It is suggested to avoid framing speakers solely based on a price tag. In publications like Stereophile, the price range for a loudspeaker can vary significantly even within the same class. Your price range may fall into the "restricted LF class A," "class B," to a "restricted LF class B," which you can use as a starting point for your search. Depending on your personal taste in sound traits, style and type of drivers, layout your basic requirements on speaker specifications such as efficiency, size of drivers/speakers, frequency responses, etc. Matching with your current gear is an imperative criterion as well. Most importantly, you need to audition them in person, ideally with in-home trials for at least a good number of hours, allowing the speakers to break in. I went through this hassle twice when selecting my main and secondary sets of speakers, and it is not an easy process that you can simply expect an answer from by throwing the question to Audiogoners.
Your thoughts on best audiophile speakers in $10,000 neighborhood?
I know the best way to select a speaker is to auditioon them at a dealer or in my own home. However, living in a rather rural area in northern Michigan, there's only one reputable dealer (Sonus Faber) in town so I may end up relying on reviews and your feedback.
I used to own Vandersteen Model 2Cs in the late 1980s, but finally want to step up my game. I currently have a legacy Nakamichi receiver / amp with 1000wpc, but will probably upgrade that once I select a new pair of speakers. Currently I'm playing mostly LPs on a Technics SL1210G. I now listen mostly with a Mark Levinson 5909 headphone connected to a small Class A pre-amp, so I treasure detail and transparency and don't lean toward "warm" speakers.
Room is good size since it encompasses living room and opens to dining room and kitchen behind it. Cathedral ceiling is about 12 feet high.
I'm considering the following speakers: Vandersteen Treo CT, Wharfedale Elysian 4 (perhaps too big for my room), Monitor Audio Gold 300 and the Sonus Faber Sonetto VIII. These all fit within my budget. What are your thought about any of these...or do you have others to recommend?
Thanks for whatever guidance you can give me.