicos | Parasound Persona (tweeter and mid made from Beryllium) | Revel | Vandersteen | Clarysis .(sp?) | Magnepan. The NS5000 price is from $10k to $15k. I paid $12k for a new one. I also threw out the shipping boxes. I recently lost my home office space and sold my Magnepan LRS+ office system. The best part of that is that I now blast the NS5000 from my Livingroom while I work on the open second floor space. Incredible sound even in this setup. They are called bookshelf speakers but that must be a joke. You need a large room. Luckily, I have very tall ceilings (over 20 feet) to offset a medium sized room.
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If you like the immediacy that a horn provides, but want more realism, I'd suggest going with a Tekton Design model. The Moab with the new ceramic drivers and beryllium center is most likely astonishing value. My friend just ordered them and they should get there next week. The designer, Eric Alexander recommended those over the Encore model that someone here recommended. I have the double impacts and the impact monitors and run them with rhythmik subwoofers as they are in large listening spaces. I'd give tekton a call and talk to Eric the owner about your preferences. They have so many models and options that it can be a little daunting. But I'd say moabs with ceramics or their new Ulfbehrt 15 would probably crush the competition. Best of luck to you in your search! I suggest sticking with your speaker swap for all it's worth. As nice as the Cornwalls sound (i've heard almost all the klipsch designs) I think the tektons are just way more realistic sounding from top to bottom. Check out the stereotimes, and stereophile articles on their models that have been reviewed! |
Sorry but the Revels, Magico, and Wilson’s are in a much higher league than Klipsch, and especially any magnepan speakers. If you want the more current technology at a $10k savings, look at the Revel f328be speaker instead of the Salon 2s. If you don’t need that much bass or have a smaller room, the revel f228be or f226be might be an option. I had a friend that had the larger 20.7’s with many rel subs and eventually went to a nicer box speaker.
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ProAc D48R they sound huge width, height, depth. But also tremendous focus and musicality. They also do the disappearing thing incredibly well. Lastly not hard to drive. Vandersteen’s for sure . Quattro Wood CE are really good too.,” if you’re in the NY NJ area Audio Connection is a great place to visit |
@jbhiller If you're going to upgrade your speakers, you may want to consider upgrading to an end game pair of Focals. The speakers you've listed, and others have mentioned aren't in the same league as Focal Scala Utopias or Focal Sopra 3's. They check all your boxes - your room is large enough, there are some used pairs out there that fit your budget, they're easy to drive by SS or tube amp. I used to drive Utopias with a New Audio Frontiers 845 tube amp with only 25 watts per channel.
Best of luck with your project. |
@jbhiller I recommend Marten Oscar Trio speakers. I don’t think they have a lot of dealers in the U.S. though. |
I have a couple of suggestions in your price range. The first is the Linkwitz LX521 system, which you can readily afford as a DIY system. You can buy it fully pre-built and delivered to your doorstep, with amplification, for about $21k or so, but thatʻs out of your price range. This is the premier open baffle design there is, multi-amplified. Cost to build the speaker, with active crossover, $3500 for drivers and crossover, plus another $1000 for the flat pak kit. You could also build it yourself if you have wood working tools. The big question in expense is amplification, but you could certainly get it all done for less than $10,000 total. Easy. |
You might look at Fyne Audio speakers. I have the F-702s (made in Scotland), and, while needing a sub to augment the 8” bass, sound superb. The F-703s are in your price range and have a 10” woofer, and F-704s have a 12” woofer. The imaging and tonal qualities Iare superb with a Rogue Audio tube preamp and Odyssey solid state monobloc amplifiers, the latter connected to the speakers with Silversmith Fidelium cables with bi-amp adapters. |
Hi there - I was in the same position with my CW IV’s about a year ago and ended up finding a demo pair of Graham SL5/5s and pairing them with two REL s510’s and couldn’t be happier with the set up. The used price I paid with two new rels is right in your budget. The Spendor Classic 100s should sound pretty similar to my Grahams. Before the CW IVs, I was running Spatial Audio M3 sapphires, which are still one of my favorite speakers. They do vocals extremely well, but not as detailed or balanced as some others, but great bang for the buck and super easy to drive. Only other thing to note is that the Grahams are a little harder to drive than the CW IVs…happy listening and curious where you end up! |
@mezzguy2 , Thank you for your input--it's extra valuable coming from someone who owned the CWIVs and who generally likes them--as I do. I'm going to try the Revival Audio Atalante 5s (Great recommendation @bigkidz). I'm very curious and if I don't like them after a few months I can sell them--they appear to be selling like hotcakes. I had a great two nights of listening with the CWIVs this weekend. But the sessions confirmed I want to move on. |
