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Speaker recommendation for married couple

I am the guy who opened the thread "Harbeth Love". Unfortunately, wife didn't like them at all. She listened to ATC, nope. Spendor? Nope. I do trust her ears too but we need speakers that we both like. I remember her liking this Sonus Faber speakers (can't recall the model but I know newer Fabers). She also likes KEF LS50 which I find good but not outstanding. Any help for this married couple?:)
celo
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drcjj
42 posts
 
Certainly listen/look again to the Sonus Fabers... The Olympica 1 may be found used in the $ 3k price range... I have Oly II's and my wife likes the cosmetic appearance for our space better than any box style speaker... the Sonus Faber Olympica series is finely crafted and looks like sculpture...  For the best sound they must have proper placement and that includes about 2' of air around them.  Sonus also has some lesser priced models that are quite entertaining.

In my case the Sonus Fabers were replacing some older B&W speakers that looked like boxed robots... She loved the look of the Oly's so it was a non issue for us... and she loves the sound too.. Female vocals, live jazz and acoustic recordings are amazingly enjoyable on the Sonus Oly's.. Older rock can also be great depending on the recording qualities.. My old Buffalo Springfield album and Neil Young come through wonderfully...  I am not a high db listener but the 4 ohm Oly's crank it out if I want to with an old 100 WPC ARC solid state amp.

My wife is a visually oriented person as are many of women that I worked with in my A/V sales years... I suspect as mentioned above that your wife might be interested in the visual qualities of the choices just as much as the auditory preferences.... Regardless, if you search around enough you will find something you both love.

rpw357
7 posts
 

Sir-

I am older.  Have had all sorts of speakers.  Listen to all sorts of music.  Actually have a pair of Omega's now - among others.  I think for the range of types of music, the budget you have - if I understood that correctly, and for something of an appropriate size - you should go listen to a pair of Cantons if you can.  The Canton Vento 836's are, imo, pretty remarkable over all styles of music, solid, attractive, and obtainable.  Do what you will, but, you should hear some Cantons before making a decision.

Good luck to you and your bride in your search. 

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salon1audio
6 posts
 
I solve this all the time with a pair of Sonus Faber Venere 2.5's.  Beautiful to look at in Gloss White, Black or Walnut, but the best part is they sound way above their price.  I've had a lot of guys come in and listen to speakers up to twice the price and at least 80% of the time they go home with the 2.5's. Never had a disappointed customer and have never had a return...well actually twice because they traded up to the 3.0's.   We always have demos, but not looking to plug us here.  Buy them locally from a reputable dealer and then take her out for a nice dinner to show your appreciation.
axeis1
276 posts
 
I'm surprised no mention of Maggie's ? 1.7 would work well. New Kef reference but out of the budget?  Also Dynaudio's are great. Best soft dome tweeters are Dynaudio's, the tsss sounds are called sibilance Btw.. DeVore are nice too.
audiokinesis
2,722 posts
 

Given that you are in Europe, I suggest Gradient and Amphion.  Both are imo extremely intelligently designed as far as room interaction... in particular, both do an unusually good job with the off-axis response.  The vertical off-axis response matters more than usual in this case, given the low ceiling height.  If fairly early reflections are pretty much inevitable, you want them to have essentially the same spectral balance as the direct sound, and both of these brands are very good at that. 

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