Candidates for best speakers in the $2000-5000 market

Of the hundreds of speakers mentioned you would be hard pressed to surpass...

New- Magnepan 1.7i

Used- KEF 205/2

All new $5.7K AudioVector QR7 speakers has the sound quality of their much higher priced R Series speakers !  😎

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtKjhPHFuRM 

One Audio Reviewer replaced his Quad ESL 2912's with these new AudioVector QR7's matched with the new $9K Luxman L-507z !🤔😃

 https://www.youtube.com/@francisco_del_pozo/videos

Thank you for all for the great suggestions and practical feedback. Time came to make a decision for the near to medium term at least., and I’m probably trying some posters patience!

"Next man up" is a pair of the Harbeth Super HL5 Plus XD, recently posted on Audiogon. Warm reviews, curiosity about the BBC sound, and the availability of the speakers on Audiogon drove the decision making.

Thank you again, I may be back! 😁

I've owned Yamaha NS 1000's, Focal 786's, B&W 703's, Sonus faber Venere 2.5's and now Sonus faber Sonetto V's. I cannot rave enough about my enjoyment, and appreciation of the Sonus faber line, but in the $5,000.00 range, reviewers find it hard to find a better sounding, or better value than the Sionetto V's. Listen for yourself if you haven't already, but the Sonetto V's are fabulous. Very Amp friendly and a "complete" sound from Tweeter to Mid Range to Woofers. Buy, relax  and enjoy.

I'm squarely in the single driver speaker camp after auditioning a bunch of speakers including Atohm and Davis Acoustics in a shop in Paris. 

I just think that single driver speakers sound more natural/transparent. It's a night and day difference. 2 way or 3 way speakers sound like they put all of their efforts in the bass and treble with micro-details. But the voices and midrange sound a bit veiled. Your brain and ears naturally adjusts so it's not an issue. 

Anyways I was floored by the Audax AM21 LB25 kit designed by Yves Dodeman. You can buy an assembled pair from that Paris shop for approx 2,500€. Everything is made in France so it's kind of a bargain compared to famous brands like Focal which command a higher price for the same quality. The seller kinda hinted that I needed a larger room for these speakers so I went with another model.

So I purchased the Closer Acoustics OGY last year and I'm still grinning to this day. They have the fastest, cleanest bass with some extension (but not subwoofer levels) thanks to the plywood transmission line cabinet. The midrange is scary clear. And the highs are bright but non-fatiguing (unless you push the volume too high unconsiously, which is easy to do because they sound so clear and natural). So the OGY are perfect in a smallish room at moderate volumes. I will say that they're not the most dynamic for orchestral music, you might want larger cabinets for that. On the flipside, the OGY is so easy to drive. Even the cheapest, nastiest Tripath chip amp will drive them fine. But you'll gain smoother highs and deeper bass with a decent A/B amp or tube amp. 

Compared to Atohm, Davis Acoustics and Dynaudio bookshelf speakers the OGY just sound less veiled. But the Dynaudio and similar brands have more bass (but way slower bass), sound louder and more dynamic. So it's a design tradeoff and it's tempting to have 2 pairs of speakers for different genres. 

I would love to audition the Pearl Acoustics Sibelius one day. It's funny how they use much cheaper drivers than the OGY but cost twice the money. I guess the cabinet and size have a bigger impact on price.