Loudspeakers with a wide sweet spot

Audiokinesis speakers offer a wide sweet spot if you have enough space to set them up in your room and use the recommemded 45 degree toe-in so the signas cross about 2' in front of of the listening position. Both the Jazz Modules and Dream Makers are in your budget.

Hmmm--I don't agree with the planar suggestion. Planar's can throw of a wide soundstage but the sweet spot is usually very small.

In general achieving a wide sweet spot I find comes at the price of imaging and detail. While the Eidolons do have a very good measured off axis response and sound decent off axis, they are far far better when seated exactly in between with very very precise set up.

My old Klipsch La Scala's had a wide sweet spot. Not great imaging or sound stage depth, but you could sit in many locations and get about the same presentation.

Personally at that price point I think B&W has a pretty reasonable compromise. It's not the best at imaging or soundstage depth but it's pretty darn good. It has very good off axis response and the listening experience off axis is very good, not nearly as hampered as many other speakers.

I do strongly recommend that you listen for yourself to some of the suggestions because it really is a balance. You'll gain a larger sweetspot at the expense of something else.

ohm, mirage, shahinian, 901......lots of others too..pretty much any omni or reflective design

"In general achieving a wide sweet spot I find comes at the price of imaging and detail"

Hmm, I'm not sure that is necessarily the case.

I do agree about planar designs though, Maggies for example. The sweet spot is very small.

Better omnis I've heard, like OHM and mbl, certainly do not have imaging and detail shortcomings in their sweet spot however the sweet spot is much bigger and amenable to listening from various locations in the room than other designs, in particular when it comes to imaging and detail.

Omnis I've heard are way different though in how they do imaging. But I find their imaging is just different than conventional designs, not inherently better or worse in general. Some will like it and some not, same as with any good piece of gear.

Most speakers have a midrange scoop, by this I mean a dip in the off axis response through the midrange. If you want something with a wide sweetspot then you need something with an even off axis response. In a two way this is not easy to find because large woofers "beam". A three way with a small roughly 3 inch midrange like the Accuton on the Eidolon will be a good choice. Omni's will also work if you can pull them far enough out into the room so that rear wall reflections do not have any deleterious imaging effects.

Here is an example of a rare two way that would work B&W N805.