Speakers for a large room for around $1000

hi.again with all do respect to this thread.i look at all these opinions and i am puzzled at some of these speaker recomendations. you can purchase used vandis 2ce sig 800 to 900 used and with tube amplification will sound great, they even sound good with average amplification.not that i am a vandi juckey,but why would anyone buy mirage or a klipsch ext. i understand speakers are personal taste, but come on klipsch and mirage with tubes, not for me.

Revel, very good... For 100± watts solid state. Monitor Audio very good... For a smaller room. Vienna very good, not sure how it will work in this application. A couple of other speakers that I really like but might not cut it in that space are the Quad 21L2 and Rega RS3. In any case, one or two subwoofers would be a welcome addition.

The best small floor standers I have ever heard in a space that size are the Totem Forest, but they list for $3500.

Here is another idea that may work very well - Vandersteen 1c. $1000 new, and musical as all get out. I might recommend matching a modest solid state amp instead of tubes, say NAD, Cambridge, Music Hall or Rega with the Vandy's and then just enjoy.

Mirage OMD-15, available in black or rosewood. These were originally designed to sell at $2500/pair, but Vann's, who's an authorized Mirage dealer, sells them at $1K/pair in either finish. I paid $1700 for mine two years ago and don't regret it because of the value I've received.

As to your room-filling needs, my living room is very similar to yours--13.5 x 19 ft, with 15' tall cathedral ceiling, set in an open architecture living space. Since the entry hall is part of this living space, the immediate space is more like 20 x 19 ft. plus the arched ceiling.

Anyway, I have been using a pair of Mirage OMD-15s in a primarily LP-based 2-channel system in the living room for about two years. The OMD's are omnidirectional, so they are particularly adept at energizing the entire room and living space. Because the speakers were designed to interact with the listening space, the timbres and soundstage are like live music. I know, because I got married in this living room and we had live music. These speakers match the timbres and how the source music interacts with the room acoustics with notable accuracy.

They are also not power hungry. I power mine with a modestly priced Onkyo A-9555 integrated amp, rated at about 85/170 watts/channel into 8/4 ohms respectively. I got the amp from Amazon a couple years ago for under $500. It's an excellent match for these speakers.

hi, i would absolutly look into a pair of used vandersteen 2ce. forget about klipsch, polk, b&w . the vandersteen will give you a much more satisfing sound and thay are built very well so do not worry about buying a used pair, they will last a very long time very well built.

Blnd2spll, I did see the edit. I would imagine that most here would find a 20 X 14 room about average. Now, the vaulted ceiling does add to the room volume, but probably in a good way. It seems as though you running on a bit of tight budget and tube amps can get expensive faster than ss does. I've always subscribed to the idea of choosing your speakers first and then choosing the appropriate amp, not the other way around.

Unsound --- I just wanted to make sure you saw the edit... the room is actually 20x14, not 12x14. I'm not sure which size room you were commenting on.

I'm not really set one way or the other on speakers for tube amps. It's just something that I would like to have the option to check out at some point. Right now I just have a little Marantz P325 amp, so I am probably going to have to upgrade either way.

blnd, among the ones on your list the monitor audios are a real good choice--lots of slam and very good value. the focals are nice burt don't really extend deep; the revels are also fine speakers but need tons of power and probably wouldn't match well with lower-powered tubes. i'd also look at von schweikert vr2, which i often see for around $1250 or so, energy veritas or meadowlark kestrel.

That room isn't that large that you need confine your speakers needs that much. Looks like a very friendly audio/speaker room to me. You might want to decide on your speaker first before constraining them to tube power, especially on your budget.

For sale here, I'd seriously consider these NHT 3.3's for $1050. Great review by Stereophile, too. (You'll probably be better off with a solid state amp, though.)

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1277224169

http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/1293nht/

I've looked into the Klipsch La Scalas/Cornwalls/Chorus before, and while I'd love them, I think the lady in the house will most definitely not. They just out way too big.

I have considered getting some other floorstanding Klipsch speakers, as I know they have high sensitivity so they might work well with tubes and/or a big space, but I don't really know which models (either used or new) are the best to pursue.

Some of the others I've been looking at (both new and used) are the Revel Concerta F12, Vienna Acoustics Bach, Monitor Audio RS6 and RS8, and as Knownothing mentioned, the Aperion Intimus 6T, but it's difficult for me to figure out how these will hold up in a large space.

I did have a chance to listen to the Paradigm Monitor 7s and the PSB Image T5 at only store near me. I found the PSBs to have very congested mids (just not to my taste), and while I like the Paradigms, they seemed to just barely be able to handle the room they were in, which was about 1/2 the size of mine.

Below I list some of my favorite modest floorstanding speakers that are in your price range new. The PSB and Focals are the most efficient.

-Focal Chorus 714V or 716V
-B&W 684
-Aperion Intimus 5T or 6T Tower
-Paradigm Monitor 7 or Monitor 9
-PSB Image T5, T6, T65 ($800/pr. at Audio Advisor now) or G-Design GT1 Tower (1/2 price at $1000/pair at Audio Adivsor now)

With your requirements, I'd suggest a used pair of Klipsch La Scalas. A 3 way horn design, they work well with tube amps and will completely fill any size room you put them in. If you need deeper bass, consider a sub or go to a pair of Klipsch Cornwalls or Chorus. Best of luck to you in your search!

My mistake, it's 20x14ft. Also it is wall-to-wall carpeting, with your basic living-room furniture and not a lot of pictures or hangings on the walls.