Best stand mounted monitors

I own both ProAc Response 1SCs and Tablette 50 Signatures and use a powered sub.

Last year I took my ProAc Tab 50 Sigs over to Viggen's place to listen in his system. At the time he owned KEF 104/2s. The ProAcs have a warm musical nature but we found them to be much more revealing than the KEFs. We didn't run the Tab 50 Sigs with a sub, so that may be part of it, but we could definitely discern and upper midrange to treble emphasis ove the 104/2s.

If you go with ProAcs I would suggest tubes somewhere in your signal path.

Happy listening!

Take a look at the Shamrock Audio Eire. It's internet only so you have to deal with Mike, the designer and builder. If you do a search on shamrock audio at audioasylum you'll find alot of posts by and about him. Mike's a great guy and I've had no misgivings about dealing with him through the internet.

I'm auditioning the Eire now and running it on a Manley Stingray. I'm really impressed with the design of this speaker. It uses some pretty great scanspeak drivers and gets bass extension into the upper 30's. It's very balanced and wonderfully detailed without ever becoming analytical.

And you get a 30 day trial.

I'm going to throw one more in, not that you need it. The challenge may be in WAF, but here goes -- without knowing what your musical tastes are I would take the time to listen to Reynaud Trentes. They retail for $2495 but you can find them for less (much less) here on the 'goN. I've heard th ProAc's and the VonSchweikerts and to my tin ears they don't match as well -- particularly with tube gear (which is where I am and how I auditioned). Placement is not as critical with these as with some others and the soundstage is wonderful. There are a couple of "tricks" to optimize them that you need to know. They sound at their best with the JMR HP-216A wire. They work well on any good stand so you don't have to look for the now discontinued JMR Magic Stands that were made for these.

Regardless of what you get, just take the time to listen, ideally after you have identified the amp and match the auditions up. As I once read: What's the Best Speaker? Mine.

Anyway, I found the musicality of the JMR's to be wonderful. YMMV. As for the WAF issue -- there is the "eyeball" on top that has caused issue in the past with other spouses so -- a word of caution there.

Free your ears and your ass will follow.

F7

If you have the opportunity to hear Silverline SR 17's do it. They offer the imaging that you buy monitors for and are satisfying at every volume level, something that not all monitors do well Mine are mated with a REL but except for orchestal music, I don't know that it is even necessary.

Best is an impossible quest, electronics matching, room matching, and personal tastes will make anything on the list somebody's best.

Don't forget to add EFE T-22's and Green Mountian Europa's to your list