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Speaker suggestions:long-wall, somewhat nearfield.

I sit 7-feet from the front of the speakers, and leave
about 2 or 2.5 feet from the back of the speaker to the wall behind them. There is tons of room to the sides.

I want to avoid piercing highs, boomy-loose bass,
grainy etched vocals,
or too-forward/ringing mids; (basically anything that
would have me recoiling from the sound or causing listening
fatigue, with classical or lesser-quality rock/pop CDs.)

Repeating my main priority: don't want fatigue, even at the
expense of other audiophile goodies.

Wilson Watt Puppy sixes used to be here but vocals were
dry and scratchy and so were strings. Aerial 10Ts were here
and worked pretty well but the bass was a little one-note,
but I could have lived with them long term (they were forgiving on even the worst CDs). Piega P10s had pushy upper bass and lower mids (any bell-like sound gave me a headache). Apogee Stages were pretty wonderful but the woofers broke and couldn't be repaired.

Thinking: Harbeth, SP Tech, Vandersteen 5As, Quad 2805s
but I am open to anything. Budget: under $11K, new or used.

Upstream: Edge NL12.1 amp, Mac C46 pre, EMM SE cdp,
Stealth Indra ICs, Cardas Golden Ref speaker cable.

Thanks again to anyone out there for your kind assistance.
rgs92
sogood51
2,157 posts
 
VMPS got it's start in subwoofers...no bass issues there. The RM-30's go into (mid-bottom) octave only....30-35hz.

I own four VMPS subwoofers. I use two of them with my Apogee Duetta Signatures....all four, for home theater.

I'm a dipole guy myself (Apogees)....but, If I had to cut corners because of placement/listening issues, the hybrid VMPS would be on my short list, (used of course).

The crossover to the cone bass drivers is quite low....integration is fine to my ear. They are also tube friendly.....75-150 watts......maybe even less for you?

I would expect my Rogue Audio M-120 Magnums, would drive the heck out of a pair.
inhisservice
38 posts
 
Von Schweikert is coming out with their unifield 3 speakers that you may be able to get in your price range. They are actually designed to be what you are looking for. I am checking them out for my situation.
lapierre
547 posts
 
Rgs92 my mistake. I should have said M30 or better yet SHL5. Not the M40. I was looking at all the models when writing and got confused.

The Guenari are incredible and understand I have a love for two-way speakers, hence I have the Helicon 300. Two-ways are special and perform very well in small rooms with the right components however,if I had to spend 10k to 15k I would look for extraordinary treble and midrange with bass not being as important but very satisfying in that price range. The Cremona M (and other speakers listed) may point you in that direction.

Next up...more listening to Helicon 400mk2,Cremona M,and Marten Miles III.
jig
160 posts
 
Basically your wish list described the AV123 Strata Mini. A very revealing mid with a smooth top end (genesis tweeter). Has adjustable bass output and sounds best in the near/mid field. A very smooth,non-fatiguing speaker. Only problem is that they are to cheap for your budget so you will probably discount them.
rgs92 OP
974 posts
 
Hey guys, thanks yet again. Thanks for confirming my
interest in the SHL5. You say "not the M40" Lapierre--
is that because of the bass that might overwhelm things?
And Jig-I just read the av123 review on SoundStage,
and it sure does look interesting. No, no price is too low.
I know that there are a zillion exceptions to the price=quality equation in audiophilia. (I still think back to
Dynaco A25s I got new for $160/pair, and the new Apogee Stages
I got for $2500/pair, all from dealers.) In fact, my target price is more like $5K if I can get away with it and be happy
(tired of all this speaker swapping).
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