If you want deep, taut, and powerful bass with those amps you'll probably need something very large and efficient or something with a powered woofer. In any case, you'll want to make sure it has a smooth impedance curve to match your amplifiers.
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!
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!
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- 25 posts total
A bit of room treatment and the perfect setup will do more for imaging than you or your partner can imagine. There are many sources for info. The absolute best is having a magician come to your house and do it before your eyes and ears. Magicians do exist. You might want to check out books, though, and here's one : http://www.getbettersound.com/ Other than that, Triangle speakers are great imagers. So are my Meadowlarks ( sadly, the company has closed ). But again, setup, setup, setup is what really matters. |
I would heartily second the horn speaker recommendation, particularly with your low-powered tube amps. I have a pair of used Klipsch Cornwalls that I bought here a year ago for only $600. You can find the big Klipschorns used in that price range sometimes. I would also recommend Altecs, and there are many newer horn speaker designers out there as well, though many of them will be above your range. Especially if you like classical or vocal music, there is nothing like horn speakers driven by low-powered tube amps. |
If the geometry works, Klipschorns shoudl fit the bill. You will want to have the crossovers rebuilt and maybe add Tractrix midrange horns and a different tweeter (the Crites tweeter and lower 4500 hz crossover is supposed to be great). Horns will image and if set up right you will get your bass from only a few watts. Check out the Klipsch Forum. |
I've been led to believe that horn designs are not champs at 3-d or holographic imaging, if that is what we're talking about. This is based on what I have gathered from others on A'gon. I have not logged many hours listening to horn designs recently though so frankly I do not know if this is true or not. Just passing it along to make of what one will. |
- 25 posts total