Best used speakers under $10000
I second Peter's recommendation for PBN speakers. If you buy his Liberty speakers new or pickup another model on the used market you can't go wrong. PBN speakers are the only component in my system I have not changed in the past 8 years and I have no desire to even look at anything else. Big problem is they are hard to audition. |
I listen to similar music and my goals have always been warm and musical yet I also wanted all the detail and basic audiophile checklist...great soundstage, separation, layering, imaging etc. My room is slightly smaller than yours and I'm using McIntosh 601 mono's, C2300 tube pre and Sonus Faber Guarneri Evolutions paired with REL G2 subs. SF has made recent changes that I'm not sure are for the better, but if you could find a way to audition the Evolutions might be worth the effort. I also had a pair of SF Cremona Auditor M's that were crazy good in that room especially considering they were 1/3 the cost! A real sleeper. |
Hey guys sorry for going silent. Between the move to NYC and settling in here, last couple of months have been very hectic. So finally resumed the auditioning and tried Kanta 2 and Sabrina. To to recap what all I have tried so far In AU 1. Focal Sopra 2 felt tight and precise. However lacked the soundstage of B&W 802 2. B&W 802 D3: awesome wide soundstage. However didn’t quite have the separation of Focal I also found focal to be a bit boomy, but that could just be the room. 3. PMC Twenty5.26 - British seems to do Mid really well. My fav mid, but didn’t like the overal package. 4. Dynaudio Controur 60: Great bass. However didn’t feel it had the musical accuracy that I like. 5. Paradigm 3F : it did not feel very clean. Plus my hearing is really sensitive to high notes and I feel I can’t tolerate any level of brightness. 6. KEF Reference 3: there was nothing obvious missing but somehow it didn’t feel like I got the three elements I was looking for: heft in the bass at low volume, clean & sweet mids and airy top notes 7. PMC MB2. Exactly the sound I wanted - punch in low notes at low volume, really clean mid-range and very smooth highs. However it is never going to pass WAF. Speaker no 1 & 2 were with the same gear and 3-7 were with the same gear. In NY: given multiple months have passed. Plus electronics have changed. So really hard to make a comparison. 8. Focal Kanta 2: I tried it with Naim Atom and overall was probably the third most satisfying combo I hve tried. I also tried it with Moon 240i but I think I liked Naim pairing better. 9. Wilson Sabrina : tried it with Moon 240i. Great soundstage, much larger than Focal Kanta 2. Overall my second favorite package. Only hesitation I have is whether the combo might be a tad with too forward (recall my hearing is too sensitive and can get irritated even with what others might consider neutral). I switched the Amp to McIntosh MC252 but that took away from the soundstage. So I am keen to see how these sound with Naim. Magico and Rockport are only two that are left. I might try Devore Super 9 or X as well. One small complication - not enough space in NYC apartment and 11 month old twins love to chew any cable and kick anything that’s taller than wider :) |
It's interesting to me how the speakers I own tend to decide what music I listen to. I did go over budget buying the salon 2 in my quest for $10k speakers. I thought NYC apt's were the entire floor? The Kanta's have an immediate sound to them that I really like and I believe they also have some extra energy in the bass, not a bad thing imo. I also ride motorcycles and i'm drawing a parallel between the 2 hobbies that there isn't 1 do it all motorcycle there also isn't 1 do it all speaker. They all have qualities that draw us to them, but in comparison we can't have it all, eventually we have to pick a favorite as there's no wrong answer. |
I second the poster that suggested you add the Usher BE10 DMD to the list. rear ported 11" kevlar eaton woofer BE midrange, diamond tweeter I expected bright and boomy and I couldn't have been more wrong. Because speakers tend to sound bad in my room I usually buy used so if,ahem, when they fall on their face at home I can resell them and recover most of my investment, doesn't make the speakers bad because my room sucks, but do try for a home demo b4 handing over the cash. The dac is newer in the H360 and it's coming down enough in price to make it worth the extra dough. |
I would add Aerial Acoustics 7T to your list. I have heard the 6T and think they hit all your criteria perfectly, so assume their bigger brother would too. I preferred them to Spendor D7, Focal Kanta No. 2, Paradigm Persona 3F, and the KEF R11 I heard. Of the foregoing list, my second favorite were the Spendors, so D9 would be good to hear too. |
Marrduk, It you are in NYC you should stop into our shop, we have a few speakers that based on your listening preferences you may like. Also the question with all of your testing and in the beginning of your post is you don't mention what equipment you are using and what your current speakers are which would kind of give people a base line of your tastes and sonic preferences and then unless your are going to change your equipment will have a major impact on the sound of your system. You mentioned hearing certain models but certain speakers are going to sound good or bad depending on what gear being demoed with them. In our shop we have one of the largest collections of speakers in your price range and we have a diverse selection of gear both solid state and tube. We have the superb Legacy Signatures which are very musical and have a warm full bodied sound with good detail but whose top end is delicate rather then showing supreme detail. The Legacy are easy to drive and have very prodigious and warm bass. We have the Kef Ref 3 which are a bit more than your price range, they happen to have superb detail and throw a huge well focused sound stage, they have a very accurate mid-range and very tight bass. We have the Paradigm Persona 3F which are very transparent, if you found them to be unclear then the equipment wasn't good, the speakers have unbelievable clarity and a big sound stage, they are not particularly warm so they need to be well matched with the right gear. We have the PSB T3 great imaging, smooth mid-range, very tight bass. We just took on the Golden Ear line, the new Tritron 1R are awesome and are very inexpensive. They image very well, and are very smooth, they have very deep bass and are very narrow so visually they just disappear, they are also very easy to drive, the caveat they come only in Piano black lacquer We also have the fantastic Dali Rubicons which are very warm yet have good detail. Finally the ATC SCM 40 which sound like the PMC you like. So in one location you could hear, Legacy, KEF Paradigm Golden Ear Dali ATC PSB Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ |
If you are near Brooklyn, go visit Bache Audio. Heard the smaller Lexington's at the NY Show, went to the Brooklyn showroom, and now have a pair of Tribeca's on the way. I was considering ProAcs (K3) and the Wilson Sabrina's. Check out this review: https://hometheaterreview.com/bache-audio-002ab-floorstanding-speaker-reviewed/ |
