We carried Beveridge, Quad, Soundlab, Acoustat, and Apogee…. and more….
it was a golden time….
Sound Stage and Imaging
I love speakers who 'paint a big picture' (I am literally closing my eyes and trying to SEE a picture). Therefore I THINK I like to see IMAGING and BIG SOUND STAGE. And also like DYNAMICS.
Being frugal (just not willing to spent audiophile level money on it), I love to persuit 'bang for buck' solutions in general.
With above goals in mind for a speaker: what hits the marks in the low fi (audiphile scale) $2k (used or new) budget range. (I have 2 setups: one HUGE room, one 20x20).
I have a pair of apogee duetta 2 speakers, and a pair of Polk audio SDA 2a speakers, and the polks have a bigger soundstage than the apogees, but not by much. If I were you I would look for an upgraded pair of Polk sda 2.3tl speakers. The polks can be placed right up against the wall that's behind them. |
Based on some recent posts regarding sound stage and imaging many Audiogon members have wildly different ideas when defining sound stage and imaging. I recommend you look into used open baffle speakers. I’ve owned a variety of speakers including Von Schweikert, ,Zu, Tannoy, Klipsch, Genelec, JBL and Snell. None of them come close to competing with open baffle. |
Even so the (main system) room is huge, the floorplan for the listening area ("room") is not that large (20x20, one side, one back wall). The speakers are located at a 'half' or '3/4' wall, and can only be 2 feet away from that wall). https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yRozuEvtpBvvnY4mXcfs0tSG6KmfDYo5/view?usp=sharing Open baffle speakers: sounds intriguing. Curious: will open baffle speaker with 'normal' subwoofer kill the benefits? Need to look for an opportunity to listen to an open baffle. Might be the effect I remember when I first heard a large transmission line woofer (very natural, deep, airy; I was blown away). |
I would think that an open baffle would produce poor imaging as the rear reflections bounce around the room "blurring" things. BTW, if anyone wants to hear stellar imaging and soundstage, you are welcome to come hear our creation. I and others have never heard speakers image like this. We are in Orange County, CA, and if any Stereophile writers are reading this..., come on by! I know some of you live in So Cal. |