Started with $1k speakers … what now?

Since I bought my tannoys, I've given little thought to upgrades....

@balooo2 Great to hear! Well done! Please report back about the Carbons.

@benanders A fair question, and thanks for your insight. The SF is a smaller front ported box and works closer to wall boundaries. The Polk has to be positioned out from the walls, at least in the space where I have them. So they served different purposes for me, and sonically I like the tone of the SF Lumina but also the impact and soundstage of the Polks, which can be a bit less exciting, overall, in my setup/space. The adage “buy cheap buy twice” isn’t lost on me, though; I honestly didn’t know a thing about speakers or placement then and felt 1k was a good starting point. So moving on from this, I’m looking for a speaker that is built to a higher level of performance, hoping that that 3-5k range new or used will get there and seeing some of the great suggestions, it seems that it will, regardless of room treatments or placement options, which are certainly their own important considerations. I really appreciate the suggestions for the Carbons and Joseph Audio, and others. These are products I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. I’ll be looking at a few.

Have you found A British Audiophile on Y/T? He has a smaller listening room than I do, where I use floor standers, he tends to focus on stand mount speakers. There are impressive speakers in that segment. Good luck with the hunt

There are a lot of well-off individuals posting here. Not to be critical, but simply more about how much financial risk one can take in their audio journey.

To me. it’s about Synergy, not $pending. That is not to say more dollars doesn’t get you less compromises, but rather the main lever to pull is the Integration of your components together, and your system into the room, which may involve $$ but involves many other aspects.

To drill in from a general audio opinion, I would say it’s fairly useless to choose speakers without a substantial audition in your room with your other components, your music, over an extended period that allows for real fatigue or sustained enjoyment. That’s not to say I walk into an audio store and don’t listen - sure I do...speakers have sufficient differences to be able to discern to some degree in non-contextual listening. It's a great way to knock out what you don't like!

But to really know, you just have to have them in your house. There are two primary ways I have seen to do this:

(1) Borrow from audio dealers or work with manufacturers/distributors that allow returns.

(2) Buy gently used gear at 50%-75% market value, already having lost the new speaker premium price, listen for 3-6 months, then keep, sell, or repurpose.

The latter is a slower, and to me more enjoyable process that is part of the whole thing - no reason to have to be in a hurry for any decision. I tend to keep several sets side by side, then one set goes to the lake house or as a trade-in at the audio dealer or back on Craigslist (only done CR as a seller a few times).

There is no audio endgame. Enjoy the journey. Don’t be in a hurry, it just costs more, and you miss half the attractions. Think of it like a fancy multicourse meal: everything keeps getting better, but you’re not in a hurry for the dessert.