DIY 2-GSG Evolution cabs with B&C 18HTX Triaxials.= $3600 

With a couple subs and 4or 5k you could look at some used Reference 3a Reflectors. They disappear and dig deep. 

traudio,

I'd suggest you speak with Clayton about any recommendations from him, and glad he'll be at Axpona. I'll be there on Sunday and speaking further with him as well.

I have found that they need to be pulled out into the room, they start dialing in at about 2 feet into the room....but prefer about 3 feet I believe. Also they sound best when they have about 2 feet from side walls. This is my first pair of open baffle, and it's been a slight learning curve....but what a revelation.

My current room is not ideal, but they still are the best speakers I've ever owned; by a good margin. I've put a review up here on Audiogon if you want to search, it's pretty detailed. Right now they are being driven by a CODA S5.5 amplifier, and the music is truly amazing......I have a review for the pairing as well on the CODA S5.5 thread.

vthokie83

I'd never heard of them, but I'm in luck as they will be at AXPONA. Thanks for the suggestion. 

Since these are an open baffle design like my Maggies, are they hard to position correctly?

traudio,

If you are at Axpona, check out the Clayton Shaw Caladans (if clayton is exhibiting. I have them for about a month. $3,400 delivered....and if he's there you can demo them

ghasley

Yes all over the place; Yes, never heard most of the FINDs to consider, i.e. be aware of.

I believe you can get more of nearly anything by carefully buying used rather than new.

When I or a friend is looking, or just having fun hopping about: I check eBay and hifishark daily for ’new first’ in categories, IOW, beat others to a great deal when recognized.

I have fun finding interesting things I never knew existed, showing them to both OP and others following along. They have to do their own research of anything that interests them, including asking members here who might have owned/listened to them.

The only speakers I have owned and recommended, the best used choice IMO, are the JSE Infinite Slope Model 2’s. You would need to spend a heck of a lot of money to equal/beat their sound. New Veneer, they would look gorgeous to my eyes.

.................................

I take the long view, patience is required, thus time is required.

OP’s budget is $4k.

GET LISTENING NOW, find something great, in budget, later is a concept I believe in, most here would not consider.

The 98db $400. speakers are a great ’get listening now’ choice. I don’t know if OP or anyone following along has a 2nd system, might create a second system, might give something to a friend or relative, might re-sell, just give it away: just GET LISTENING NOW!

Spend $400. get listening, find a great deal (more than $400 less than other offers, close for pick-up, perhaps save $500. shipping. In the end, patience, the temporary item costs zero or actually saves money, do what you want with it/them.

btw: OP has not stated he prefers new to used, except by inference.

@elliottbnewcombjr 

very efficient 98db

temporary while looking for a great deal?

buy, move to second system later or sell or give to a friend

Pioneer CS-705 near you

I just happened upon this thread, your speaker recommendations are ALL over the map. Have you heard this amp with these speakers you recommend or are you just tossing random speakers about?

@traudio 

OP, you are fortunate to be able to attend Axpona. There you will find plenty of opprtunities to listen to compatible speakers although the crowds will dictate whether the interactions are meaningful. Drop by Devore and Audio Note…you aldo didnt mention your budget but if you are looking at the Razz, both of these companies offer fine speakers in that range. Best wishes with the search.

These are super easy to drive no problem with 10wpc and yes you will most likely  enjoy triod the best. With these speakers you will have the feeling that Elvis is in the building! Enjoy what ever you choose.  

https://audio-connexion.com/products/odeon-scala-series-floorstanding-speakers-makassar-demo

very cool resto/mod klipsch heresy’s in your price range at aural hifi (denver)….

I use HifiShark all the time. 

very efficient 98db

temporary while looking for a great deal?

buy, move to second system later or sell or give to a friend

Pioneer CS-705 near you

You prefer new?

as you can tell, I have fun hopping around uses on hifishark, I sort by newly listed.

elliottbnewcombjr

I'm not doing anything until after I attend AXPONA next week. 
I'm in Southwest Michigan. 

These are amazing, wanted them, got em, loved em. My friend has them now.

JSE Model 2

I made a separate virtual system about them

JSE Model 2 Virtual System

or best offer, perhaps he will take $1,200, who knows. Near Pearland Texas? Otherwise $800. or less shipping. $2,000 to get them.

I would verify everything works; remove the drivers, have my woodworker cover them with a selected veneer, re-install the drivers.

I would be ready to install the SEAS Tweeters, even if the Dynaudio D21’s are good. That the D21’s have not burnt out means they were not driven much.

Seller says ’rosewood’. There are probably walnut or oak stained red.

It is very easy to change the fabric on the covers, just staples. I made mine White Irish Linen.

