Candidates for best speakers in the $2000-5000 market
I’m asking for listeners’ experience in this bracket, buttressed by reviews and/or data; I am not a fan of "whatever sounds good to you." Ultimately, yes, that will be the case. But in getting to that point, I’m looking to benefit from the advantage of a thousand pairs of ears rather than mine alone. Those ears can include the inanimate. Thank you.
My experience has included my own Elac 403, Elac 407, and Dynaudio Special 40. Auditions have included various Sonus Faber, and Magico. All of this is in preparation for justifying the leap for an Electa Amator lll or its equivalent. But that’s for another day, another forum.
It would help to know more about your specific circumstances, such as, room dimensions and speaker location requirements (near the corners, how far from wall, etc.), how loud you like to play your music, type of music, kind of speaker (floorstanding, stand-mounted, panel), other gear in your system, what other speakers you have heard and liked or disliked, your priorities in speaker performance (bass freak, liveliness, imaging, smoothness, etc.) and pet peeves with stuff that disappoints.
I have my doubts that this kind of survey will be able to identify what is most popular, and even if it could, common taste may not align with yours.
@stereo5 Maybe. My personal experience has been speakers that are 2 - 3 years old (which is nothing) and in mint condition, have sold for 50% off list. And who ever pays list to start with? Anyway, that was my line of reasoning. Cheers.
Thank you for the thoughtful answers, and questions. Room is about 12" x 12" x 22", mostly hard surfaces, including the wooden floor, and opens onto three other spaces. Current equipment iinludes a PrimaLuna EvoLution 400, Audiolab 6000 CD transport, a Soekris dac2541, a DSPeaker 2.0 "room correction device, an SVS SB-3000 sub, and last but not least, a wife...in interior design. I'm thinking monitors.
A used pair of Joseph Audio Pulsars would be worth considering, and while I’m no interior designer I think your wife would not be offended by their looks. If looking for new speakers I’d look at the Usher Mini-X DMD that uses the same top diamond tweeter as in their $28k flagship speakers yet only costs $3990 and is gorgeous and a great value. Usher is one of the few manufacturers who make their own drivers and hugely flies under the radar here in the US. Best of luck.
Within minutes at home you'll hear a presentation I'd call rightness. After a week of listening you should be able to hear the shortcomings of many other speakers in stores and at shows.
However good are Magneplanar speakers, the are probably be out of the running. For smaller stand-mounted speakers and space saving floorstanders, I would look at ProAc speakers, Harbeth 30.2, various LS3/5a clones, Audio Note AN-J or AN-K (particularly if you have to place speakers near the room corners), Vandersteens, and Neat speakers. At the low end of your range, I like the Rhythm Bahaava. I also really like the Tekton Double impacts at the low end of your range. The new Mo-Fi is a contender too. Good luck on your search.
I'm a vandersteen guy. You could get a new pair of 2s in that range but I suspect the wife won't go for the look of that. My pair of 2Ce are iny attic for that very reason. The Treo though is a fairly sleek looking speaker with nice wood veneered sides. I actually used the more appealing look to get my wife to approve a pair of Quatro Woods. The Treo new is out of that range but you can find a used pair of the non CT model for 3500 or so on another resale site. They're excellent and would pair nicely with your primaluna gear
Most of the speakers here would benefit from a Sub for full range bass... even for music? The Triton 2+ has them built in. Used, they could be had for your budget, maybe even the 1R. I love my Triton 3+ but haven't heard the big brothers.
Kef LS60--if you're interested in music more than tinkering with components. Active speakers are state of the art audio technology. No need to buy anything else.
New to the scene, but I auditioned a fair amount of speakers at a slightly lower cap, and end choosing Monitor Audio Silver 500 7G ($3.4k), with Sonus Faber Lumina V as runner up. I passed on Focal 926 (slightly pricier and a bit lean to my taste), Totems (various models), B&W 7 series (though signature line did sound great).
I never did get to listen to Revels, but people are going nuts for the Revel PerformaBe line and the 226 could probably had used under $5k
I run my Monitor Audios off Hegel 190 integrated and just got some Pine Audio iso cables (bi-wiring DOES make a substantial difference on the MAs).
If you have a decent sized room and the power (more accurately, current) Magnepan 1.7is win best speakers in that price point every year. Plus, doing Magna Risers really makes them sing even more
A couple floor standing options around your budget to consider:
B&W 702 S2 speakers. They were recently replaced with 702 S3s but many retailers still have them new in stock at discounted prices. They offer tight bass and present a detailed midrange/upper frequency sound stage. Discounted price right at $5k/pair ($6k MSRP)
An alternate option are KEF R7s. These are also being discounted by many retailers. They can be had for $3.6k per pair new at Music Direct ($4.5k MSRP). They have a fuller bass presence than the B&W speakers but, don’t match their upper frequency detail.
