Speaker upgrade around 100k retail

+1 on Revel Salon 2 Ultima 2's.  Amazing speakers for the money.

+1 on the Rockports & also Wilson Audio Alexx

It is a shame when you can't just enjoy music and find new sources and genres.

You should add to the list the Alsyvox Botticelli they are probably the best sounding speaker in that price rage by far

danvignau: maybe it's his hobby and he enjoys trying new things?
It's his money and it brings him pleasure then power to him.  It's a shame to degrade people for their choices.  Some people can't stand the idea of someone upgrading and thinking it is worth it, because they refuse to believe spending more than they have can possibly sound better.  Adds value in their minds about what they have.  How about that for a placebo effect?

Meyer Sound Blue Horns. 

https://meyersound.com/product/bluehorn-system/

One word TAD

Two suggestions:

Pitch out what you've got and just buy the fully assembled LX521 package from MagicLX.   That gets you the loudspeakers, active crossover and amplification.   Total package cost is probably around $25k.   You'd have a fully designed and engineered system, front to back, by Siegfried Linkwitz. 

There is nobody alive today who knows more than Siegfried did.  In his last job for Hewlett-Packard, he designed microwave transmission towers.  He looked at loudspeakers as audio frequency transmission towers.  

MagicLX  will also custom build the LX521 with any exotic wood you care for.  This would be a special rig.

The other suggestion is the Dutch & Dutch 8c.   Again, it's a fully engineered system, front to back.  Controlled directivity, DSP EQ, built-in amplification and networking are all part of the package.  They were originally intended for recording studio work and are the ultimate for that purpose.  The imaging in this is far beyond anything you've ever experienced.   Approximately $13k or so.   Spend the rest of your $100k budget on concert tickets.   Or you can give it to me.

I love it when I see 50k speakers going for 7k....it there a little mark up ...

I have and love the Stella Utopia EM's.  If you like the Focal sound, the Stella's will not disappoint.  I am driving them with the McIntosh MC901's so not sure how your gear would work with the Stella's.  

Rockport, Wilson, Focal 

I also own a pair Focal Stella Utopia em3's. They are absolutely superb. There's no other conventional speaker that really appeals, if - when i replace them it will be  something in a completely different direction, namely dipoles or omnis.

Before my Stellas i had Alon - Nola open baffle speakers which i adored....but i got fed up with replacing blown drive units. The Stellas manage the same, difficult room with ease, offer superior timbre, and are much more musical and forgiving than the monitor - approach of the Alons. Plus the EM subwoofer really is quite special, where previously i had to drive my OB speakers hard to get my desired spl's, the Stellas are just effortless. 

I have two final observations;
Boulder 2160 amplification with Focal Stella Utopias is a marriage made in heaven, unsurprising since Boulder use Grande Utopias at Boulder hq.
Secondly, judging from the slew of unhelpful responses above you may be better off posting on a different forum that better reflects the level of your system, i would recommend WBF, lots of CH users there

I have to agree. I love my Stella Utopias!  Before that I had the Nola Grand References, four towers, and couldn’t live with them, no mid bass impact and disappointing bass for a separate  tower of woofers! Plus having to biamp. Not a wise purchase, but now I have music, impact, and coherent beautiful sound! 

The bass is epic, isn't it?


That''s so interesting Tim...i still have the (deep breath) Concert Grand Reference Golds on my shortlist. I wonder if the more conventional two tower layout addresses the issue you faced, which has been reported by owners.

It was my previous experience Alon speakers were exemplary in the area you say yours were deficient in, it really is quite striking

I was minded to combine the CGRG's with the sub towers you had with your Grands. Carl offered me the same package with the next ones down the range, but i really felt i wanted the main towers to be big enough to do the heavy lifting wrt the lower frequencies, with the subs only rolling in sub 40hz. It's still something i may end up doing, when funds permit, but likely as a second system with Wavac power amps.

What do you drive your Stellas with?

Unless I missed it, no one is suggesting YG speakers. If I were in the market at your price range I would give them a serious listen. I’ve heard them about half a dozen times in various venues, and each time it was wonderful.
I think Yoav Geva is one of the best designers out there. And they look good too.

I have really enjoyed the Tidals when I have heard them, but I've only ever heard them on an all Tidal system. It would be interesting to hear what they sound like with different gear (and you've got some top-notch stuff! to try them with!).

Why not consider Von Schweikert Ultra 55 speakers or the VR 55s?

For that price point. Audiogon is not the right forum.

Go to Whatsbestforum.com where you might have better luck finding audiophiles who actually have heard the speakers you mentioned and might even have A/Bed in their homes. And will give you suggestions without the snarky comments or name-calling (high-roller etc) you or 1%-shaming you.

