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$40.000 speaker advise. Check out my list

Hello all,

I'm currently owning a system which consists of Mark Levinson 33H amps, Mark Levinson Nr 32 Pre-amp, a Wadia 860x Cd player and a pair Revel Ultima Studio speakers. Cables are Nordost Valhalla/Valkyrja.

I believe my speakers are the weakest link in my system and am considering upgrading. I listen to all sorts of music, from jazz, classic to pop/dance.

I have a few speakers on my wish list but they are not easy to find to listen to them so I want ask you opinion first before I start searching for a dealer the have one or more of these brands.

Could you please go through the list and rank them from 1 to 6, best to "worse" speaker and explain why you think the list should be in that order.

The speakers I am thinking about are (in random order):

1. Sonus Faber Stradivari
2. Verity Sarastro
3. Lumen White white light
4. Rockport Antares
5. Revel Ultima Salon
6. Avalon Eidolon Diamond

Thanks a lot for your help.

Regards,

Max
maxx1973
jkalman
298 posts
 
Chadnliz,

Not IMO, I heard them at HE2007, set up by Vandersteen. They sounded grainy, dimensionless and uninvolving, much like a pair of cheap studio monitors I own for recording. I was surprised how hyped they are on this forum considering how they sounded, but to each their own I guess....
jkalman
298 posts
 
Shadorne's suggestion to hop on a plane and do some serious dedicated, week long demoing, is the best idea so far.
freemand
225 posts
 
Jkalman, I guess thats a whole other world I am not use to. I write off my morgage and the money I give to charities, but 40 thousand to 40 million write offs are beyond me. I guess I am a common man living a common life owning a common dog. Wait....a chihuahua is not a common dog but more less a freak of nature. I give pocito (my dog) the bread of freakyness!!!

I can be quite assured of this, is a modded pair of $6,000 speakers will out perform many $40,000 pair of speakers. Maybe discovering many different things to increase a speakers performance has my confidence in this. The parts to mod may be anywhere from about a hundred to maybe a thousand pending how much you do. My thinking is why would someone ever pay a speaker manufactuer $40,000 is beyond me when modding $10,000 or less speakers or so profitable.

I think self pride and knowing you have a jaguar instead of a modded chevy is the deal IMO!
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,470 posts
 
I agree about your giving serious listening to the Vandersteen's. I'm driving mine with Ayre components and using cheap but excellent Anti-Cables. They are not dark at all, and the sound is huge - way beyond the speakers themselves and deep...especially with vinyl. Vandersteens have to be set up properly - all speakers do, to get the most from them. When I replaced all the Cardas cables with the Anti-Cables, the sound became "complete"
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
08-16-07: Jtgofish
Are $40,000 speakers really any better than a good pair of $15000 speakers?

Are $15,000 speakers really any better than $5,000 speakers? Are $5,000 speakers really any better than $1,500 speakers? Why is everyone so concerned that Max not spend $40K? If he has it, and wants to spend it on speakers, why stop him? If someone wants to spend around $20K on a digital front end, would we all push $8000 cd players on him? Are we uncomfortable with folks playing out of our league? Live and let live.

I say enjoy your new speakers Max! If I were choosing, I would go 2, 4, 1, 6, 5, 3.

John
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