Speakers - Your "Safest" Choice

Fritz. Von Lange, small, deep bass and awesome soundstage 

revel 

magico

yg summit 

Lot of great choices......here are few brands I enjoy:

Wilson

Kharma

Sonus Faber 

Couple of add on:

Make sure that your amp and the speakers are a great match and play well together.  For example, Audio Research and Wilson, McIntosh and Sonus Faber, etc.  Do demo your amp brand with your speaker options, it matters.  Lastly, save $ for some nice speaker cables.  For example, Wilson Audio uses Transparent cables in their speakers.  Also, Transparent will bias your cables to match your speaker and amp.  

Good Luck and tell us what you decide to do!!

Wilson Sabrina X , come to mind $20k

B&W 803 mk4 around $20 k 

MBL 120 monitors around $22k with stands.

MBL 126 Omni directional monitors $16500 with stands 

for 1/2 that the Perlisten R7 towers $10k

open baffle Spatial audio Labs $10 k 

@davetheoilguy 

Your post was very interesting, can you expand a bit more on that? Where do you find the speakers? Are you referring to baseball players buying gear for 6 weeks of use?

I’m a fan of buying barely used equipment after spring training camp in Florida where you get $40k speakers for $15k that have not really even been used.

And having an open mind with several chocies that work for you .

i bought Bowers 800s, essentially new, for about 1/3 retail this way.

Happens every season.

I use my NS5000 (they are superb) with a CODA #16 amp and Holo Serene preamp. The amp is rated at 150 | 300 | 600. It is great with the NS5000 and I think the most powerful amp I have tried with it.

I also have a Sanders Magtech that is 500 | 900 watts, while it is an excellent Class AB amp it does not have the same thunderous bass of the CODA #16. The Sanders is a very strong amp.

Next Friday, I am going to demo the SimAudio North Collection 761 (200 watts) with the NS5000.

I guess watts and power that I hear are not the same. Otherwise, the Sanders should have been the most powerful with the NS5000.

The Yamaha NS5000 monitor with stands are superb and don't need gobs of power to drive them well. a 125 wpc amplifier will not drive a lot of very good but power hungry speakers.

The OP later added size of room, and that he actually has 225 watt per channel Van Alstine mono blocks...

@jjss49  Happy new year to you as well!  

One can not recommend or purchase speakers without consideration given to the room. 

Yes, the Fritz speakers do best and offer quality bass when placed in smaller rooms.  Also serve as a great match with tube or low watt SS amplification. Two my ears their sonics support an expense in quality source and amplification beyond their price. 

@mesch

When I first saw the title of this thread Fritz came to mind. Then I saw the budget, which is closer to my total system cost including Fritz speakers.

happy new year bud!

you raise a good point as the op was interesting in that it gives parameters for price of speakers and amp power but nothing about the room

i agree that fritz’s are very nice sounding, but do best in smaller to medium sized rooms...and certainly don't need 125 wpc of amp power to shine...

gnoworyta - How do you like your Van Alstine 225 monoblocks? I have been interested in them (and the Schiit monos). Thanks

+1 @mapman  When I first saw the title of this thread Fritz came to mind. Then I saw the budget, which is closer to my total system cost including Fritz speakers. 

I had the Goldenear Triton 1.r-very close to the T-Ref. I then replaced them with Legacy Audio Focus XD's and that was a HUGE improvement. There may be a Legacy Speaker that would be worth your consideration. (Focus XD + Wavelet crossover?) Most people are very happy with them. They are not a bright as Focal, as dry as Magico, etc. They are usually under the radar but or under appreciated and a huge value.

I’m a fan of buying barely used equipment after spring training camp in Florida where you get $40k speakers for $15k that have not really even been used.

And having an open mind with several chocies that work for you .

i bought Bowers 800s, essentially new, for about 1/3 retail this way.

Happens every season.

Seems like the OP is asking for the “safest” choice, although buying a speaker without a demo is usually considered a poor decision as speaker preferences are highly subjective. Also, at 125wpc it can’t be very inefficient.

Maybe the Joseph Audio Graphene Perspectives reviewed here.  Always seem to garner positive reviews.

I second. the Borresen X-3 @ 11K..........nothing in that price range is even close !!a company that has a $500K speaker and they use the same tweeter in ALL their models....even the X-3...C’mon.

Fritz speakers might be considered a safe bet in the sense that they tend to be a very easy load making them very compatible with most any amp.   Oh and they sound really good too!

What I did was shopped the market to get a feel for actual value, read all the reviews of the speakers in my price range and then shopped used so I could get my money back if my ears didn't hear what everyone else did. 

I learned that when a reviewer says a speaker needs 100 watts it usually means 500 watts and while measurements may show ports extend measured bass more often than not I can't hear it. Metal tweeters are much smoother than they were in the 90's...Stepping up my speaker game required me to step up my component game to really appreciate what was capable in home audio.

