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Speakers in 10-15K price range for Classical music

Well I am in the market for speakers. My music choice is primarily classical and then a little bit of everything else such as jazz and soft/alternate rock. I started with a budget of 5-7K and auditioned Maggie 3.6, Quad 989, Spendor S8e and so on, but quickly realized I couldn’t get what I was looking for in these speakers. They all did pretty well on solo or few instruments but could not nearly reproduce a symphony (Mahler’s fifth, or Tchaikovsky’s sixth or Schubert’s ninth) with any authenticity. This was about a year ago. Since then I had stretched my budget and am now looking for speakers in the 10-15K price range.

Now here’s the challenge. I didn’t like the Thiel, B&W or Wilson sound. I had liked Maggie 20.1 in the past, but can’t find any dealer nearby that carries them for an audition. Heard the Vandersteen 5a for about 10 mins and they are pretty convincing, but I need a proper audition and then it’s still beyond my price range. Now my question is what other speakers I can look at for the kind of music I like?

Thanks much in advance, for your help.

Oh, my system is Krell SACD and 400xi Integrated Amp. Will upgrade the amp eventually, but will need to wait for another year at least :)
neal1502

Showing 1 response by jult52

jult52
155 posts
 
Neal - I'm finding this a fascinating thread. Please update it from time to time.

Like you, I'm a big classical music fan. I'd like to suggest a recording that I think will test any system: the Karajan recording of Salome with Hildegard Behrens. Dark, somewhat unusual sonics but with lots of detail and dynamic contrast. I think my system is decent but this HvK recording has been exposing its flaws mercilessly. I suggest you use one of the louder tracks as a test - any speaker that can do pretty well with it is one fine piece of equipment.
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