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Your thoughts on best audiophile speakers in $10,000 neighborhood?

I know the best way to select a speaker is to auditioon them at a dealer or in my own home. However, living in a rather rural area in northern Michigan, there's only one reputable dealer (Sonus Faber) in town so I may end up relying on reviews and your feedback. 

I used to own Vandersteen Model 2Cs in the late 1980s, but finally want to step up my game. I currently have a legacy Nakamichi receiver / amp with 1000wpc, but will probably upgrade that once I select a new pair of speakers. Currently I'm playing mostly LPs on a Technics SL1210G. I now listen mostly with a Mark Levinson 5909 headphone connected to a small Class A pre-amp, so I treasure detail and transparency and don't lean toward "warm" speakers.

Room is good size since it encompasses living room and opens to dining room and kitchen behind it. Cathedral ceiling is about 12 feet high. 

I'm considering the following speakers: Vandersteen Treo CT, Wharfedale Elysian 4 (perhaps too big for my room), Monitor Audio Gold 300 and the Sonus Faber Sonetto VIII. These all fit within my budget. What are your thought about any of these...or do you have others to recommend?

Thanks for whatever guidance you can give me.

 

aphilc
deep_333
1,333 posts
 

I’m considering the following speakers: Vandersteen Treo CT, Wharfedale Elysian 4 (perhaps too big for my room), Monitor Audio Gold 300 and the Sonus Faber Sonetto VIII. These all fit within my budget. What are your thought about any of these...or do you have others to recommend?

The Elysian 4 is a kickass speaker (it should be priced way more for how it sounds, imo). Other considerations could be the Borresen X2, Borresen X3 for your budget. Personally, i would forget the other ’meh’ speakers on your list and also budget for a subwoofer to go with the speakers you get.

Subwoofer Candidates - Elysian

- Rythmik F12G

- ELAC Varro RS500-SB

 

Subwoofer Candidates - Borresen

- KEF KC62

 

 

 

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,974 posts
 

There are so many speakers out there. A couple questions in my mind include:

(a) Do you want speakers you can move around from time to time without hiring someone? This is an important question to me, because I like to try out positioning things and also have moved my speakers a couple of times.

(b) A speaker with decent efficiency (including an impedance curve without sharp slopes and big dips) will make amp matching a bit easier. The Vandersteen Treo's graph looks really good to my eye.

(c) Tweeter type is critical. I have been very fond of the RAAL tweeters in my Ascend Towers. This speaker is way below $10k and punches above it’s weight. That speaker plus some Townshend platforms would come in around $7k max. They are clean and accurate without being "analytical". They make music.

(d) I am super happy with my Rythmik F12 subs. Easy to dial in and much less than REL.

kennyc
1,448 posts
 

Volti Razz or stretch to a Volti Lucera - highly efficient, clear, clean, quick effortless sound.  

doyle3433's avatar
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doyle3433
315 posts
 

@kennyc  +1. You read my mind. 

larsman's avatar
larsman
1,922 posts
 

@grislybutter - that's a great website! I've got a pair of Marten Parker Duos with the Marten stands; I bought them new in August and after a good bit of breaking in, they sound superb and just right for me. I live in an apartment so I don't need earthshaking bass, and the bass in these is quite sufficient, and the fat but detailed midrange is what really sold me on them over the Oscar Duos, which I preferred to others I auditioned like the Dynaudio Heritage Spacial and the YG Tor....

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