I would look for a pair of used Magnepan 3.7i. They can be had for $4000, maybe less if you're lucky. Nothing sounds sweeter or produces better highs than the ribbon tweeter. And you won't believe the difference between Maggie 3.7is and your old Vandys. But for optimal performance, you'll need some power and a sub, for sure. One thing about Maggies is that they are a value speaker. $6000 Maggies are frequently favorably compared with speakers in the $15k - $20k range.
Time to move UP, speaker-wise...
My vandersteen 2ci’s dropped dead after a couple decades of sweet service. Over the past year, I’ve had mixed success with a pair of reference premier Klipsch speakers, but now I’m wanting something a far more subtle, perhaps a touch more sweet, and definitely able to reveal more sound-field information. Perhaps I’m being redundant... I’ve been intrigued by the open baffle concept and I’ve read some reviews on Spatial Audio products as well as Tekton’s open baffle offering. There are fans of the spatial, and then I discovered there are people that are blown away by the Tekton open baffle design. Tekton is also running a special on the Electron SE @$3000, which I feel inclined to try... Another area of interest is the Ohm speaker lineup... can any of you speak to them, and particularly how they compare to Klipsch Heritage speakers, or open baffle designs, or Tekton's...?
I have to say, I’m die-hard for the musical information, for the layers of musical fabric. Wolf_garcia claims the heresy III is the best $1500 he ever spent, in a discussion addressing open-baffle designs, among others, and so I’m wondering where to put my bills... What should I check out? It’s time to move up. I’m thinking $3300 is about my limit... I’m running 80 watts per channel from the nuforce sta200, a schitt saga pre, Cambridge transport.
I have to say, I’m die-hard for the musical information, for the layers of musical fabric. Wolf_garcia claims the heresy III is the best $1500 he ever spent, in a discussion addressing open-baffle designs, among others, and so I’m wondering where to put my bills... What should I check out? It’s time to move up. I’m thinking $3300 is about my limit... I’m running 80 watts per channel from the nuforce sta200, a schitt saga pre, Cambridge transport.