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Speakers under $750.00...Preposterous Notion?

Sometimes an audiophile lives on a $100.00 a week salary (theater wages). When you try to get a serious answer from those who know, they say, "save and get such and such..." Well, my wife disagrees, and for good reason. One must "settle" for products which can be realistically obtained. I think, though that there will be some of you out there who are interested in helping others get truly affordable high-quality gear.
My theory is this: take two hypothetical speaker companies. One starts its entry level model at $1k and proceeds to a flagship going for $50k or more. The other speaker company produces only speakers costing less than $3k. Wouldn't the latter company invest more of its energy into producing true quality at the lower prices (provided it is a relatively good company)?
I'm looking for high-sensitivity (90db or more), wide dynamic range (@35hz-20khz or better), and strong, clear bass. Is all of this too much to ask? Well, here's another request: it would be nice if they're floorstanders since my listening room is about 16'x26'x11'.
I found some speakers @$600.00 in a discount magazine, Athena Technologies Audition AS-F2.2, wonder if they're any good....(must rely on forums...no car to audition speakers in the city with...need water...help....please....)
mr_stain
kehut's avatar
kehut
668 posts
 
Not preposterious at all! Your hypothetical is interesting. I think that at a given price point..It matters not what company of the two you would buy from. Both, despite the different product lines and price ranges, still have to build a worthy speaker to a price point.( that is..if they each are to be competive and are worth their salt)

Anyway, I can't help thinking that you may be well served by finding a used pair of Vandersteem 2Ce at your price. Its so hard to fault this speaker for how much performance you get for the $$$. Vandy's may not be the 90db..(cant remember that..but its close) also Usher line like the 6311 is very good...Ken
aball
2,016 posts
 
Personally, I feel that companies that make very expensive products tend to make better less expensive products than a company that only makes less expensive products. My reasoning is that the high dollar products are such because of research and development costs. This R&D can then trickle down into their less expensive offerings after a while and make those products class leaders. The less-expensive company however doesn't get this advantage, nor do they get the high profit that allows for buying nice test equipment and anechoic chambers. So I tell people on a budget that they are better off with the least expensive of a great brand for the highest value. Of course there are exceptions but in my experience, this has held true.

For your situation, the Vandy 2ce are a good idea, maybe some Eminent Technology LFT8 if you can find a great deal (they need power but are very interesting), or Focal/JM Lab Chorus 826S, or a pair of NHT monitors with one of their subwoofers may fill your large room even better. Older Paradigm Reference speakers also would be excellent, like the 80v2. I am not familiar with the Athena but there are plenty of good well known speakers to choose from.

Arthur
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undertow
1,033 posts
 
Klipsch my friend... Lots of great choices used for 500 to 800 per pair.. even shipped. Look at the reference Series with the Copper colored woofers. Or Heritage series, such as the chorus models, Cornwalls, Hersey models.. All well over 95 db efficient.. some will get you down to 35 ~ 32 Hz an will lose no more value used normally if you decide to move on.
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