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$40.000 speaker advise. Check out my list

Hello all,

I'm currently owning a system which consists of Mark Levinson 33H amps, Mark Levinson Nr 32 Pre-amp, a Wadia 860x Cd player and a pair Revel Ultima Studio speakers. Cables are Nordost Valhalla/Valkyrja.

I believe my speakers are the weakest link in my system and am considering upgrading. I listen to all sorts of music, from jazz, classic to pop/dance.

I have a few speakers on my wish list but they are not easy to find to listen to them so I want ask you opinion first before I start searching for a dealer the have one or more of these brands.

Could you please go through the list and rank them from 1 to 6, best to "worse" speaker and explain why you think the list should be in that order.

The speakers I am thinking about are (in random order):

1. Sonus Faber Stradivari
2. Verity Sarastro
3. Lumen White white light
4. Rockport Antares
5. Revel Ultima Salon
6. Avalon Eidolon Diamond

Thanks a lot for your help.

Regards,

Max
maxx1973
jkalman
298 posts
 
BTW, when you consider the studio monitor speakers used by most sound engineers, and how those monitors sound quality wise, you really don't want to recreate what they originally heard during the mastering process IMO. Often really crappy speakers are used intentionally to account for worst case listening situations.

Take my Samson Resolve 80a studio monitors. Objectively they measure "excellently." Unfortunately, all the best measurements in the world can't stop these speakers from sounding dimensionless, grainy and uninvolving... i.e. they sound "dead." OTOH, if you can make a recording sound even remotely good on those, you can guarantee they will sound good almost anywhere!
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Jkalman, I'm glad that you enjoy your Wilson's, but understand that others have different musical tastes/values. I would choose the Vandersteen 5A over the Wilsons anyday, but I understand that others will feel differently. I also understand that neither one of these speakers belong in this thread, as they are not considered contenders by the thread originator, Maxx1973. So there really isn't any need to stray down this path. Perhaps you can start a thread of your own about Wilson speakers.

Cheers,
John
chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
Not sure if you forgot to clean your ears or perhaps you are used to a bright sound but many including Sterophile reviewers noted John's room (Vandersteen) was playing some of the best sounds at the show, I too was there and had a long talk with Richard, it was funny as he didnt really think the Carbon Fiber 5A he was playing were really worth the effort and increased price but he builds for the people.
Maybe Vandersteen is not everyones cup of tea but nobody can dismiss them as sounding like cheap studio monitors and expect to have any credibility.
krisjan
100 posts
 
Many producers of classical recordings use excellent playback equipment during monitoring (eg Telarc). Give me a violn, a cello, a piano recording and I will at least have a chance at judging the accuracy of a piece of stero equipment. You can forget any hopes of accuracy judgement with rock/pop recordings. I'm done highjacking this thread. Sorry for the digression.
Mark
freemand
225 posts
 
Jkalman, Being able to mod a component of lesser value to perform better or as good then more expensive components is been widely known by many audiophiles who want more better sound for less. Look at all the forums and hype on modding a oppo 981 for less then a thousand and those who have done it say it's in the area of $4000 to $7000 cd players. Rick Shultz does amazing things to the oppo.

As far as pride in owning a Jaguar then a modded chevy has been the fall of man since the beginning. Mans obsession for material is strong. Not my prejudice just the way man is. Our nature is we want to out do the guy down the street. Material is a status item to this society called America.
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