Good luck.

Hi, first greetings from Europe.I had the Gauder RC8 (diamond high version) and just changed to the Gauder DARC 200.
WOW, what a speaker and beside the fabulous RC8 what an upgrade.
Quick and straight bass, excellent highs (diamond version)Using 2 Monaco Westend tub power amps (1 high and middle, 1 for the bass)Burmester Music-Center 151 and a Linn turntable :-)Wonderful, easy to place and you do not need to sit on a specific place in the room as it sound awesome everywhere.
Ever kind of music sounds perfect.
Hope this also helps

I would get those Goldmund's on Audiogon. They look like Robbie the Robot and I bet will sweep your floors too. They may be the most ridiculous looking things I have ever laid eyes on.
By the way try a Z-pac. Maybe it will kill that bug.

This thread is a joke HO HO HO!!!!

I cannot comment on the others, but I’ve heard Tidal multiple times at CAF and I always thought it had the best sound of the show! Hands down!

I hope to one day be able to afford a pair!

So while Magico and Focal might be more popular, I’d say I’ve never been overly impressed by them at the show rooms. But the Tidal room has always been impressive!

My choice is either a used half price pair of Von Schweikert Ultra 9s (I've heard the Ultra 11s-1/2 the size, perfect for your room) or 55 Aktive Ultras.  

AudioMachina makes an active array that is unlike anything I have ever heard. External amplifiers of a completely unique design make this system completely unlike any system in existence. Only speaker to correctly handle amplitude vs. time (key to this are the amps I believe). Mounts in corners and significantly reduces the need for room treatments. 

Ascendo out of Germany makes a Model M speaker that was superb in its earlier iterations and has no doubt been improved. Rockports are always excellent.

A problem you face with large high end dynamic designs is the physical size of the cabinet. I always void mirror image designs with a woofer and midrange which is above a center tweeter/tweeters. Lansche is always a contender. 

Simple fact is that a crossover is a real problem and this component intrinsically limits any design which uses one. 

Wonderful problem and one you could easily and happily spend researching/listening over the next year or more.  All of the suggestions made by the other fellow audiophiles are truly worthy of your time but add the Wilson Audio Alexx’s to your list.  They have received excellent reviews and Micheal Fremer uses them in his system.  The Alexx’s cover all of the audiophile bases with all types of music and personally I find them to be very musically satisfying.  

What do you mean by void mirror image designs?  If you mean avoid, the Lansche looks like a mirror image (top and bottom) around a central tweeter.

One of my All time favorites MBL 101 Radiostrahlers, please excuse the spelling ,if you heard the speakers you know MBL
makes excellent products.

Agree with OP. Stay in your loved speaker brand and move upward. 

The Link is to a user review of a Avalon Speaker that might find a place
on your shortlist if the reports and furthering of the investigation proves tempting.
 
https://www.analog-forum.de/wbboard/index.php?thread/148416-vorstellung-des-avalon-acoustics-osiris-lautsprecher-systems/

The speakers I liked the most at shows or dealers was larger Focal Utopias and Magico M6 nut these are very expensive. 

As someone said the MBL 101 is also really good. Try them to see if you like them, sounds different from most box speakers. I think the Bayz Courante are similar, maybe even better. There is also a Bayz Counterpoint that is more expensive but said to be better.

https://rhapsody.audio/bayz-audio/

Or Borresen 05, very good but I have only heard them shortly. 

https://borresen-acoustics.com/index.php/the-speakers/borresen-05

The Borresen 05's are better than the Bayz Counterpoint's and the top of the line MBL's and could be one of the best on the market period if you have the money! 

 But Borresen is coming out with the much lower priced Z Series soon!

Alsyvox Botticelli - best speaker I have ever heard..

I’m in SoCal if you want to hear them.

My previous speaker was the Rockport Altair II

(I am a dealer for Alsyvox)

Three of the four YouTube Videos of this speaker don't use classic music that I can relate to and the fourth is also not stressing it out. I want to hear it with a classic orchestral and big band jazz recording to get a sense of dynamics and scale. Panel speakers like Maggies do small ensembles and voice superbly but that's not a complete sound for my system. The Soundlabs Majestic 845 stats can do it all but are too large and power hungry for me. They are half the price of the Alsyvox.

ask on whatsbestforum, not audiogon

Yes you are correct, the Lansch speakers I have liked were the smaller models that were not mirror imaged (for want of a better term). 

Only heard the Alsyvox once at a show but they were very very impressive.

