Standmount speakers 4k-8k


On the lookout for standmount/bookshelf in the 4k-8k range. I've now got Monitor Audio GX-50 which are great for the price but I'm looking higher now. 
So far I've heard Aerial 5t, Totem Element Fire and Kef Reference one. The Kef's offer a huge sound, but are, hard to describe it, a bit grainy in tone. The Totem are sweeter, but a little dead sounding. The 5t were really quite good--fast, clear, lively. None of them had noticeably better bass than what I'm using now! so I'm still in the hunt. 
Very interested to know if anyone has heard the new Monitor Platinum II line, particularly the 100s, which are what I'm interested in. 
I'll be listening to some Focals soon, and Dynaudio. 
Any other tips? I need to get something fairly small, and very conventional looking (that's why not listening to BW D3). 

Thanks folks. 
rsg
128x128rsgottlieb
Been following your thread. Glad to know things worked out for you. Participating in this forum and purchasing via this site has proven very worthwhile for me as well. 

Enjoy!
LAST WORD: 
Well, that's it. On the advice of folks here I updated my cd source and my integrated amp. And the speakers arrived today: Monitor Audio PL 100 II. 
And the whole system at about 60% less than regular price, since I got all the pieces on this site. All of them look and sound new. All transactions were easy. 
Amp is Sony TA1
CD Player T and A Elektro Akoustic 1260
Even before the PL100s the GX50s were singing with the new source and amp. I really didn't realize how much difference that would make. 
But the new speakers: my goodness they are fine. Deep, clear, bright on top, spacious. They are in a pretty small room and the soundstage just spreads side to side and front to back. 
So...thanks for all your great advice and happy listening to us all. 


I don't own either, but would suggest the Penaudio Cenya or Cenya Signature. You'd have to drive to Nashua to Fidelis AV. I'm not affiliated with the shop, but did spend a fair amount of time listening to the Cenya Signatures while shopping components. Fidelis also carries the Harbeth line (they're the importer), which are worth checking out as well.
in that price range, id want to try:
vivid 1.5
harbeth shl5+
proac d2
graham ls5/9
amphion argon 3s

UPDATE: 
I've taken the advice received here and started with improving my amp. Dealing with audiogon makes it financially possible. Just today got my Sony AE1, which is not very old, for 1/2 price. 
And you guys were right, makes a big difference. 
I've got an T and A cd player coming; and the monitor audio PL100II, all bought for remarkable prices. 
Systems sounds better already but I suspect that 
the best 
is 
yet to 
come!
auditory, I stopped in your room at the show and really liked the sound of the Paradigms. I later looked up the Persona B model hoping I could afford the smallest model but at $7K a pair retail, they are (still) well out of my price range.
I work for a dealer, NJ based Audio Doctor, and you have to hear the Paradigm Persona B and 3F floor standing speakers before you decide on any other speakers and we have no skin in the game it sounds like you are in a different state! We just showcased these speakers at the recent New York Audio Show.

The new Persona use the most advanced drivers currently on the market and utilize a pure 7 inch Beryllium midrange driver mated to a 1 inch pure Beryllium tweeter. 

Beryillium is the most perfect material for making a loudspeaker driver cone out of it is significantly lighter and is much greater in rigidity than aluminium, or titanium or woven carbon fiber or graphene derivatives. 

Never before have drivers of this quality been seen in anything below $25k speakers! 

The Persona series throws a huge sound stage and are very transparent, with remarkable midrange clarity without any hint of brightness or artficiality to the sound, they sound more like what you would find in much more expensive speakers then what you get for the price with the Persona. 


Kalili thanks for advice. I have taken the comments about electronics to heart and just yesterday bought on Audiogon a Sony integrated amp (regular price 2k, got it for 1/2 that). So in a week I'll see how the GX-50s sound with a real amp, rather than the $300 Yamaha I've been using.

Ain't music grand?

Soundsreal: thanks for the offer, but I'm afraid your speakers, even though recommended by several on this list, wouldn't pass the WAF...

Kalili thanks for advice. I have taken the comments about electronics to heart and just yesterday bought on Audiogon a Sony integrated amp (regular price 2k, got it for 1/2 that). So in a week I'll see how the GX-50s sound with a real amp, rather than the $300 Yamaha I've been using. 

