Recommended Modern Speakers

It
Anyone have any suggestions for speakers to audition for around US1500/pr? I've kind of started stopping in places and haven't taken a "speaker tester" cd yet so I haven't narrowed anything down much. The Internet only brands aren't going to do it for me because I want to hear them first. I want floorstanders, but they're replacing stand mounts with a sub. I don't mind having a sub, but I kind of want to get away from it, at least for awhile. I've looked at B&W 683 S2, which sound great but are just about the ugliest speakers B&W has ever made, Martin Logan Motion 20's, Monitor Audio Silver 6's and Golden Ear Triton 7's. My room is 17X13X9 with carpeting and furniture, and there's some openings that seem strategically placed that really prevent a lot of sound from bouncing back at me from behind or on the sides. I mostly listen to records, my receiver is a Yamaha 75 WPC, stereo (not AV). Any ideas of stuff to check out would be welcome!

Kef Q900 should be good. Also used pair of B&W CM8 gen 1 should be in that price.
 
It


Kef Q900 should be good. Also used pair of B&W CM8 gen 1 should be in that price.

Thanks for the recommendation. There used to be a place that had KEF around here, but not anymore (NE Ohio). All three of the Q floorstanders look nice!
 
paradigm monitor 11s pair amazingly well with yamaha.

I'll check them out. There's actually a place around here that has them.

Anyone ever hear Revel? I know Harman owns them and I always thought they were their high priced line, and I've never really been a fan of their lower priced offerings, but the F35 looks pretty nice. I think I can audition them, but you never know what the store actually carries.
 
I'll check them out. There's actually a place around here that has them.

Anyone ever hear Revel? I know Harman owns them and I always thought they were their high priced line, and I've never really been a fan of their lower priced offerings, but the F35 looks pretty nice. I think I can audition them, but you never know what the store actually carries.
disappointed in Revel. really dull.
also try PSB X2t
 
Thanks for the recommendation. Those are gorgeous and they're definitely in my price range but they aren't floorstanders. I'd have to drive three hours to check them out, but I might just because they look so good.

If you are going to check out the Sonus Faber Venere 1.5 and/or 2.0, which I recommend you do, then if you get a chance to listen to the Focal Aria 906 (or little brother 905), you should do that too. I've listened to both the SF and 906 recently and liked both. The 906 in the right room and with the right equipment, can sound fabulous. Several very positive reviews have been posted, including from The Absolute Sound.
 
I don't know if anyone else will like them, but I heard a pair of the new ELAC F6s yesterday, and I'll be getting a pair eventually.
 
Sprindle, I am interested to know what your final speaker decision was and what influenced your final choice. I know it wasn't an easy choice. About a year ago, I was in the same boat as you. I live in an audio black hole with few choices to actually audition equipment. I ended up buying the Triton 7's, going strictly on reviews and forums like this one. The 7's are nice, but I upgraded my amp a few months ago and now I want to upgrade my speakers. That's what this hobby does to you.
 
After listening to everything I could find I settled on Martin Logan Motion 20's. I like the size and looks, and I think they sound terrific. I was really disappointed in the B&W 683 S2, because I have 601 S3 bookshelves. I thought that would be a major no brainer, but the highs just weren't there on the 683's, or the Monitor Audio Silver 6 for that matter. The Monitor Audios are really nice looking, but the B&W's are just huge, with what looks like yards of black vinyl on a black spray painted piece of plywood they called a "plynth." So I was disappointed with the Brits this time around.

I liked the Triton 7, but I have a cat, and that sock that covers it would be a scratching post/hair magnet. It seems like a look really made for home theater, where the flat black of the sock would really disappear in the dark. They sound really nice, though. I liked the Revel F35 quite a bit, but the Martin Logan just had more bite on guitars, and that's the kind of music I usually listen to. The thing is, at this price range the competition is really stiff. All these speakers sound good, but some do some things better than others. Looks really start to play a part because they all sound good. The only ones I heard I flat out didn't like were Definitive. There were literally entire guitar parts in some songs that just disappeared. They were really muddy and seemed kind of tubby in the bass. Every other brand I heard I could easily understand someone buying them and liking them, but not those.

