Speakers for newbie

05-29-13: Philjolet
GoldenEar have gotten rave reviews in the mags

I have heard both the GoldenEar Triton Twos and the stand-mounted Aon 3's.

While the Triton 3's are too much money at $3K, the Aon 3's come right in at the OP's budget at $999/pair. I heard them just this past February and they are fantastic at that price point--linear, clean, bass extension and clarity you wouldn't expect from that size enclosure, yet they would have no trouble filling an 18x22 room. Their specs rate them as 8-ohm compatible. They also put out 89 dB at 1w input, so your receiver should be OK with them.

Frankly, however, the Aon 3's are so good you'd do well to move your electronics slightly up to the Marantz PM8004 integrated amp. *That* would be a great match.

The Aon 3's are excellent in several ways, but the one that really distinguishes them at this price is their excellent motion transformer ribbon tweeter. It is so smooth and clean without the usual overshoot and ringing we have become so accustomed to in dome tweeters. Normally, you just don't get a ribbon tweeter with treble extension out to 35 Khz and no inertia artifacts in a $1K pair of speakers, but the GoldenEar Aon 3 *really* delivers.

GoldenEar has many authorized dealers across the country, so auditioning them shouldn't be difficult and is highly recommended before you buy anything.

my point is that telling a newbie to buy a pr of internet direct speakers is not a good advise. Do you know Tekton's return policy? 15% restocking fee and you have to pay return shipping, and "Returned speakers must be in new condition – no signs of damage or abuse, including scratches, fingerprints, dust, etc. " this is a line directly from their website. good luck getting your money back if they find a speck of dust or "etc" on them.

I agree with Richardyc. The Tekton Lores may be a great value in speakers, but they're not the best place for a newbie to start. He's better off auditioning as many recommended speakers as possible and homing in on what sounds right to him. This means excellent and well-distributed speakers such as Paradigm, PSB, Energy, Phase Technology, GoldenEar, B&W, etc.,

Buying mail order blind and then paying out the a$$ is it doesn't work out is not a great way to start.

Thx guys that makes sense. I just gotta go and listen much as i can, and see what i like.
I also listened to Paradigm Signature Series and did not like it much.
Looking for place where i can listen to PSB T6

if you could tell us what you didn't like about the Paradigm Signature Series (which model #?) and what sound you are trying to get out of a pr of speakers, we might be able to steer you some brands and models that you might like. My guess is that if you didn't like the Paradigm, you probably won't like the PSB, as both brands have a similar house sound.