I drive the Stellas with mainly AR610t updated to KT120, nice combo, also sometimes Tenor OTL, and Lamm ML2.

When you buy these 100k speakers can I come over and hear them....I will bring a bottle of wine .

This guy is buying nothing he is just jiving big time.

The all new $38K Acora Acoustics SRC-2’s might be the best speakers on planet earth in 2020!

Not connected with this company in any way

https://www.acoraacoustics.com/

No, the Acoras are not the equivalent of the Von Schweikert Ultra series.  However, they are very good for the price but not the best speakers on the planet.  Give me a break.  Every high end manufacturer thinks their speakers are the greatest.  I've heard many high end ($75K to $300K) speakers and wouldn't own many of them.  I find there are more speakers in the $25K to $75K range that appeal to me.   So many high end speakers have such different sounds that they appeal to different listeners for different types of music.  I prefer Soundlabs Majestic 845s to Acoras sonically (the Acoras are very physically appealing) at a similar price.  The Lumenwhites also appeal more at comparable price and do look attractive. 

If you're limiting yourself to around 100k you're looking at products that nobody has heard, nobody has really gotten to know, and that you can't get any meaningful information about.  The tiny group of people that really know these products, who knows if their opinions are worth anything.  I have a hard time understanding why people are even interested in this stuff.  Are the designers any good?  Did they spend decades honing their skills designing products at competitive price points before deciding to start their own companies and build performance oriented, cost no object products?  I doubt it.  Vivid maybe.  TAD?  There are some very expensive speakers designed by designers that aren't a joke.  For the most part, though, you know...

fleschler

Some say even the smaller $28K Acoras are better...

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/florida-audio-expo-2020/?page=2

Many audiophiles love Magico (including Valin of AS). I don’t detest them but I would never want to own any of the dozen or so models I have heard at shows and audio salons locally 18! times. Sometimes I can blame the accompanying electronics (Jadis amps could not handle the 5S) or bad cabling (High Fidelity). Other times, I heard them with VAC equipment that sounded wonderful on other speakers but meh on Magicos. I have not heard the Acoras in person and they are reasonably priced if they are as good as stated but I have heard Lumenwhites and Von Schwiekerts best speakers and they are killer great! People were jumping for joy listening to my jazz and classical selections recreation of the recording space and rhythm with the Von Schweikert Ultra 11s. I just don’t like people stating that a $28K or $38K speaker outscale the realism of a $300K or even a $75K speaker that does what I’ve heard and is the "Best in the World." I have local friends and acquaintances who have $500K and $850K systems that sound less involving than my system. The $850K system sounded rotten to several friends and myself until the cabling (High Fidelity) and the preamp (Ypsilon) were changed. The $500K system sounds very good but very different (great ambiance, less meat on the bone sound than mine). My entire system retail was $80K and the room was $160K. The only equipment I want to upgrade are my speakers and Von Schweikerts are my choice after hearing several hundred speakers. I would get the Lumenwhites but they are a small company with minimal U.S. support should anything go wrong. I want a company that will stay in business for decades if I spend "big" money on equipment.

Hi 99,

With such a plinth of esoteic high power amps, you really owe it to yourself to add to your list of speakers and audition the Muraudio px1, or pxII.

I could go on and on about the virtues of these speakers, but less is more, so I'll leave it to you to do your own research. They really are an ear opening experience.

https://www.muraudio.com/px2

Tim,
 the Boulder 2160 - Focal Stella Utopia combination is really special.

How about Klipsch Jubilees? https://www.klipsch.com/pro/cinema/behind-the-screen/3-way
Now it says behind screen but there are a number of these in homes where superb sound is required along with 45hz to 19khz full output and 34hz to 20khz -10db. Speaking of db these are 105db efficient and you can take a moderate watts tube amp and produce prodigious sound levels. For the money if you are buying brand new these are really tough to beat.

Ok Ok I know it says Cinema. A well kept secret it seems is the quality of sound at any level and any genre of music or if you wish movie sound tracks. You can get them as passive crossover types or do what many of us Klipsch Pro owners do  and bite the bullet and go active with something like the Xilica XP4080.

Nothing to say 99 DUDE!!!!

Why do you bother ebm?
You have nothing of value to add to the discussion, and yet still you post.
Grow up

ebm seems to have one major agenda; keep the hype going in regard to the products he owns. It appears he wants to protect resale value of the products he owns. He relentlessly hypes them - and gets angry when he has to take a loss on a sale of one of them.

Oh, yes, and he spends plenty of time mocking, dismissing others, which contributes nothing of value to the community. I wish he would cease that activity, which is neither polite, nor desired.