I checked some of the online brands, but that's just not for me. A lot of them really seem to be cabinet makers, sourcing drivers from other companies. That's certainly not an indication of bad sound or anything, but it's not what I was looking for. Martin Logan answered any of my questions the salesman couldn't answer for me within hours, so I'm feeling good about my purchase, and liking the sound very much.
 
At The Show a couple of weeks ago I got a chance to listen to the Spatial M3's.
spatial_reddragon_newport_2015_9.png

(Not my pic)

Great sounding for the price.

They disappeared in the room, holographic imaging, tonally balanced from top to bottom (they dig deep).
 
Well, I just gave my new Pioneer BS-22s a workout and I thoroughly recommend then. To my ears, they sound great across all frequencies and I'm puzzled as to the voodoo involved in making them have such decent bass from such a small box. I can't think of a better way to spend $125, honestly.
 
Love my Amphion Creons. awesome sounding, very stylish, and they go down very low (32Hz) for something with such a narrow footprint.
 
Pioneer SP-BS22-LR $89-$99: Great in the living room with the joint Evan/Stacey system that the turntable is hooked up to. However the dark/warm sound is not my cup of tea. I wouldn't personal buy another pair of Andrew Jones speakers. They're good but they're not my preference.

Dayton Audio B652 AIR $50: I just purchased these to modify, and modified they're awesome, though the $50 price point turned into a $100 price point. That tweeter really is something special and combined with a woofer that can actually articulate lower notes properly you have a great set of nearfield speakers, or a great pair of stand mounts to cross over with a sub. In the week that I listened to them stock I was very impressed with how coherent and involving they were even though you could audibly hear their imperfections as measured by the blogger noaudiophile. It's as if Dayton read Steve Mejia's Stereophile review of the original B652 and asked themselves 1) What is he smoking? and 2) Can we actually make the B652 sound like that?

Future?

I am very, very interested in the new Philharmonic Audio Affordable Accuracy Monitor. It's a ready-made version of the Dayton BR-1 speaker kit with crossover modifications sold for $195.
 
I'm not in a rush to get new speakers right now, but my Dynaco A25's don't quite do some of my music justice, I feel. I listen to a lot of metal; think Sabbath or Melvins or Kyuss, and newer stuff like Graves At Sea or Boris or Pallbearer.

Any general recommendations; speakers to keep an eye out for? Googling I found people recommending Cerwin Vegas, but I would need to listen to them myself. In most cases, it seemed to me that the people reviewing them like to have their walls shake when they're listen to music. I just want speakers that will sound good with metal; that doesn't mean I want earthquake volume. I guess I just get a bit wary when I see speakers praised for their volume. Lot's of people have systems in their car that are really loud... but they sound like garbage. Maybe that doesn't apply so much to home stereos, but that's where my bias stems from.


Edit: My amp is a pioneer a-71. Don't plan on replacing that any time soon. Just says 670W on the back, and a google search told me 120WPC.
 
I'm not in a rush to get new speakers right now, but my Dynaco A25's don't quite do some of my music justice, I feel. I listen to a lot of metal; think Sabbath or Melvins or Kyuss, and newer stuff like Graves At Sea or Boris or Pallbearer.

Any general recommendations; speakers to keep an eye out for? Googling I found people recommending Cerwin Vegas, but I would need to listen to them myself. In most cases, it seemed to me that the people reviewing them like to have their walls shake when they're listen to music. I just want speakers that will sound good with metal; that doesn't mean I want earthquake volume. I guess I just get a bit wary when I see speakers praised for their volume. Lot's of people have systems in their car that are really loud... but they sound like garbage. Maybe that doesn't apply so much to home stereos, but that's where my bias stems from.


Edit: My amp is a pioneer a-71. Don't plan on replacing that any time soon. Just says 670W on the back, and a google search told me 120WPC.
I've had my A25's for the last 26 of their 41 years, and 2 years ago, when I was thinking to replace them, I opted to replace the caps in them first. It has made all the difference in the world - these old speakers now reproduce with an authority that I hadn't heard in years!
 
Back
Top Bottom