Totally overwhelmed (speakers under $5k)


I am newer to the audiophile community and don't have much in the way of higher end gear to be honest.  I have been upgrading things as I go with my home theater (now Anthem receiver, Martin Logan speakers, and SVS sub) and am now wanting to upgrade my music system that is in my home office.  It is currently equipment that was originally in my home theater that has been replaced.  So I have a BasX preamp, 7 channel solid state BasX amp running 2 channel, T2+ speakers, and cabling all from Emotive.  The wires are basic copper speaker wire with banana plugs on the ends.  And I have an RSL Speedwoofer 10"  subwoofer. My source is Amazon Music HD on a Macbook Pro fed to the preamp by an optical cable. All in all it sounds pretty good but I want to take it up a notch.  

The other day I spoke with James at Raven Audio about cables and he said suggested that I would actually get a lot more bang by upgrading my equipment than worrying about my cables (which is fair).  Of course he is a fan of his own brand's amps and speakers but he also said very good things about Dynaudio and Focal (which I do have some experience with for car audio and headphones).  In doing research on the Raven Audio speakers, I have seen people lauding the Tekton Moab, Aperion Verus III, as well as others.  When I do searches for "best speakers under $5000" I get lots of mainstream review sites that talk about brands like Definitive Technologies, Polk, KEF, Klipsch, SVS, and more.  But they generally don't talk about Ravel, Tekton, or any of those. I assume it is because they are too small. 

Honestly though, at this point I am overwhelmed. Too many brands with too many speakers and where I live there are not a lot of shops to go listen to these higher end speakers. I have seen lots of debates on here along with folks that really have their definite opinions.  Here are my requirements and hopefully I can gain some knowledge, insight, and direction from folks on this site that have much greater experience than myself. 

1) I want speakers that are clear and clean with lots of detail.  But I also want to be able to just listen to the music, being immersed without having my ears ringing from the sharpness after a bit.

2) I want to be able to plug them into my current preamp and solid state amp and be able to enjoy them as is.  Later on, if/when I decide to change the amp to a tube amp, I want them to be able to work well with those characteristics too. 

3) I want the new price to be limited to $5k and under.  I am open to used in the right circumstances but hoping to get a smoking deal on some used $15k speakers (like some Legacy's) is just wishful thinking at this point.  With new, you know what you are getting and will have a warranty.  

4) I listen to all sorts of music so it needs to be able to switch between rock, heavy metal, classical, jazz, hip hop, bag pipes, and everything in between.  

5) Subwoofer is optional.  I have the Speedwoofer currently which is know is not perfect for music (ported).  I am fine upgrading to a sealed SVS at some point or getting towers that don't even need a sub. I actually have an older pair of Infinity SM 125's that I got close to 30 years ago that don't really need one.  

6) Aesthetics are a plus but not a requirement.  I am a function over form guy.  Some of these B&W's, Focals, and others look beautiful compared to the Moabs which are more utilitarian but I am not stress about it. 

7) Size can be whatever.  Again, the Moabs appear to be massive and that is fine but so is something that is much smaller.  The room is roughly 14' by 24' with 9' ceilings.  While it isn't an auditorium, it isn't just a small room either.  

Ok, I think that covers it except to say straight up, I don't tend to care for negativity.  If you have heard something and you don't care for it for X, Y, and Z reasons, great, please say so.  But please don't put something down because you don't like their marketing or you believe that it has to be a $100k system to be worthwhile.  Thank you in advance for your responses. 

ddonicht

it is very true that in this day and age, it is harder and harder to actually demo speakers in retail stores, or in home - perhaps impossible if one lives far from a metro center

this is where a community of enthusiasts can help each other and allow friends-to-be to visit their home to hear speakers in room -- otherwise, on forums such as these, it is important that folks learn the vocabulary and language needed to express what they hear, what they want to improve and so on...  even harder for folks who don't have english as a native language... it is definitely a challenge

Hi @ddonicht ,

This is exactly what I thought would happen: everybody will mention their favorite speaker and amp combo and they will be right!

I won’t mention any additional equipment; others have made terrific suggestions. However, YOU will need to listen to as many different systems as possible to have some idea, especially if you are somewhat inexperienced. So, if there are any brick & mortar stores, I suggest visiting them to get some idea of the type of system you want. Also, if there are audio clubs in your area that can be helpful as well!

If you are in an audio “desert” (or in my case, “swamp”) that can be difficult. The only suggestion I can make is to try a well reputed internet store (music direct, audio advisor, etc.) and use them as a “lender” - and return within their trial time paying only shipping and handling.

Research audio mags (online and not) to get to know the reviewers and see if their opinion/descriptions match your own; this can be a guide - somewhat. Gleaning through forums like audiogon, audioasylum, audiocircle, audiokarma, etc., can also give limited assistance on describing audio systems.

Lastly, take your time! Part of the fun is the shopping. Don’t expect to build a system tomorrow.

Hope this helps!

Happy Listening,

- DeeCee 

Of the more mainstream brands (Focal, B&W, KEF, Polk, Paradigm, Goldenear etc.), Revels are definitely some of the best. A $3K Revel speaker will generally outperform a $6K B&W or KEF speaker IME.

There are better speakers but determining the best speaker within your $5K budget will require some legwork with in-store auditions or home-trials. There’s just no getting around that because 99 times out of 100, the flavor-of-the-month reviewer or forum darling won’t meet your expectations. No speakers under $10K do everything great, let alone new speakers under $5K.

 

The most common deficiency I notice with speakers under $5K is bass quality. Most have ill-defined bass or are lacking in dynamic range. The speakers that do have good bass (Revel Performas for example) lack the top-shelf midrange that you can get from a $5K Spendor or Stirling Broadcast speaker.

One brand that manages excellence in most areas (only real exception being imaging precision and depth) is Spatial Audio. IMO, they are probably making THE best overall <$5K/pair speakers of any manufacturer at the moment.