Best Speaker New or Used under $1.5K

Ok, well, my system is in the living room which is aprox. 14'x 18' with standard 8' ceiling. I am looking to replace just the two main paradigms for the time being, then the center channel paradigm and last but not least the rear tannoys. I am also going to be upgrading my Harman Kardon DVD player, probably to an Arcam. I guess when I got the Arcam avr300 I was hoping to hear more transparency with more depth and imaging. I keep reading about Totems and other speakers and the person will talk about how the speakers seems to disappear and leave just the music. I hope I'm making myself a bit more clear as to what I'm trying to accomplish.

Dynaudio... neutral, fast, and transparent. Look into the 1.3SE's used or a if you bump a little higher $$ you can look at the 1.4's used. The 52SE's are great sounding as well.

The Dynaudios are alittle bit out of my budget range. Any other suggestions? I'm open to all opinions. I live in San Jose, Ca. so I do have many Audio Stores for auditioning :)

Denon 53:

Finding a good speaker at your price level shouldn't be the problem ... identifying what you like in a speaker is usually the problem. I recognize up front that my tastes are somewhat different, as I tend not to care for some of the more popular choices around here. With that said, I would suggest taking a look at:

NHT ST4 floorstanders ($1000 list). This speaker is actually 2 speakers in one ... their SB3 sealed box design monitor integrated with a side firing 8" woofer. I had been using a pair of the less expensive SB2's in a bedroom system and decided to pair the NHT's up with my Prima Luna Prologue Two tube amp for a while. I never heard warmer; more detailed; and more nuanced sound from a system. (I use Omega Super 3's now, which are high efficiency, single driver systems made for tube amps, not recommended for Arcams). The NHT's made it back to the bedroom and a vintage Marantz receiver ... not an ideal match, but more than OK ... NAD is slighlty better though.

The other speakers that have really captured my attention (and imagination and if I am not careful, wallet) are somewhat out of your price range. They are made by Focus Audio ... its is their Signature Product line ... FS68 ($2000/pair monitor) and FS78 ($3000 pair floorstander). Simply magical.

There's no best speaker. You have a very good receiver, just find what mates well with it.

Regards, Rich

Interesting. There are a number of good choices. First I've owned several pair of Paradigm and always ending up feeling bored. I have just acquired a pair of Bohlender Z7's on 'Gon for a silly price and they are unreal for the $$. If you like to rock, can't beat some classic Klipsch (Forte's, Quartets, Heresy's) they drive real easy too. PSB has some outstanding values in their Image series. Good places to start. Good Luck