What speaker – under $10k – has the best timbre and tonal qualities?


Several years ago, a prominent reviewer had this to say as he was praising the natural and life-like tonal qualities of a particular speaker:

It’s [speakers] like these that make me question the priorities of audiophiles who relegate accuracy of timbre to secondary status. How are the richness and color of instruments, voices, ensembles, and textures to be reproduced in all their infinite variety and beauty if a loudspeaker has less than accurate reproduction of timbre? What do dynamics, imaging, detail, transparency, and the like matter if voices and instruments don’t sound like themselves?

I’ve come the same realization, late in the game. I recently made a lateral move from one of the most popular of recent speaker models to a different speaker, because it sounded so much more natural and realistic in timbre. I sacrificed a touch of image precision in doing so, but it has been well worth it. The sound is so much more engaging. It’s like going from a high-resolution black and white photograph – which is very detailed and impressive – to a color version of the same photo, but with slightly less resolution. The color version offers so much more in terms of realism.

So I’m now contemplating the purchase of what I hope will be my last speakers, with the objective of realistic, natural, and rich (but not artificially warm) tone being the primary attribute.  

What speakers, under $10k, would you recommend? (I’m driving them with a PrimaLuna Prologue Premium)


wester17
IMHO, ATC active. Probably why their pro monitors are used in most of the best recording studios. Removes the amp/speaker interface question as well as all the problems even the best passive crossovers present. No more need for expensive speaker cables.
I would buy used Legacy Signature IIIs or Focuses at $2K to $3K, respectively. Both will work well with your PL and give you great dynamics and with the Sig IIIs, open sound (rear ambiance tweeter). They also have room tone adjustments (bass, mids, tweeter) which most speakers don’t have. I will have to pay big bucks to get superior speakers.  I don't like beamy speakers so the guy who mentioned original Quads-they are like giant headphones, nominal bass, dynamics, etc. 
If you can find them I would look around for a pair of Harbeth SHL5+ and pair them up with a decent sub or pair of subs. The Harbeths should come in around 3-4K. Best midrange and super tweeter speaker for the money coupled with a sub commit around 50Hz. What they’re made of is least important, it’s how they sound.
Harbeth Super HL5xd would come around 7-8k msrp.

I wish they come around 3-4k in the US.