Ain't music grand?
rsgottlieb

I am a dealer for Wilson Benesch loudspeaker. Carbon Fiber cabinets crazy components and design. I am ordering a pair of the Vertex monitors or my shop. I can have them sent to you for an audition, 

Don’t take this the wrong way but I don’t think setting a $4K to $8K price range is  realistic. It’s like saying I’m looking to buy a four-door car, something between a Toyota Carrolla and a BMW 3-series. And then go and test drive full optioned BMW M3. As someone mentioned earlier, first make sure you’re taking most advantage of what you have by feeding them the best you can. You may be pleasantly surprised.
UPDATE!
 Having completed my new car business I'm back in the hunt.. 
At a lovely local dealer listened to Sonus Guarneri Evolution (24K, but as demos 12K) Focal Electra 1008: $4000/pr (N/I stands).Focal Sopra One: ($9,000, includes stands; 

The Sonus--my goodness, that's what incredible sounds like. Detail and space, warm without feeling colored, crisp in a way I hadn't heard before. 
Out of my range, but fab. 
The Electra--very good--big sound for a little thing. As good or better than the Aerial 5t I listened to. More or less same price.
Sopra one: very very good. Not the Sonus, but not too far away, as far as I could tell. Liked all 3, even the electra, more than Kef Ref one and Totem Element fire. Personal taste all the way, of course.
For single instruments or a string quartet the Electra weren't that far off the other two. But with the orchestra or complex world music, you could really hear a difference. 
of course the whole thing was colored by the around 10k worth of cd player and amps and cables I was listeneing to!
So... soon to try the Paradigm Persona B, just off the boat new. And then I want to check out Monitor PL100II, and if I can one of the good Dynaudios. 
Then all I have to do is make up my mind. 
Thanks for all your tips and good wishes. Happy holidays to us all. 

concur with the sound anchors...got a pair to go with the 19's...no comparison with others...nothing comes close...imho
I would also recommend you check out the Joseph Audio Pulsars. I own a pair and love them.  A used pair can be had for quite a bit less than your budget, or brand new within your stated budget. They are at their best with a set of Sound Anchors stands. 

I got a pair of atc scm 19's coming tomorrow...certainly at the lower end of your budget...its going to be more speaker than my dinky room will need but closed box will help...

the offrandes are amazing...

Dynaudio has gone through almost their entire lineup in the past year or two, and are producing some very nice speakers. At all price points. New materials have made their way into all parts. There is a lot of trickle down of components. The result is a bunch of speakers that are catching the ear of many publications. ("Best of.")
I bought a set of Excites and I agree with the reviewers. They work with my vintage tube equipment (H-K Citations) as well as my Parasound SS setup.
And they don’t seem to have a favorite type of music. Impedance is well-controlled across the spectrum, so they are easier to drive. Their strength of lack of phase shift distortion, and it’s a nice relief - listener fatigue is gone.
Worth a listen. Their Active speakers are impressive, too.

By the way, I was looking for stand-mount speakers, too, because inherently fewer audio and placement compromises, and WAF. But I ended up with the Excite X34 floor-standers which don't visually dominate the room. Wife approves and prefers over the stand-mounts - a first!
I'm really grateful for all the input, advice, and good wishes 
What a great bunch on this site. 
Seems I have to get a new car before new speakers (old one has 170k miles so it's cool). 
But will check in whenever I listen to something, and eventually let folks know how it turns. 
My thanks!!!
Joseph Audio Pulsars or Dynaudio C1's.  Both are absolutely stunning monitor speakers.  

A Big +1 on the JM Reynaud Offrandes.  Reynaud has very limited distribution here in NA and it's baffling.  The Offrandes V2 are some of the finest standmounts I have heard at ANY price.

I would also recommend any Raidho speaker, however they would have to be pre-owned to be within your price range.  
rsgottlieb,

If yashu's Dynaudio C1 is within your price range, you should definitely consider that. 
Otherwise, my choice would be the Evolution Acoustics MicroOne, at $4000 new. It's by far the best stand mounted speaker I've heard at that price point.
Then there's Dynaudio's active speakers. Since you're looking to upgrade the electronics anyway, maybe you should consider these too. The Focus 200 XD is $6999, and all you'll need is a source.

