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.

 

aphilc
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The Yamaha NS5000 can be bought for that price (I did). Dealer is in Wisconsin, and I am in California.

Search Results for “NS5000” | Hi-Fi Heaven (hifiheaven.net)

This speaker can hold its own (and more) against the very best. This because no one can do the same thing with cone drivers that Yamaha has done. The coherence is incredible with all 3 drivers made from the same material. No one does that with cones.

Ignore the Bookshelf designation. These need a mid to big room.

 

Legacy focus offers things that very few other loudspeakers offer

 

Very efficient

High power handling

Very deep bass

Plays very loud

Amplifier friendly tube or solid state

Hand made In the USA

Multiple cabinet options

State of the art heil AMT drivers

Great resolution without brightness

Daveand Troy

Audiointellect Nj

Legacy dealer

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I treasure detail and transparency and don't lean toward "warm" speakers.

Given that I’d recommend looking at the ATC SCM40 v2.  The passive version is $6k but there’s also an active version that includes individual amplification for each driver and active crossover for $11k, and all you’d need is a preamp.  Best of luck.
https://soundapproach.com/atc-scm40-entry-series-6-3-way-passive-tower-speakers-pair.html

https://soundapproach.com/atc-scm40a-entry-series-6-3-way-active-tower-speakers-pair.html