There are actually some Audio dealers that will reimburse you for the plane ticket. If you go see them and buy something,

@audiokinesis --

+1

@gnoworyta 

Your post (question) sounds like a fishing expedition to me.  Particularly the "If one had a budget of $20K max".  Not being snarky. 

My advice is to get a map and spend a good while, days at least, and mark all the audio stores that are within striking distance by car.  Exhaust those stores and then go flying to get to the next level.

The best advice above is to go to the Florida show, which includes another great piece from above. Spend $1k on your search and $19K on speakers.

Regards,

barts

Pre owned is a great recommendation.  Speakers come down to personal preference and advice on speakers is almost always colored by the preferences of whoever is giving the advice.  Electronica and room acoustics also play a big role as well.  Spending 20 k on speakers you haven’t heard seems crazy unless you have a trial period. 
 

I’ve had Focal, Alta Audio and Omega speakers.  You’ll find a loyal following for all of them, they all have a unique sound signature, dans if one are not likely fans of the others but that doesn’t mean that are all not great speakers.  
 

Good Luck! 

I recently asked a similar question.  The brands that kept coming to the top of the list were Joseph, Magico, Borresen, and I do think the Revel Ultima noted above fits here also.  

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/what-speaker-could-safely-be-ordered-without-hearing-it-first

+1.5 for Volti Rivals! (. 5 for the Razz). I really enjoy mine! Of course, it’s a matter of taste. If you value the utmost in hyper detailed, bat worthy high frequency extension & a highly mirror, polished statuesque pieces of furniture, then many of the fine speakers mentioned would work well. If you value, imo, music that sounds close to live w/ outstanding dynamics, full bodied sound not requiring heroic amplification, check out Volti. 

@gnoworyta Please dont get me wrong, but if you are not listening (or caring for ) the unamplified acoustic music (classical or jazz) you really do not need sophisticated or complex speakers that might cost 20k. Now, I do not want to sound arrogant and of course you may buy any speaker you like and listen to what ever makes you happy on it, but if we are speaking on 'hi fi terms', you can obtain same quality of reproduction, for (rock) music, for much, much less.

Furthermore, imho, if you are spending 20k on speakers, the rest of your system, without cables, should cost around 50k at least. Again, you might use R.Royce to pick up your groceries and thats perfectly fine, but for simple pleasure of hearing your favorite rock or pop music, that is overkill

Volti Rivals. Beautifully built, beautiful to look at, musical, dynamics and impact to die for, easy drive for just about any amplifier. Spend $15 to $18k and spend the rest on music 

JBL KS9900…$24k!  Unique and exceptionally realistic sounding.

I think efficient speakers are the way to go. This gives you so much flexibility with amps. Many of these speakers listed need big amps, ones that double to 2 ohms. Based on design these are all worth looking at

Volti

Fleetwood

Joseph Audio.

Top two are horn speakers.

As for the OP, I’m on the exact same boat TBH and I’m targeting Focal, Borrensen, Vandersteen, Persona, YG within that range.

@ellajeanelle , “jl35: Aren’t the speakers themselves unnecessary?  Logic tells me that most able to spend 20K on a pair of speakers would likely be traveling first class, staying at a 4–5-star hotel and eating in nice restaurants, not including drinks and entertainment. Not to sound snobbish, but I know I would.”

not necessarily, I live in Brooklyn. Can afford 20k speakers, would happily stay at an under $200 hotel, use the subway and eat street food (which we have some of the best in the world). And I personally love dive bars which still have beer and shot specials for $7. Even in nyc!

For rock? Big ATCs.

Three cheers for grislybutter providing an actual list of good speakers. Congrats on the research and time ti took to compile. You have provided an excellent service.

Thanks!

@gnoworyta wrote: "What I was trying to get to is the speaker that you or others think are a "crowd pleaser" (for lack of a better term)...."

I understand the appeal of a safe-bet "crowd pleaser" speaker, but imo this is an unrealistic expectation for two reasons.

First, while a wide range of listeners would probably agree on a list of desirable attributes for a loudspeaker, in the real world tradeoffs are inevitable, and individual tolerance for the various inevitable shortcomings (in dynamic capability, timbre, imaging, sweet spot size, bass extension, inner detail, aesthetics, positioning requirements, or whatever) varies widely.

Second, given that speaker/room interaction plays a very significant if not dominant role in the final result, imo it is premature to specify speakers without having a pretty good idea of what their acoustic environment is going to be.  Actually, I would expand this to include the amplification, with "speakers + room + amp(s)" being in effect a "system within a system".   

Imo there really is nothing approaching a "one size fits all" solution within a given loudspeaker price range.