Check out the Legacy Audio Calibre, a new speaker that was just released. It’s right in your price range and maybe the ticket for you.

http://legacyaudio.com/products/view/calibre/
With what you said about your electronics I don't think you've truly heard your Monitor Audio's yet.  You always want the start of the chain to be the strongest.  How can you end up with great sound if you don't START with great (sounding...don't have to be expensive) components and cables?  Also, you are starting down a slippery slope if you think you have to spend significantly more to get better.  I have heard a pair of Focal Aria 900's sound absolutely life changing hooked up to the right stuff (if you're curious it was a Marantz SACD player Prima Luna Prologue Premium preamp and pair of Red Dragon audio M1000's).  If you got more specific in telling about electronics maybe would have some suggestions but I am sure you probably haven't got the most out of those Monitor Audios...IMHO
Some great options at your price. Key reference 1excellent choice. If you had issue problem likely elsewhere in chain. Also new B&W 805d3 is excellent. Used focal utopia Diablo.  Not sure of price for totem element stand mount. At the high end of your range you might find a very good small floor stand that has similar or smaller footprint. May find a used B&W 802 d. Best wishes
The KEF reference one are the best that I have heard in this price range. I own a pair of the blade two, and feel that the reference one are very competitive.  I have heard them with a number of amplifiers and source components in a listening room at a local high end dealer. They have been my favorites for the past two years. 
I'd like to add another Proac Response D2 recommendation. I've owned mine for about a year now and they really communicate the music. Proac speakers have a distinctive personality which I find very appealing. KEFs would also be a good choice, but a very different sort of sound. I briefly auditioned a pair of Totem Element Fires which seemed pinpoint accurate, but sounded a little more recessed and slightly less sweet than my Proacs. I didn't get to hear them in my own room though. As the above posts illustrate, there are many excellent speakers out there and choosing the right ones can be a fun adventure and/or an exercise in frustration. Best of luck with your search. Hope you'll let us know when you finally decide. Footnote: if you buy Proacs new (and this is true of many speakers) please have patience with them; they take at least 100 hours of playing before they find their voice but when they do, you'll hear the magic. This is based on personal experience.
Post removed 
Not sure if you have a Joseph Audio dealer near you, but the Pulsars would certainly be worth an audition.  Best of luck in your search. 

Gershman stand mount monitors were one of my favorite new finds this year at Captal Audiofest.  Maybe worth a look.

Tekton is very popular in these parts due their affordable cost and friendly load that might lend themselves uniquely to some amps.
Great and helpful comments. Thanks to all. 
I'd just add that in my limited audiophile experience I've bought two sets of speakers for 2 different rooms. Both of the sets I bought (BW CM9 and Monitor Audio GX-50) I liked much more than the 1/2 dozen or so competitors I listened to.
So for me it's certainly not about 'best' but about what I like, and to my surprise, given how expensive this stuff is, I have very strong preferences, which is why I doubt I'd ever buy any speakers, at least, without hearing them first. 
You may want to seek here on AG, owners of the same amplification you have and ask what monitors / speakers they have paired with said electronics and what led them to there  selection / purchase.
Bcgator is right about the Wilson Benesch. The newer model, the Vector retails for $8500. Carbon fiber cabinets with stand. 
More details here:

http://wilson-benesch.com/products/vertex-stand-mounted-loudspeaker.html



I agree with bcgator and also with what auxinput said. If you plan on spending upwards of 8k on a pair of speakers and do not have the means to go out and listen then you should at the very least spend some time researching speakers. Also what are your goals? How big is your room? How far from the walls will they placed? Where is your listening position? Do you plan on using tubes or solid state? What is your source? And on and on.....

If you do a search just on this site alone for standmount recs under 10k there are many threads that cover this topic. You will also see many of the same brands recommended over and over. I would venture to guess that is due to the fact that either they were favorably reviewed in the audio press and so many went out and bought them and then reported their experiences in the forums or word of mouth spread about them through the various forums by members who's opinions are deemed trustworthy.

Also keep in mind brand regocnition comes in to play quite often and many will make recommendations based on the general consensus that brand x is known for having certain characteristics.

For example I could probably tell you about the attributes and shortcomings of many speaker brands just through the amount of research and discussions I have had with fellow audio nuts through the years. However, that doesn't mean I could make a solid recomendation just based on that in information alone.

One last thing I would tell you is that beyond the usual suspects that are commonly recommended on here keep in mind that there are many small owner operator speaker designers that sell internet direct or have a very small dealer network and these guys can more than compete with designs costing thousands more. Selah, Fritz, Salk, Sonist, Ryan Speaker Art and Spatial Audio are just a few that come to mind of the many that are out there.

