2. speakers
  3. 1129541934

$10,000 Speaker Recommendations?

Greetings all. I am looking for new loudspeakers as part of a total system upgrade. My budget is $10,000 give or take. Musical tastes are pretty eclectice from hard rock to orchestral, but my most critical and enjoyable listening is to jazz and acoustic music - particularly female vocals and stringed instruments (think Suzanne Vega, Nora Jones, Dianna Krall, Allison Kraus, etc).

I have a Mark Levinson 383 integrated amplifier served by a Rotel 1072 CD player (the CD player will be replaced after the speaker selection). Current loudspeakers are Sonus Faber Concertinos supported by an REL Strata subwoofer. I still love the sweet musical sound of my SF's but now (after 8 years with them) have the good fortune of being able to make a major upgrade.

One wrinkle to all of this is that I currently live in Shanghai, China which means my selection and ability to fully audition is rather limited. I have access to Sonus Faber, Martin Logan, and B&W (and several European brands I am less familiar with) and have been considering the Cremona, Guarneri Homage, Summit, Ascent i, and 802's accordingly.

My listen room is rather large approximately 8 meters x 6 meters (25 ft x 20 ft) So I am probably moving away from monitors on stands to a floor standing full-range speaker(though I have heard that the Guarneris support a much bigger room than their size would suggest)

Any thoughts or wisdom from this group?

Thanks so much! Brad
bradleypeacockba28
branimir
236 posts
 
Hi, Brad. Since you like Sonus Faber sound( as I do ), I will concentrate on them. Your room is big enough to support Stradivari Hommage and Amati Anniversario, unfortunately they are currently not in your budget.
Cremona is better than old Concertino in every way possible. New Guarneri Memento( replacment for Guarneri Hommage from January 2006 ) is also worth waiting. But, since your room is big, Cremona will more easily fill it with sound( more bass as well ). Also, your No.383 is powerful enough for both of them.
Happy listening!
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
As far as your location goes,I see ads time to time from your area. I would say many/ most,at this site, try to buy from a local seller. In the recent past I have read ads for Wilson speakers,being sold from your area. I have just bought the Wilson Sophia;local??--How did you guess.
I haven't heard that many speakers,but I just sold my Merlin,MM's. Am I happy with this change?? You guessed it. A couple of my reasons for buying them were; they sound pretty good with whatever you drive them with and easy placement. I doubt you'd be looking for a sub with this speaker.---In speakers it's always compared to what speakers you now own. Since you now own a sub you may need to keep it; for those whom don't run a sub;these Sophia will give you more and cleaner bass than your used to. That's my recommendation.
kops's avatar
kops
478 posts
 
Cremona !!!
ajahu
306 posts
 
Among those you listed, I think, the best is the ML Summit. It is a wonderfully tansparent, quick speaker with a nice soundstage. The best ML I have ever heard. Also, one of the best, I think, in its price range. I would also hear it with some tubes somewhere in your system. Maybe in the new cd-player to get what tubes are good for, harmnically rich and layered music. I dont think that Cremona or BW would be in competition with the Summit. Cremona is very musical, but somehow I found it a bit too slow. But I dont have any idea how it would sound with an ML 383. BW would be too bright and cold too my ears, although I only heard the N803 with ML 383. I also suggest to look for a Wilson Benesch Curve. Its maybe cheaper a bit than the ML, and has its own merits. Nice coherent and holographic sound. But maybe Summit is a nicer spaker. It really depends on what kind of soundprint you after. Any of these speaker would be a major upgrade compared to your current one. And of course, you really should upgrade your source.
johnnynuclear
1 posts
 
checkout thiel cs2.3 or cs2.4 and save yourself a bunch of money. a friend of mine bought a 12,000 pair of reference loudspeakers and I like my $4000 thiels better!
More to discover