Duke

@fastfreight ,

“Or get one of the last pairs of Revel Salon 2's for about 10 - 12k.  Besst value out there IMHO.”

I don’t think his amp would be anywhere near powerful enough for the big Revels as I’ve heard they require BIG power to get them cooking. I’ve heard them but can’t remember the amplification but they were big monoblocks. 

About two years ago, I purchased a pair of Fyne Audio F-702 floor-standing speakers, replacing my Infinity Modulus system of 1990, not the mass market Infinity speakers but the one's with the servo-woofer and EMIT tweeters.  I upgraded the rest of my system as well, and I have found the Fynes produce excellent imaging, superb tonal qualities for the instruments, and a broad sound stage. My music tastes run from Beethoven and Bruch to the Moody Blues and CCR, with stops along the way for Big Band music, soft rock, and vocalists of the late 1940s, 1950s, and a smattering of later vocalists; I listen at slightly loud, but no where near concert, levels.   If I had $20K to spend on speakers and knowing there are a great many really good speakers out there, I would consider and audition the B&W 803 D4 (admittedly slightly over budget), the Vandersteen Quatro Wood CT, and the Fyne F704s, admitting some initial bias towards the Fyne F704s, which have 12" bass drivers compared to my F702s 8" bass drivers.  I am just very pleased with the sound quality produced by the F702s and believe the F704s would provide that with more punch at the bottom end.  Of note, the 700 series speaker are made in Scotland.

Amazing deals on demo YG Hailey 2's, probably 25K

Or get one of the last pairs of Revel Salon 2's for about 10 - 12k.  Besst value out there IMHO.

All of the advice about auditioning speakers before you buy them is valid IMHO. Seems a fool's errand to not do so. 

Something else to consider: Why not buy "pre-owned"?

Now, think of the speakers you could acquire for your $20K! And as you'd be buying privately, you most likely would have the opportunity to go and audition them. Why take on the initial devaluation simply for the "privilege" of being the first owner?

Anyways, good luck on your search!

Happy listening.

More could be on this list, but I can only list speakers I have heard multiple times in person

Revel Salon 2 Ultima - $15,000 (On sale $10,000 off at Upscale Audio right now)

Joseph Audio Perspective 2 Graphene - $20,000

Fyne Audio F1-1.8S - $18,000

Fyne Audio Vintage 10 - Used $20,000

Tannoy Kensington - $18,000

Sonus Faber Olympica Nova III ($15,000) or Nova V ($18,000

pretty much every $20,000 speaker is getting mentioned now...all are very good, but for  $20K you really should get what like best, not a safe bet that you won’t dislike them...Are you actually looking to do this, or is this just a question of curiosity ??

YG Acoustics Ascent, just under $20k new.  

The previous model Sonus Faber Amati Tradition is available around $22k new.

Safe bet is a fools bet without an in home audition. 

@alangrist that is the tip of the iceberg, okay list though. 

P.S. Room is approx. 13' X 20'. 10' ceiling.

I meant this question to be taken hypothetically, but for those that have asked: my current system consists of Audio By Van Alstine DVA M225 mono blocks and a Primare Pre35 preamp. Main sources are a  Yggdrasill DAC (Less Is More) with Audiolab CDT9000 transport and a Music Hall MMF 7.3 turntable/Ortofon Bronze cartridge.

for all around capability i confidently recommend floor standers from proac or vandersteen as being safe bets to please pretty much universally, within any reasonable price range, up to nose bleed price levels (this doesn't mean other brands will not...)

i am leaving out panel speakers, which to my ear can be even better, but they require more of the user and the room setup to do their magic

Here are some recommendations of speakers I've heard at audio shows or have consistently great reviews. Some are sigificantly under $20K.

Dynaudio Contour 60: These did everything right. Goreous sound.

Goldenear Triton Reference: To my ears these sound about as good as any 6 figure speaker you can find.

Revel Ultima Salon: I haven't heard these but they are widely considered to be one of the best sounding speakers ever made. They turn up on the used market fairly often.

Joseph Audio Perspective 2: These sounded good from the moment I entered the room and got better when I sat in the sweet spot.

Paradign Persona 5F: They did everything well.

Rosso Fiorentino Fiesole II: These sounded amazing. I would love to hear the next model up - the Volterra.

One of my main conclusions from attending a few audio shows is that the price of speakers and their performance are not well correlated. I think somewhere around $20K is the sweet spot and it seems to take multiples of that figure to see a big improvement in sound. The MBL 101E Mk II sounds incredible but it is $90k. I think the best speaker I've heard is the Von Schweikert Ultra 11 which costs over $300k. There are a whole bunch of wonderful sounding speakers in the $20k range.

and feel confident they would be happy 

none?

around 20K

What 125/wpc solid state amp do you have.?  How loud do you listen?  All makes a big difference. Can you handle big, heavy speakers?