Maybe take your budget, spread it out and buy a few pairs to audition instead of spending it all on one pair. If you do some homework and buy and sell properly you could do this with several pairs and learn quite a bit, That's what I did and you never know, you might find that you don't actually need to spend 8k to get good speakers.  

Best of luck with your search.


Bcgator,
Good points you make, yes sometimes you have to rely on faith. I bought my power amplifier, DAC and speakers without hearing them and I’d say that they exceeded my lofty expectations. Information gained from certain reviewers and definitely owners word of mouth proved very candId, generous and valuable.
Charles
The funny part is that even if you CAN hear them, you often won't be hearing them in your own space.  I've written previously about when I bought my WB Arcs...I got them pre-owned from someone in my area, and in his space they sounded awful.  If that was my only reference point I never would have bought them, but I'd heard them before at a dealer so I knew what they could do.  Moral of the story - it's best to not only hear them, but hear them in your own space.  If that's not possible, then yes there's a bit of faith involved, no way around it. 

But as has been said so many times, you often do get what you pay for.  In my case with the awful-sounding Arcs, I had to stop during that session and remind myself that I was listening to $6500 speakers that had been on the market for more than a decade with happy listeners all over the world, and that what I was hearing was not what I should hang my hat on.  And I was right - got them home, and they're superb.  But there was some faith involved...not just wishful thinking, but faith that the many who'd gone before me and spent $6500 weren't all crazy.   It was like in "Lost Boys" when Kiefer Sutherland said about the rice "how could a billion Chinese people be wrong"!

So yes, many of us have purchased based on reviews, knowledge, word-of-mouth, etc. and had it work out just great though we all know that in a perfect world we would prefer to test everything in our own room with our own equipment.
My thanks to everyone for great suggestions. So many fine speakers, so little time...!
I still wonder if people are buying speakers without hearing them, since while I live in a big city (Boston) there are an awful lot of well reviewed speakers that a way too far away to hear. 
Are people taking reviews and recommendations from other folks as enough to go on?
Just askin....

I recommend any Green Mountain Audio monitor.  A little difficult to audition but very efficient and lifelike.  Numerous testimonials on the web and also excellent reviews on Soundstage and Six Moons Audio.  Well worth trying. 
I have a pair of mint Dynaudio C1 signature mounted on the Dynaudio stand 4, which I am gettting ready to sell.  They are well within your price range.  They look and perform flawlessly.

Contact me if your interested......

The Evoke Eddie's are about $3200 right now and were designed after the VMPS 626R speakers with ribbon tweeter and neo ribbon mids.  The difference between the 626R and the Eddie is quality of drivers, crossover, and cabinet--all which are in the Eddie's favor.  John Casler was a dealer for VMPS and owned virtually all of their best speakers.  He has been selling them off since hearing the Evoke speaker.  I have not heard them, but was also a VMPS demonstrator for a few years and owned most of their models during that time.  I still have use of the best pairs of RM40's that Brian ever made in a very good sounding system.  Their sound is very detailed, open, transparent, dynamic with airy highs and very good bass.  John says the Eddie's are just more so than the VMPS line along with greater leading edge to the music.  John says they are more like live music than ANY of the VMPS speakers.  To me, that's saying something!!!
I had the WB Arcs which were great. Replaced the with Vivid V1.5 about 5 years ago and they are tremendous. No stand needed either.  Detailed but coherent. Easy to work into a room like the Arcs. 
Auxinput, 
Agree with you,  when a thread solicits opinion/recommendations the list can grow long in a hurry.  There's a lot of really fine speaker  choices available yet it's impractical to compare and listen to more than a chosen few in reality. With high quality  mini monitors the worthy contenders could easily number 10 to 15.
Charles 
Yeah, I usually don't post in the speaker section because there are a million different opinions and a ton of manufacturers.  Speakers are really a very personal taste thing and it can become hard when you have 10 opinions on the "best speaker", lol.
Regttlieb,
You are correct in that there are numerous excellent mini monitors and it's difficult to actually listen to them prior to purchase. For instance the Boenicke W 5 SE I recommend may be a relatively rare bird  (small European company) but it has excellent reviews, show reports and word of mouth reputation. It is considered to be a world class small speaker that is affordable. 
Good luck, 
Charles