Wide dispersion speakers for a large room


I'd like some advice/suggestions for speakers to use in a large room (25 x 40) with a cathedral ceiling. They'll be placed on the long wall. Imaging ability isn't terribly important as I'll be listening from different locations in the room.

My budget is $3500. Because of the room, speaker placement will be no more than a couple of feet from the wall, but nowhere near any side walls.

Are there any designs or brands that suit my situation better than others? (e.g., are ribbon tweeters better or worse than dome). I'been thinking hard about the Revel Performa3 F206, ProAc D20R, Spendor D7. These are all close to my budget if bought used.

Any advice would be much appreciated.
alex_s
Thanks all. I'm looking at the Tannoy XT 8F. It has nice reviews, is efficient, has the ability to move lots of air, and is well within my budget. Should anybody have any other advice, I'd love to hear it.
I agree with Latik regarding the Tannoys. I use 12" HPD drivers (dual concentric from 1975) in my large listening room ( 16' X 34', with cathedral ceilings). They are in custom 150 liter enclosures that are built on the massive side, at nearly 2" in thickness, and 192 lbs. each. Situated on the end wall though, but boy, do they do the job!

Regards,
Dan
Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. Thankfully I'm in no real hurry, so I can continue to save.

I do plan on buying used, so I hope to eventually be able to set up something really nice.

Now to do some research on the suggested speakers.

Please keep the ideas coming.



Thanks for the response, guys. I have a Rogue Sphinx (100 W/channel) as an amp and Zu Omen speakers, but these are in a smaller room. Moving everything to the larger room is the plan. This will be a two channel system but I'm open to adding a sub or two. Although my budget is $3500, I'm adding $500/month to my audio savings account, so I can eventually spend more on speakers.

The idea of higher efficiency speakers makes sense, as does having them be fairly large. Unfortunately, my wife doesn't want anything overbearing.

For serious listening I'll be about 10 feet from them, while the max space between speakers is about 10 feet. At other times, I may be well off axis. I listen at lower levels but occasionally like to turn the music quite loud. We listen to a mix of orchestral, opera, rock and saloon singers (Etta James, Sinatra, etc.), so piano and vocals need to be done well.
Tannoy’s are well known for wide dispersion with their 15” woofer / dual concentric design. They are 96db efficiency so you don’t need gobs of power to drive them. 
Not sure if you can find them in your budget. 

I'll be listening from different locations in the room.

So what about a Walsh Ohm Tall 4000?

Hi Alex_S,  I have an almost identical room, even longer:
Family room(cathedral) >Breakfast room>Kitchen  25 x 55.

The space is both awesome and challenging.  I put my stereo speakers
on the end wall, even though the tv is on the side wall.  This fills the entire space and imaging IS important.  I tried them on the side (please dear)  but could not live with it.  But I do get moving around vs dedicated listening position.

I have the Revel Studio 2's with dual REL Carbon Limited subs.  While I would surely enjoy the Salon's, the Studio 2's fit nicely in the room and sound fantastic.  They disperse nicely and are not fatiguing.  The subs totally improve EVERYTHING and I needed two to make the magic.  You can find the Studio 2's used for a decent price, but it will blow your stated budget.(but isn't that always the case ? :)  The Revel's do like power.
Auralic Vega 2 DAC > AudoNet Pre 1 G3> Classe CA-2300.
Happy New Year!  Ken.
oh, of course, another brand I consider wide dispersion is Magico.  Really wide listening sweet spot.
For the size of the room, and I assume untreated, perhaps a JBL horn loaded design will suit your needs?
Revel is notorious for wide dispersion with their waveguide tweeters. but you would need at least the f208 to get decent tone balance in that room. Buy used.
Another option is 2nd hand powered speakers from a company like Dynaudio that have a rep for bass, for whatever reason a powered speaker will pressurize a room better than a passive one of similar size. 
Alex you have a very difficult room with that kind of budget typically you need a very large high displacment loudspeaker with great efficiency.

What amplifer do you have with how much power?

Do you listen loud?

How fear away from the speakers will you sit?

What kind of music do you like?

Any chance of home theater or adding a center channel?

Can you install a couple of subwoofers?

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