Speaker suggestions

Used Aerial's 7b's or 8b's. I owned the model 8's for nine years, a nice speaker for all types of music, plus HT.

Just got back from listening to the Galo Reference 3.1. After reading the absolute glowing reviews on 10audio and The Absolute Sound AV Guide I was very excited to hear these unusual looking speakers.

I mean no disrespect Likecoiledsteel, but I didn't really care for these speakers at all, especially considering the price. Maybe it was the system I was listening to, maybe it was the room, who knows. The high frequencies were..were...just there, lacking detail, and a little grainy. I was also surprised that some of the reviews thought the treble was subdued. I certainly didn't find it subdued.

On the plus side, I auditioned a pair of B&W703's and 804's. I was very impressed. Smooth and detailed. They didn't create as magical of a soundstage that the Dali Ikon 6's did, but it certainly wasn't a flat soundstage. I am now leaning toward the B&W's....not sure which model...the 804's were out of my range, but the dealer is remodeling and is willing to cut a deal on a demo pair, although we didn't discuss price.

I was trying to avoid European/Imported speakers due to the miserable price of the US dollar, The 804's were $4000 and have gone up to $4500 (12.5%). The JM Reynaud went up $900 (45%!!!) and the Dalis went up $200 (8%). Bottom line is I should probably just get the speaker that I want as long as I am comfortable with the price.

Has anyone have experience with the B&W 804 or 703's? Curious what people think who have had long term exposure.

By the way Jaybo, I would love to listen to the Totem's! Especially since you have experience with my current speaker. They were not a huge seller. In fact, the later iteration of the signets sounded worse and worse. I felt like each generation sounded more boxy. Not sure if Signet changed ownership or not, but the 280ex's sounded pretty good for the price.

I will try and report back as I listen to different speakers.

my vote is still for the Caravelle.I would still buy these
Speaker again and love what they can do with Music.

Listened
Just got back from listening to more speakers. Here are my thoughts:

Thiel CS 1.6
The speaker was even more detailed than the Dali Ikon 6 and just as good, if not better than the Dali at soundstaging. One of the records I use in my audition is the El Topo soundtrack. The flute player on “The Desert Is A Circle” was mind blowingly realistic. I swear I could see the Flute Players lips on the instrument. This same feeling was present while listening to the Dali’s, but not this realistic! On the downside, the Thiel had no deep base whatsoever! Plus it was leaner than the Dali….a little on the hot side, but not as pronounced . I guess it sounded like the leanness was more evenly spread across the high frequencies and the Dali it was litterly a bump in only the highest frequencies (cymbols). Again, not sure this speaker would jive well in my space.

PSB Synchrony One ($4500)
Out of my price range, but the dealer didn’t have the Synchrony Two in stock to listen to, so I thought I would listen to these. Boy, I was disappointed in this speaker as well. Goes to show you that you can’t rely just on reviews. You have to listen to the products and make your own judgments. These got a Class A rating in Stereophile! I just didn’t see it. Maybe it was because I auditioned these at the same dealer where I auditioned the Thiel’s. John Atkinson thought they soundstage well…I can’t say that I thought the same. These too were on the dark side of the fence like my signets. For $4500 they didn’t sound that much better than my old $1000 Signets….

Martin Logan Source ($1995)
Didn’t listen long to these either. I just couldn’t get over the off axis response. If you even move your head a little bit the high frequencies dropped off. Stand up or walk off to the side and forget about it! Plus the base frequencies coming from the cone portion sounded boxy to me.

The quest continues.