New veneer would mean they look good with the covers off.

traudio OP

have you found something?

what has tempted you?

re: local pickup: where do you live?

somebody got them for $1,550.

the others are in better condition, and is the warranty transferrable?

@elliottbnewcombjr  , yes, I was watching as the final bidding went down.  I went to stereophile on line to compare the Nautilus to the earlier Matrix . . . it looks as if the N only cost about 2k brand new, so I'd say they are holding their value okay.  That guy selling the ones you pasted the ebay link for says his are pristine . . . I would hope so, considering he wants more than they cost new.  As far as the warranty being transferrable with B&W?  I honesly don't know as I never thought about trying to sell mine, but the Nautilus series is so old that I would think that they were out of warranty for at least a while ago.

B&W never clicked with me

immatthewj

somebody got them for $1,550.

the others are in better condition, and is the warranty transferrable?

Open Box, higher efficiency 91.5 (stereophile says 93 db, error or measured?,

In Budget

Focal Vestia No.2

over budget, but quite a pair, 93 db efficiency

Focal Electra 1037 Be

BUT, the beryllium tweeters cones are no good.

these people have focal tweeters

maybe not for OP, but other people follow along, so I thought I'd show them.

Listed TODAY. pair of bowers .... here

B&W 703 S2, 89db, $2,100

+1 Volti - clean, clear, highly efficient.  Heard the Razz at 2 major audio shows - sounded fantastic. I own the Rival.

For 40wpc triod, you’ll need an efficient to highly efficient speakers, and for the budget of 4K, very few choices.  Klipsch Heritage speakers are a common choice, but I believe Volti to be sonically superior 

@elliottbnewcombjr , here is another pair of B&W 805Ns on ebay; the high bid is $980 right now & bidding ends in about 3 hours:

@traudio wrote:

... Current speakers are Magnepan 3.7i with a Hegel H390 integrated. 

I'd like to try the other side of the audio coin, tubes and higher sensitivity speakers.

Those are very capable main speakers that you currently have. If you want to try the combo of tubes and high efficiency speakers that's somehow a "from the other side of the fence"-equivalent, and one that emulates the sheer physical height of overall large air radiation area of your Magnepan's, I'd go for some large, "old school" and used horn speakers the likes of which could be a pair of older Klipsch Khorns (that also have upgrade kits for the mids and tweeter section by Greg Roberts) or other similar-ish. Disregard new speakers - with $4-5K perhaps at your disposal I'd squeeze out the most of that dough with used horn speakers that maximizes the physical wallop. We're not speaking blow-your-head-off SPL potential here, but one that takes a fuller advantage of horns in providing for a large, relaxed and dynamically realistic sphere of sound. Indeed, go big, and let that physical framework be a reference or foundation of sorts for further refinement. 

. . . for more on the triode versus ultralinear subject, I did a search on this site (using that as a search engine). The results were like every other audio subject/debate here: no 100% consensus. As I typed previously, it’s easy to go back & forth and decide for yourself, but I can see your point--if you are selecting speakers based on which setting you’d like to use , I guess you’d probably like to have an idea what each setting will do for you (before you buy the speakers). Anyway, here are the search results I found in case you are interested in what others on the site had to say about the subject:

He's an 8hr drive from me. Maybe later this year when the wife is off for the summer.

@traudio if you are within a day drive of him I’d highly recommend making a visit. He’s a really good guy, fun to hang around with and shoot the crap. Great Mexican joint literally across the street too. I met up with him couple of months ago at the Fla. expo as he rolled out his new model, the Lucera. Best room for me, listening to some good music on the new model powered by Boarder Patrol, a show highlight for sure.

I've got my eye on the volti razz. I was hoping to hear them at axpona next week, but Greg says he's not going to be there this year 😥

I don’t have the Cary yet, maybe Monday. Current speakers are Magnepan 3.7i with a Hegel H390 integrated.

I'll try the Cary, but I'm afraid it won't be up to the task.

86db/4 ohms? Maybe not, but still, in push-pull 40 wpc triode, I do not think that you need as judicious with efficiency as you would need to be if you were buying speakers for a 15 wpc SET rig.

OP, the pair of Razz @mapman found for sale on The Music Room's site  look great !  Priced right I'd say, may even be able to bring them down a bit. 

Cary SLI80HS paired with Volti Razz at home for me. Awesome combination in my book. When I picked up my Razz from Greg at Volti he threw his Cary on my Razz as well as a pair of Rival and his new Vittora prototype. IT was a pretty fun experience. Plenty of power for all three pairings. (of course they are all high sensitivity). Open, sweet, musical and gobs of dynamics. IMO really hard to go wrong.

Also agree with @elliottbnewcombjr ultralinear is the way to go. I switched back and forth for the first couple of days. I just leave it now.

