What speaker could safely be ordered without hearing it first?


Hi everyone,

I’m in the midst of my speaker search and curious about something.......as noted above. There are some brands I would be interested in based on reputation, reviews, looks etc but may never be able to hear first.

I’m curious what the collective group thinks would be a safe choice having never heard them first. I know there are variables as in size of room, current gear etc. Just want to see what people would suggest. The one I would note based on what I have read is Joseph Audio. I’d also be curious if people would say the same about Borresen.

So it may be a frivolous exercise but I’ll ask the question anyway. Let me know your thoughts.

128x128mtbiker29

You don’t give any info on your setup and price limits. 
 

there are many speaker brands that will reliably sound good but your room and equipment might not be optimal for them. 
 

Well known high end brands such as KEF, Magnepan, Quad, B&W, Focal, etc

are very reliable for great sound but each has its flavor of sound and differing room requirements. 
 

you won’t go wrong with any of these assuming you can give them the space and power they need.

 

Magico A1...  It's small but boy oh boy that little bookshelf speaker can belt it out.  It's spendy though, used around $5K or $6K with stands, new, add about +$3K to that.  On a more reasonable level, how about a Bowers & Wilkins 805 D3 or 804 D3 (D4 is the current gen), first or second generation Focal mini Utopia's, and lastly, Raidho - that's another bookshelf that is quite impressive.  But, where the rubber meets the road, you gotta go and listen to it.  Happy speaker hunting. 

Anything from Peter at PBN is always a winner. Absolutely amazing sounds all lines

Wow, the list is far & wide of the Speaker brands / models I've never laid my ears on. 

Polk Audio Legend L600, or maybe a taste of SDA ... Legend L800