Help my pick the right speakers

[sqlsavior]

It's admittedly a long shot, but some wives, like mine, seem to accept larger speakers that sound good to them if they are a bit of a curiosity, decor-wise. If you can imagine them 3-4 feet out from the wall behind them (maybe on the long wall, actually) , a pair of new Magneplanar MMGs can be had for a 60-day home trial at $600. If you are lucky, used Maggies or even Quads can sometimes be found in good shape in your price range, but new MMGs are a pretty rugged, safe bet for sound quality. I would think your 70 watts would be enough as long as your listening levels are reasonable. Whether they ultimately suit your tastes is left totally up to you two - just save the boxes.

I also think Poultrygeist's suggestion is very intriguing.

 

[colohiker]

Perusing the San Francisco Craigslist I saw a coupe of speakers you might want to consider.

The first are some DCM Time Windows. Amazing soundstage though the bass might be a bit lacking depending your taste (they had enough for me).
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/ele/5517767269.html

The second are some ADS L1290/2. Not as wide of soundstage as the Time Windows but a bit better bass.
https://modesto.craigslist.org/ele/5563107218.html

I own the Time Windows and the original ADS L1290. Both are in my top 5 for floor standers I have actually heard. Their prices might be a little high here in Colorado but may be inline with your local market. The only caveat is my listening space is 2/3rds the size of yours and I don't know what your WAF would be for either of these speakers.

 

[Djcoolray]

Yes...

70 watts isn't enough to push those speaks at anything but the lower ranges of the speakers. It's the caps in the cross-overs. I am assuming that your using something like an CV SR-15's in a fifteen inch woofer ?

You need a good pair of 60 watt book shelf speakers.....

 

[Porkloin]

Good god, you guys know your stuff! Thank you for all this helpful advice; you've given me lots to consider, and more to research. Two things I should've mentioned:

The room is large (12 ft. wide, 24 ft. long) with the stereo against the wall, speakers maybe 12 inches from the wall, facing the couch. In a perfect world I suppose I'd have more than two speakers, but my wife doesn't want a bunch of wires junking up the room. And the speakers can't be butt ugly, as my wife is already letting me get away with murder for turning our living room into a music studio (I recently introduced a 100-year-old upright piano to the room).

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

"Wife Acceptance Factor" (WAF) is a good thing. Wives keep us from living in steelhead shacks in unwashed underwear eating Hungry Man Salisbury steak dinners all of the time, and they keep our homes from looking either like Fred Sanfords junk yard or the lifeless, stark, white-walled homes portrayed in old movies about life in the future. However, sometimes it goes a bit far when an audiophile suffers the figurative castration of a Bose Acoustimass system in the house.
From a WAF standpoint, you can't go wrong with mid 20th century speakers with their grill fabrics and cabinets that looked like actual furniture. Unless your living room is modern art deco, these old speakers tend to fit in a bit better.
Unfortunately, old cabinets usually mean old technology that's long since been surpassed by modern materials and manufacturing, not to mention aged, worn components in need of replacement.
Going a bit DIY may be a solution - get a pair of those old Sansui or Realistic speakers with the wood lattice grills and modernize the insides. You get a look more befitting the 100 year old piano and the rewarding feeling of listening to the end result of your ingenuity and elbow grease.
NOTE: You may want to go with as large a speaker as you can - your living room could probably use a 10 - 12 inch woofer.

 

[Porkloin]

ESS AMT 1 will leave you speechless.

Recommending AMTs always sets people up for frustration - few would argue that they're one of the most rewarding listening experiences in all of Hi-Fi - but they're getting rare as hen's teeth out there. I live in the Seattle area, which is a great market for audio. ESS speakers show up on the local Craigslist maybe 6 times a year. I defied the some pretty amazing statistical odds finding a pair of AMT3's within 40 miles of my place.

 

[onemug]

The Elac B5's sound very nice with my 2270's. They would be WAY under your 1000 budget at just over 200 but they hit way above the belt. You would need stands for them so maybe their F5 floor standers would be a better option for you. As for the WAF, that's anyone's guess but they do kind of disappear in a room. They look better in person than in photos.

 

[Sound Harvest]