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B&W
Bookshelf Bake Off
Fellow Audiogoners,
Lend me your ears. I live on a farm in South Georgia and have a 3+ hour drive in any direction to audition anything. The price I pay for land, peace and horses I suppose. I am putting together a secondary system and can't audition everything I have interest in, so I am hoping you can help me shorten the short list to a manageable set of maybe three (two would be even better) auditions for bookshelf speakers. They will be driven by 2 x PS Audio M700 Monoblocks, Schiit Freya+ tube preamp and a Mytek Brooklyn DAC+. The space is fairly small at approx. 10'x20'. For a number of reasons, floorstanders are not a possibility, hence the call for bookshelf speakers. I would like to keep the budget in the $2K range, +/- a reasonable %. I am not someone that feels the need to max the budget, i.e. linear correlation of price and quality, so feel free to suggest high value brands/models less than the max budget. I have a pair of Focal Aria 906 in another system and very much like their sound, but want something a bit warmer with similar (or better) resolution. Deeper low frequency extension would be a plus. The brands I have narrowed the field to are:
Revel
Legacy
KEF
Monitor Audio
Sonus Fabre
PSB
This list is not written in stone, just my initial list after research. Feel free to suggest anything I have omitted that warrants consideration. Thanks in advance for your ears.
Mark
Lend me your ears. I live on a farm in South Georgia and have a 3+ hour drive in any direction to audition anything. The price I pay for land, peace and horses I suppose. I am putting together a secondary system and can't audition everything I have interest in, so I am hoping you can help me shorten the short list to a manageable set of maybe three (two would be even better) auditions for bookshelf speakers. They will be driven by 2 x PS Audio M700 Monoblocks, Schiit Freya+ tube preamp and a Mytek Brooklyn DAC+. The space is fairly small at approx. 10'x20'. For a number of reasons, floorstanders are not a possibility, hence the call for bookshelf speakers. I would like to keep the budget in the $2K range, +/- a reasonable %. I am not someone that feels the need to max the budget, i.e. linear correlation of price and quality, so feel free to suggest high value brands/models less than the max budget. I have a pair of Focal Aria 906 in another system and very much like their sound, but want something a bit warmer with similar (or better) resolution. Deeper low frequency extension would be a plus. The brands I have narrowed the field to are:
Revel
Legacy
KEF
Monitor Audio
Sonus Fabre
PSB
This list is not written in stone, just my initial list after research. Feel free to suggest anything I have omitted that warrants consideration. Thanks in advance for your ears.
Mark
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- 51 posts total
I don’t listen to Heavy Rock or Hip-Hop so I can’t give you my opinion on that. All the other type of the music you listen to is what I like and the Harbeths are outstanding! I doubt that any small bookshelf speaker will satisfy you if you like Heavy Rock! https://www.hifizine.com/2011/12/harbeth-p3esr/ |
In that price range, of the ones you laid out I would look a the Monior Audio Golds as they will deliver a warm sound. The others will be neutral to a little forward. A couple years ago I auditioned every product in this price range that you have above and 6 or 8 others. I opted for the Revel Performa3 M105s which are awesome speakers but are definitely a touch forward. That being said, I prefer a slightly forward sound. The MA Golds are a hair warm and I think would be a really good match with your system to land just to the warm side of neutral. There are certainly other products, but those would be an A+ Choice for what you describe. The ones I haven't heard and you might want to check out are the Monitor Audio Studio's. Reviews have been strong and they have the potential to be outstanding. |
Worth looking into for a surprising sound from a monitor sized speaker that digs deeper than I ever expected from something it's size. Owned a few pair of Ushers along the way and always thought fondly of them. I would not be hesitant to buy these again given their used price now. http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/usheraudio_be718.htm |
- 51 posts total