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.
@jl35 I hold both speakers in high regard, but that’s a pretty definitive statement. Have you compared Salk and Fritz speakers directly? |
@jl35 Got it. Out of curiosity and as I’ve very unfortunately never heard either, what were the material differences between them and what models did you compare? To drill right down to it, what ultimately pushed you toward Salk over Fritz? Thanks! |
It really depends on what improvements/sound characteristics you’re looking for as that’ll really drive what suggestions you get here and make them more targeted to your specific tastes. Also, it’d be most helpful to know the rest of the equipment in your system including cables, power cords, power conditioning, etc. The more info you provide, the better recommendations you’ll get here. |
Absolutely! That’s a very big step up in potential sound quality as you’re still far from the point of diminishing marginal returns. Big question — are you looking for new or used? Also, what are you using for a music source — what streamer, turntable, DAC, transport, CD player? Last, and most important, what improvements would you like to achieve (what would you like to be better) and what sound characteristics are most important to you? I can’t stress enough how important this last piece of info is. Thanks for all the good info BTW — very helpful.
|
These Joseph Audio Pulsars will propel you to another level entirely on every level. I’m recommending them for multiple reasons, the biggest being their overall sound quality, but there’s more. Because you’re struggling coming up with specifics the Pulsars are speakers that shoot straight down the fairway and do everything very well. Read the reviews and you’ll see they play much bigger than they are in both scale and bass capabilities, and their imaging and 3D soundstage are superb and among the best out there (largely due to their unique and patented infinite slope crossover IMHO). JA speakers also pull off a great disappearing act and they look really good doing it, and at their $3800 asking price here they are fairly priced and well within your budget. They also offer wide dispersion characteristics so you can be outside the sweet spot and still get good sound, which sounded like it was something you were looking for. Last, these appear to be in the gorgeous Sapele wood finish, which IMHO is the most attractive they offer. I have no doubt these will blow you away, and even if for some reason they don’t work out you can sell them for little/no loss, which is nice. Just do it — you’ll be glad you did. |
@jl35 Got it. Out of curiosity and as I’ve very unfortunately never heard either, what were the material differences between them and what models did you compare? Thanks! |