I really like the Vandersteen Treo CT speakers (about $10k/pair MSRP). Very musical sounding, truly impressive. I saw pair listed here and on other sites recently with a $6.2k asking price. Unfortunately local pick-up only. Alternatively, take a look at the Vandersteen Model 3A signature. MSRP is $6350/pair with stands but should go for around $4k used.
You might consider Fyne Audio sspeakers. I have the F-702s, which have been a major upgrade from my Infinity Modulus sub/satellite system of 1992. I was looking for something in your price range, but when I heard the F-702s, I was stunned by their reproduction of my favorite demo songs, and … the wife (not an interior designer) readily agreed.
The 702 is far above your price range, but the 501 (made in China) is in the lower portion of your range, and 501SP (made in Scotland) are just $250 above your stated range. The differences between some of the models made in China or Scotland include the former having MDF cabinets, and the latter having laminated wood cabinets and cryogenic treatment of some components. While I am not familiar with the Tannoy sound, it is said that the Fyne speakers have a similar sound. You probably would want a sub, but the Fynes are attractive speakers and the 501s are not too large.
By the way, I recently switched power amplifiers from a Benchmark AHB2 solid state power amplifier (excellent amp and great reproduction of the music) to a Rogue Audio Stereo 100 Dark tube amplifier, and the improvement is very evident—the music seems so much more “organically alive.” While considering various amps, I queried Fyne via their website, and they responded with helpful information. It would well be worth considering Fyne as an option.
I heard a pair of Rosso Fiorentino speakers at Capital Audiofest and they sounded very good. They sound reasonably fast and clear and delivered impact when called upon to do do without sounding overly harsh or brittle. I am sorry I don’t recall the specific model (retailed for $17,500, it was a three way, with a sort of pyramid on top of an inverted pyramid appearance).
There is a pair of Harbeth Super HL5 Plus walnut just listed here for $3995.00. I’ve owned every Harbeth minus the 40. The HL5 is my favorite. With the right stands they would be an outstanding choice.
BTW, that asking price is about half when new! Grab them before someone else does!!
If current popularity is a guide, Harbeth, Mission, KLH, JBL and Wharfedale big box, low baffle step throwbacks may be worth a chat as a category of speaker within this discussion.
Because hi-fi is such an immersive technical hobby there’s not much chance of consensus but it might be fun to develop a decision grid by category of good products available between $2k snd $5k.
Reading some love here for 3-5 year old second hand, for example, as a category?
If you're wanting to stick w/monitors to match your gear and buy new, consider Klipsch Heresy. A used pair of Tannoy Stirling or Eaton would sound fabulous, too, and match well, but might be a little large for your wife although they're elegant and furniture-like if that's your bag. I liked them both and they're easily driven by your amp.
Vandersteen mate well w/pretty much anything except your wife. Dynaudio and Totem monitors are exceptional but your Primaluna won't have the power to open them up.
Having owned all the above and held the same considerations, the Klipsch stand a good chance of making you both happy. Having written that, I picked up a pair of Daedalus Athena v2's for 3500 and they're not leaving anytime soon even in the face of some initial lamentations and protests from my wife. In the end, though, she's happy to see the parade of cartons having come to a close....temporary as that may be give our collective predilection!
Also using PrimaLuna for amplification (Dialogue HP Integrated) and settled on a used pair of Focal Aria 936’s and couldn’t be happier. Well within your budget. SQ has exceeded my expectations and scored well on the WAF scale (wife acceptance factor).
Gallo Reference 3.5 w/ the additional subwoofer amp to power the 2nd voice coil would light up your room. They come up once in a while here and on US audio mart. One of my favorite top end and low extension speakers.
B&W CM floor standing speakers sound really good to me. My first pair was CM4s, then CM6s and finally CM7s. The CM6s should not disappoint you and sounded the best to me. I don't see CM6s come up for sale very often and I hope it is because people don't want to let them go. I see CM8s, CM9s, and CM10s come up now and then. I haven't heard them but I read a review on the CM9s and the reviewer wasn't that hot on them like the others. I think the CMs would be worth listening to in any case.
If you’re into realistic, big dynamic “live” sound vs “hifi” sound, check out Volti Audio Razz although I think they’re about $6K. They’re not harsh or hard sounding like horns of the past could be. Sold direct from Volti by Greg Roberts. His speakers have all been reviewed by Stereophile so you can get an idea of what they’re About.
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