I think you need to upgrade all the other equipment before you think of speakers,that's not very audiophile quality equipment.
Speaker upgrade for classical music
Hi, I need recommendations for a speaker upgrade. I’m a classical violinist and listen almost exclusively to classical, opera and jazz. No movies, Atmos, etc. I have a 17x14 listening room (doubles as practice room) with acoustical treatments (phase coherent diffusers at main reflection points and regular ones elsewhere).
Half my listening is in stereo and half in multi-channel (4.0 and 5.1). All my recordings are either CDs or high-res—DSD and FLAC—audio files. I don’t have a turntable.
My current system: Marantz SR 8012 amp, Yamaha S1000 CD transport, Exasound e38 DAC and Sigma streamer (connected to the Marantz with analog 5.0 inputs). Speakers: Polk Rti A7 stereo, CSi A6 center, Rti A3 surround, and dual REL T/7i subs.
What I want: speakers with improved musical detail and clarity that really reproduces the expansiveness of the symphony hall or church. I like a warmer sound than a drier one. What’s most important to me is to hear what the recording engineer heard. Budget: say 8k or less.
Recommendations? One other thing: Can I try them out? And how? I’m in Santa Fe, not a huge metropolis with lots of audiophile shops.
Thanks very much.
Half my listening is in stereo and half in multi-channel (4.0 and 5.1). All my recordings are either CDs or high-res—DSD and FLAC—audio files. I don’t have a turntable.
My current system: Marantz SR 8012 amp, Yamaha S1000 CD transport, Exasound e38 DAC and Sigma streamer (connected to the Marantz with analog 5.0 inputs). Speakers: Polk Rti A7 stereo, CSi A6 center, Rti A3 surround, and dual REL T/7i subs.
What I want: speakers with improved musical detail and clarity that really reproduces the expansiveness of the symphony hall or church. I like a warmer sound than a drier one. What’s most important to me is to hear what the recording engineer heard. Budget: say 8k or less.
Recommendations? One other thing: Can I try them out? And how? I’m in Santa Fe, not a huge metropolis with lots of audiophile shops.
Thanks very much.
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- 135 posts total
I definitely think trying fundamentally different types of designs is a good idea. If you had a chance to hear some Martin Logans or Quads that'd be great, Magnepan is a different spin on the panel design. There are some cone speakers that use small, light cones that sound a lot closer to electrostats than most speakers. Think Thiel's 3" midrange or ATC's 3" mid dome. |
The pursuit is endless and hard to tell where to start or end. I personally have a set each of Acoustic Zen Cresendo II and Adagio speakers that I listen to everyday. Primarily jazz, blues, classical and do venture out elsewhere. For the dollar the Adagio are unbelievable for separation, soundstage and detail for classical (not bad on Pink Floyd stuff either). Robert Lee is a great guy to talk with and work with. Worth the look before spending. Just my thoughts! |
One word: Vandersteen. The best, most consistently pleasing sound I’ve yet heard from multi-driver speakers came from Vandersteen. This is how you get that slightly warm, spacious sound in a room: the 6 dB/octave crossovers & set-back driver placement assures time coherence of all sound arriving at the ears. It’s superb for classical music recorded in real space--and quite revealing of that space. In your room you would do well with either of the 2 models linked below (which are also available used, depending on location): https://www.vandersteen.com/products/model-2ce-signature-iii https://www.vandersteen.com/products/model-3a-signature Note: unless you listen to lots of organ music, no subs are needed with either of these models IMHO. Note-2: If the size of either Vandersteen is an issue in your room, then consider Harbeth (I second this recommendation others here made). I've heard both the 30.2 & 40.2 stand-mounted 3-ways, and that is a truly lovely sound for classical music. Neither is a budget speaker and there are fewer F.S. options available (in Santa Fe as everywhere). |
I listen to a lot of classical music, used to play a few instruments, and we try to see a few live performances (both amplified and unamplified) a year although that's obviously been on hold for a while now. Personally I would recommend auditioning Magico, Vivid Audio, or YG Acoustics however only Magico and Vivid have speakers in your budget when purchased new and they're the bookshelf speakers. A used pair might be an option for one of their floorstanding models. When I want to hear everything as realistically as possible, with all the detail and clarity, I listen to the Magico M2 speakers with the Devialet Expert 440 Pro all-in-one electronics. This combination will not sound warm, but you could add some warmth using the Devialet Sweet Room PEQ. I agree with 4vintplay that the Acoustic Zen speakers would also be a good option. While not providing the transparency of Magico, Vivid, or YG, in my opinion they will outperform many other speakers at similar price points and provide a warm, realistic sound that many musicians would like. On the other hand, if you want to hear what the recording engineer heard, you might want to look at ATC speakers and Bryston electronics. Or the Trinnov Amethsyt / ST2-HiFi. And maybe a DAC with a pro-audio lineage like RME, Prism Sound, Antelope Audio, etc. |
- 135 posts total