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A spousal revelation ... and a tall order. Help

I'm one of the lucky ones ... my wife loves music, live and recorded, and thus tolerates, even encourages, my constant gear and speaker changes. I asked her to marry me on the day she said--and I quote-- "I don't care what it looks like, as long as it sounds good." Ever since, I have, truly, been trying to find speakers that I think she will love.

It finally dawned on me the other evening what she most values in an audio system, and it's not what I thought.

It turns out she loves the ability to locate musicians and instruments in the recreated (created?) recording space, and she gets giddy when those images are fleshed out and palpable.

So, my question is obvious: in the context of our room and other equipment (see below), what speakers in the < $3,000 range might I try that provide the above qualities?

Our amplifiers are now all tubed, ranging from HK Citation II, to Quad II's, to SE (813's, 300b's, 2a3's). Front end is mostly analog--various TT and arm/cart combos (eg., Thorens, Garrard, Technics SP, JMW-10 arm/Benz L2 cart, etc.) Listening area is 16'x 28', with two good corners at one of the narrow ends.

Oh yeah -- she also likes good, clean, deep bass.

I've got no prejudices or pre-conceived notions about what to get, so I'm open to any and all thoughts or suggestions. My only limitation, aside from the $3,000 budget, is her dislike of shopping and in particular shopping at high-end audio salons, so getting her out to listen is tough.

Thanks so much for reading this, and for any suggestions you care to offer.

Happy Holidays!
gtrmkr
rlwainwright
1,904 posts
 
The *best* imaging speakers I ever heard were the old KEF 105, 105.2, and 103.2s - razor-sharp. However, you had to lock your head in a vice for it. And they needed a boatload of power to get the bass you're looking for.

For newer speakers, the Gallos Reference 3.1s will do everything you're looking to do. And they're not fussy about their placement or yours, extremely wide sweet-spot. The icing on the cake is that you can snag 'em for about 1/2 of you budget right here on Audiogon.

Read the reviews, they really are "all that"!

-RW-
kkurtis
43 posts
 
If you haven't tried them, Quad 63's are my wife's favorite speaker. Not loud and not deep but great in the mid-range so it is easy(ier) to deal with the rest. My wife has great ears and runs for cover with certain tweeters. The amps you mention would work great. I ran my 63's with different subs and was quite pleased. Went to Wison WP7's for big$ and they are better overall but we still both miss what the Quads do best.
jdombrow
371 posts
 
I didn't see mention of your current speakers.

I would look for high-efficiency speakers (perhaps horns) to take advantage of your low-watt SET amps, and then look at room treatments to get the best sound and soundstage from whatever you buy.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,464 posts
 
Whoops, I should have checked those amps more carefully.

Forget the Ohms. You can do better elsewhere with tube amps.
classical1
168 posts
 
I asked her to marry me on the day she said--and I quote--"I don't care what it looks like, as long as it sounds good."

I'm at a point where I even care what it looks like, but this has made my day. (Please spare me the flames of being sexist,etc. - I'm not).

It's great when a couple can share a love of music.. Gtrmkr, you are one fortunate dude and I'm sincerely happy for you. Good luck in your search!
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