What now?


At the risk of repeating a question that has been asked and answered a few times, let me tell you my story.  I am an old-time audiophile (now 79) who has to adapt to new circumstances.  For the past forty years or more I have listened to music on two pairs of Snell type A speakers (A and AIII), one pair in my living room and another pair in the studio where I paint.  I have moved to a smaller house.  I had to sell the Snells because I don't have room for them (they went to a good home).  I also have sold some fairly high end equipment that powered them.  I now have two Marantz 60009 receivers and a nice vintage turntable.  The turntable is in a small (about 12x15) room, with a piano.  I need to find floor-standing speakers I can put on either side of the piano and close to the wall behind them.  I want to find them used, but not too used - I don't want to need to repair them anytime soon.  I am used to good sound and my hearing is still pretty good.  I listen to some classical, some choral, some solo voice, some guitar, etc.  I like what might be called a "warm" tone - without wanting to get into a debate about what that means - just don't want treble that is on the edgy side.  My budget is flexible, but not unlimited - maybe from $700 to $3000.  I do care how they look.  Some years ago I had a pair of Acoustic Zen adagios, which were OK, but I always preferred the Snells (maybe I was just used to them).  So - what do you recommend?  Adagio?  Vienna Acoustic Bach?  Tannoy?  Sonus Faber?  I am not in a place where I can easily audition speakers, and many of the ones I would consider are no longer sold new anyway, so I need to rely to some extent on the judgment of others.  What do you think?

 

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@twilightround

you are special :)

you can try Crutchfield and Amazon 60 days no cost about 8 great brands combined. I would say your room is OK but your listening position is definitely a little unusual.
Because of your space, culturally, I would say speakers from countries that have typically small apartments will be a better fit (NOT THE USA) because they have to solve the space problem. As I read on this forum: these effluent people build rooms for speakers, in Europe, people build speakers for (whatever) rooms. >> the Brits? the Austrians?
But of course that was a pretty stupid generalization. 

My space is worse than yours. You are not pursuing perfection, you are pursuing maximum joy and a lot of high quality speakers will get you there. It will be a great journey.

I have ordered the GetBetterSound book, hope it may help. I have some possibilities for speakers.  One is vintage McIntosh XRT 18 - pretty amazing concept.  Another is Revel f208, which provides for some attenuation of bass if needed.  A third is Triangle Antal 30th anniversary, which one reviewer says can sound good only 8” from front wall.  I may also be able to do some sound conditioning on the walls.  Thanks to all who have answered.  Any comments welcome.  

@twilightround 

Have you considered what stringreen suggested earlier which is headphones?  For less than the price of the speakers you seek, you could purchase a quality set of headphones. Sennheiser HD800S, Focal Clear, Hifiman Arya,  Audeze LCD-X, and others.   In my opinion, the bang for the buck can't be matched by any loudspeaker.  If headphones are out of the question, there's a set of Monitor Audio Gold 200s on Ebay for $3200 plus shipping.