Speakers - Your "Safest" Choice


Hello All: Many of us have limited access/ability to audition multiple speakers brands. That got me to thinking- If one had a budget of $20K max, a solid state amp rated at 125WPC, and listened to all varieties of music (primarily rock, pop, folk), what speaker(s) would you be most willing to recommend to that person and feel confident they would be happy with the purchase?

gnoworyta

Showing 1 response by helomech

Pre-owned Rockport Atria IIs are an easy recommendation. Hard to go wrong with those as they only have sins of omission, notably the bass extension, which is understandably limited given the design. 

The other I’d consider are the Dutch and Dutch 8Cs. These could save you money as they negate the need for separate amplification. 
 

Note that both of these products perform as well objectively as they do subjectively. And contrary to a common belief around these parts, good measurements do matter. I for one have yet to encounter a poor measuring speaker that actually sounds good and correct. I can always hear the warts that show up in a response plot. A/B the aforementioned models to less accurate competitors in the same setting and you’ll hear the difference. The reason some prefer the wonky response of inferior counterparts is they are not comparing them back to back in the same room, and are instead relying on their unreliable auditory memory.