speaker upgrade fever

I have a private email asking

Where did you send your 2905. I have 3 of 4 crackling ? mylar repair?? I live in MInnesota.

I cannot reply to private emails on Audiogon, so my answer must be public.

I pull the panels out myself, which requires some mechanical and soldering skills.  I then send them to John Hall who lives near Melbourne Australia.  He gives a five year warranty on panel repairs and charges about A$300 per panel.

I used to try to identify which panel had become faulty, and get them fixed one at a time.  I think I can pull a 2905 apart in my sleep.  The reality is the glue used was defective and all panels fail at about the same time after 10 years.  John reckons you might as well repair all the panels at the same time and I now agree with him.  The last 3 of my 12 panels are currently being repaired.

I did try to repair panels myself, but could not find a way to coat the mylar with the required slightly conductive film.

Obviously the panels are much lighter than the entire speaker so it may be viable to send them to the antipodes for repair.  Not sure if John wants extra work though ...

@larseand I’m a Vandersteen guy through and through so please take what I say with a grain of salt. Get the Treos. Obviously, if you have a chance, go listen to them first but I think you’ll find an incredibly well balanced and detailed speaker that prioritizes the music. Yes, the carbon tweeter is much more detailed but it does so without being analytical. And you’ll get some of the benefits of time and phase alignment with the Aesthetix gear. The soundstage will be deep and wide with pinpoint accuracy. I can fall away into the music and forget the speakers are even there. Setup is important so if you have a local dealer willing to help with that it’s a valuable thing for them to come set them up but I set mine up on my own and with trial and error and some input from Richard himself, I got them in the correct position for my room.

Remember that the speakers are the single most important part of your setup. They define the greatest portion of what the sound will be. I’m not sure where you live or if it’s feasible for you to go hear the things you're speaking of but if not, take a trip somewhere to hear all of the options. It will be well worth the cost to make sure you get the right thing.

Magnepan the 3 serie the best for jazz and acoustic.

Fritz Carbon 7 SE Mk. II delivers well beyond their price point, in my opinion.

Consider auditing the DeVore 0/93’s. They are just slightly above your budget. I’ve heard the 0/baby and 0/96 but not the 0/93. It’s hard to find a local pair to audition. Devore has a nice sound but I’m not quite sure about the cabinet. Looks like a Baltic birch with veneer and a nice finish. Is it just lipstick on a pig that should cost far less? Again, just another brand to research.