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Started with $1k speakers … what now?

I got into this hobby during Covid, browsing YouTube reviews my first speakers were Polk L100s and Sonus Faber Lumina 1s. Not bad as an entry point, but wondering what would be the next level is where a speaker is built with fewer compromises in the drivers and crossover design.  My hope was that in the $5k range truer “hifi” entry points may be found in a small room system with a REL t5x. My source and amplification is already in the $5k range. 
 

I visited a hifi store recently but was overwhelmed by the amount of choice and unsure what would be an upgrade based on first listening impressions alone. 
 

Thanks in advance for any insights.

jdavis234

Showing 3 responses by immatthewj

immatthewj
1,341 posts
 

For me, Andrew Jones new $3700 and $3000 speakers are way better than his or the OP’s $1000 speaker..

@jl35  , are you referring to the Sourcepoint speakers by Andrew Jones?

immatthewj
1,341 posts
 

Otherwise, you are not getting anywhere w.r.t to a very discernible improvement on a 5k budget.

@deep_333  , just to clarify (but not to start an argument) you are saying that if OP wants a significent sonic improvement over is current 1k speakers, he will have to spend more than 5k?

immatthewj
1,341 posts
 

@immatthewj , Yes, as of 2023/ 2024, guys like Andrew Jones, Danny Ritchie, etc have offered such insanely great sound at around the 1k price bracket that it takes a whole lot more of an exponential increase in price to beat such things (obtain a significant enough jump). 15, 20 years ago...yeah you got something worthwhile at 5k if you had something going on at 1k.

@deep_333  , it sounds as if you are saying that this is kind of inflation in reverse (at least when it comes to speakers)?

What I mean by that is:  20 years ago 1k sounded like more money than 1k sounds like today, but from what you have said, for 1k today, one would buy way more pewrformance than what one would have bought for 1k 20 years ago.

In my own case, going on about 30 years ago, I bought a pair of B&W 805 Matrix speakers that listed for $1600/pair. At the time, I thought I was spending a lot of money (I was just getting started in the audiophile game).  How much would I need to spend today to realize a significant upgrade in sonic performance over those older B&Ws?  Over the years I've upgraded everything (more than once) except for the sub and the speakers, and that was because I just always thought those B&Ws sounded great.  With that typed (and I am not saying this sarcastically) this was probably because I never knew any better.

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