Budget? What aspects of sound reproduction and speaker performance are most important to you? What speakers do you have now, and what are you looking to improve upon? I wouldn’t consider buying anything until you know what your new room looks like as you may end up with too much or too little speaker for the room, among many other room variables.
I Thought I Had My Speaker Choice Narrowed Down. Maybe Not?
I'm in the market for a set of 2 channel speakers. I thought I had it narrowed down to a few brands:
Magnepan, Spendor, Walsh, Tekton, Saulk, Egglestonworks.
I need to see if you can all help me in clarifying my decision-making process. As you can see from the Audiogoners comments below, there seems to be a lot varying opinions regarding these manufacturers.
I like the clarity of electrostats. that said, Magnepan .7 and 1.7 come up frequently:
- "I very much enjoy my pair of Maggie .7s"
- "Amazing - Maggie 1.7i ($2,200)with the Maggie Base Panel($800)"
- "I had great luck with the Magnepan 1.7i and SVS SB-16 Ultra subwoofer"
OK great, I’m going with Magnepan, but then, I went on to read:
- "Spendor A7s will better (Maggie .7s) in most regards and their price reflects that bigger soundstage, greater detail, deeper bass, sweeter midrange"
- "My Spendor are about as stealthy and transparent in this regard as my Maggie .7s"
OK, now Spendors! But wait! Should I go for D series:
- "Regarding differences between Spendor A series and D series, the D has superior tweeter (in house design LPZ, it’s fantastic), superior rear port (5th gen Formula 1 inspired) whatever that means but Spendor considers it a major upgrade over A series, and superior internal damping construction".
- "I own D7 and find them superb"
- "Spendor D7 checks most of the boxes. I got mine new for $5500 just about in your range"
Or the A series: (don't
like shrill):
- "I agree that Spendors may check all your boxes but I’d go with the A7s over the D7s if you found the KEF LS50s "shrill."
- " After home audition of both, purchased Spendor A7s; preferred over D Series"
Or maybe some Ohms?:
- "I have never owned any Ohm
Walsh speakers, too expensive, but friends own them and they are
spectacular"
Maybe not:
- "Had previously ordered Ohm Walsh 2000 Talls, but sent them back"
Of course, then’s there Tekton:
- "Tekton Moabs, they won best sound of show a few months ago"
But they are just too darn big.
I think the Salks are it! (thanks Larry):
- "The Song3 Encore's from SALK Audio would be my choice.They are $6,500 and sounded better than $50,000 speakers I heard at the RMAF."
- "I bought Salk Song3 Beat speakers this year and love them, paired with Krell amp and preamp I no longer search for upgrades. My previous speakers were Maggie’s, Kef and B&Ws"
- “For good sound and great styling, I'd take a look at Salk speakers.
Then, after all that this wrench gets thrown into it:
- “Klaus Bunge of Odyssey Audio makes a speaker, the Liquids. They are incredible, I have the Salk Song3 beat, Focal 948 Aria, Egglestonworks Emma evolution and the Liquids far better than all above"
UGH!
Of course, there
was this final word :
- “Don’t spend 5 thousand spend 2 grand on the
Kef new R 2 speakers they sound like a 5 thousand speaker”
There was one other final comment, something about if you can’t afford a
Wilson (and something else) they all sound the same anyways, but I can’t find
that anymore, possibly it was deleted?
Now I know it's all about your own equipment, ears and room, for sure, but as I can’t listen to all these speakers myself, especially in my own room with my own electronics. And I really don't want to have to 30-day in-home trial all of them as it could run into a tremendous amount of shipping and possibly re-stocking fees. So I am looking to you all for you expertise on what you may sound best with my audio equipment, which is simply:
Coda Csib integrated amp - V1 configuration: 150 Watts per channel Class AB into 8 Ohms, 300 Watts per channel Class AB into 4 Ohms, Class A ~18 Watts
Wyred 4 Sound DAC-2v2SE streaming Tidal through a Roon Nucleus
Looking for something fairly efficient as I want good clear sound without having to crank it up too loud and good bass sidestepping the call for subwoofer.
I’m sorry. I am moving soon, so I cannot provide any room dimensions yet
but and I will treat room acoustics accordingly once there.
Thank you!
14 responses Add your response
High-amp - The Magnepans tweeter will sound dull in comparison to electrosats The spendor will image like a stat with narrow baffles , very similar in sound as the Audio Physic I spoke of yesterday. The Eminent technology lft 8b has highs closer to stats than magnepans Another speaker that has stat characteristics would be the Paradigm Persona All in my opinion on my hearing these speakers in person and doing comparisons with both magnepan and stats at the same time |
No-one can tell you what speakers you will like in your room with your gear, your hearing and your biases. No-one. If possible, best option is to audition at home with a money back guarantee. And if you do this, make sure the speakers are fully broken in before auditioning. It’s all totally subjective and the posted comments (although well intended) are based on that persons personal preferences and biases. I can tell you I have the Joseph Audio Pulsars with a REL T7i sub and they get pretty close to the MBL 116's, which retail for $30K and it is my last speaker system. Good luck. |
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If you want a pair of trousers that are not too short or too long, you will need custom made trousers made to your exact measurements. Otherwise youll be wearing trousers that are too long or too short, neither of which is perfect. If you want perfectly tuned speakers, you will need custom tuned speakers tuned to your ears. |
I would like to think there are speakers out there that are somewhat forgiving and sound good regardless of room size, except in extreme cases. I have moved over 20 times in my adult life but have only changed my speakers maybe 3 times. If they are good, you just try to make them work. I currently have hybrid electrostatics (which have bee pretty adaptable) and love the sound, particularly the mids and the highs, but I would like something a little smaller (count Maggies out then). A little unforgiving on poorly recorded tracks, they do need a lot of power to sound good and are a little picky about the listening position. Looking for something a little more efficient (good sound at lower volumes) and something more to fill the room as I always seem to end up in places with a "Great Room" situation, rather than a dedicated listening habitat. My wife won't let me sell my current speakers until she is sure that what I purchase will sound as good (or better) than what we have. I really don't want to drag two sets around if I don't sell them beforehand! The price range is dictated pretty well buy my shortlist, $2 - $6K. Points all well-taken soix, bubinga and maplegrovemusic, thank you. Or I could just throw it all out the window and go for... kenjit12-25-2019 4:24amkef ls50 are award winning state of the art. The best in the world. |
I have a recently acquired pair of Spendor A7's and can tell you that they are pretty forgiving with respect to positioning, mainly to the way the bass port works and the tweeter dispersion (not ultra wide). They are also very easy to drive (impedance curve) and fairly efficient. So that addresses two of your concerns mentioned above. I would like to hear them next to the new D7.2's but concerned that they are still too 'analytical' and bright like some have experienced with the D7's. Still using the same tweeter. Reviews only just starting to come out so unsure yet. That said, the A7's are wonderfully musical, natural, open speakers that are still fun/dynamic/punchy and have excellent base detail. But if you play lots of bass thumping EDM you may want a sub. |