"OP:  what are your current speakers, and how is your Cary integrated doing with them?"

I don't have the Cary yet, maybe Monday. Current speakers are Magnepan 3.7i with a Hegel H390 integrated. 

I'd like to try the other side of the audio coin, tubes and higher sensitivity speakers.

I'll try the Cary, but I'm afraid it won't be up to the task.

I would search in a page like: 

OP:  what are your current speakers, and how is your Cary integrated doing with them?

"Your Subs Manual does NOT specificity mention line in/filter remove low bass/line out without low bass to the preamp or integrated amp. AMP to speakers AFTER sub"

No they don't and I would never run my signal through a sub crossover. Anyway that's usually a feature on cheap mass market subs. If I did anything in that direction it would be a proper outboard crossover of good quality. 

Yes, I understand the concept of removing bass from the main speakers very well. 

My first choice  for second system Omega. Speakers, Kliphs 600 rpm, Tekton monitor impact.

just listed

efficiency 90, good not great, 80 wpc should be fine.

over budget, seller says Or Best Offer. Shipping? Has factory boxes

new just opened factory box of Jbl classics 100 mk2

OP

Nice Subs, however:

Your Subs Manual does NOT specificity mention line in/filter remove low bass/line out without low bass to the preamp or integrated amp. AMP to speakers AFTER sub

They may have it, implied, but I am not sure.

"Control Settings for Stereo Receiver or Pre-Amplifier Most Stereo Receivers and Pre-Amplifiers do not have bass management. Instead you will use the Left and Right full-range outputs and make adjustments through the DSP amplifier on the subwoofer. Be sure to connect both Left and Right outputs to the Left and Right inputs on the subwoofer. Set the Low Pass Filter to “On” and adjust the Crossover Frequency and Slope to achieve a smooth blend and transition with the main speakers. Once blended, adjust the Subwoofer volume to match the volume level of your main speakers"

...................................................

To speakers after sub gives the speakers a break, but does NOT give the amp, a break, thus the amp is always trying to produce low bass which gets filtered by sub to speakers.

This does not help a low powered amp do a better job (i.e. only powering upper bass/mids/highs with slightly inefficient speakers.

Omega Audio?
Maybe, never heard them

How about Omega Audio?

elliottbnewcombjr
These are the subs I have

I've heard the old Infinity speakers. Not real impressed with them, sorry. 

btw, did you see the level controls on those Infinity Kappa 9’s?

I am a big big fan of level controls, so a speaker, which had no idea of it’s intended space, can be adjusted to do a great job ’in that space’. move them, adjust for that space.

I use an inexpensive SPL meter from Amazon, on my tripod, and 29 single 1/3 octave test tones.

final, use your ears.

amazing bytes

$25. delivered is a historic low price, often low is $75. One came up for $9.99. I jumped on it! Gave it to a friend

a/an historic .... who knows which is correct?

I know you have subs, BUT, they need to take the low bass out of the line level, then back to amp, some do, some don't.

Some give the speaker's a break, but not the amp. Some give the amp a break which gives the speakers a break.

With borderline power for 'not too efficient' speakers, you want to give the amp a break, so it has plenty of power when not trying to create low bass.

Subs self powered?

front firing?

Fit next to where mains will go?

That will give you Stereo Bass, a wonderful thing, at any volume.

I, and everyone (not me and ..) The old fat woman with a moustache who taught me grammar would be looking for her slapping ruler.

The amp is 80 watts or 40 watts triode

@traudio , my amp is the Cary V-12 (which I know is not the same as your integrated) but for the sake of comparisons it is switchable between 50 wpc triode and 100 wpc ultralinear (so it’s not way crazy different than yours in that respect). This is something you can easily play with and decide for yourself, but what I have found is that I much prefer the sound of my amp in the 50 wpc triode mode.

With that typed, I don’t have any problems at all using triode mode to drive an old pair of B&W 805s (by old, I mean from way back in the B&W Matrix series) with a sensitivity rating of 87. It is worth noting that a few years ago I moved my system from the living room to a smaller bedroom that is now my listening room and I listen quite near-field, but even when it was in my living room I listened mostly in triode and was happy with that. When I did feel the need to really rock the house down I simply flipped the switches over to ultralinear and it could make those speakers scream.

So I am not trying to sell you on B&Ws, but what I am getting at is that I don’t think that you have to restrict yourself to considering only real efficient speakers.

JBL 4349’s used! See here

Volti is on my list. Need to hear them again at axpona next week.

There’s a pair of used Volti speakers available at TMR. 

+1 Reference 3a MM DE CAPO BE II MONITOR.  Fritz speakers would also be worth checking into.