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Speakers for a large room for around $1000

I am moving soon into a new house where the main room is about 12x14ft with a vaulted ceiling up to the second floor (maybe about 15-20 ft high).

I am looking for 2-channel stereo speakers exclusively for music. I don't really play my music that loud, but I do like the music to really fill up the room. I'm not a huge audiophile (meaning I'm not going to spend a lot of time analyzing or obsessing over my speakers)--- all I'm looking for are some good solid speakers that have a good frequency response (and might sound good with a tube amplifier).

My budget is about $1000. I could stretch that up to maybe $1300, but I'd have to be convinced the extra is really worth it. I'd also really prefer to have new speakers, mostly for the warranty. Though again, I could be convinced otherwise if it's worth it.

I've considered speakers from a whole bunch of manufacturers, i.e, Paradigm to B&W, Axiom, DefTech, Klipsch, Polk, etc, but due to my geographical location I'm really not able to demo many, so I'm stuck trying to make this decision based on online reviews. It's tough for me to separate audio speakers from home-theater speakers just by reading reviews.

Any and all help is really appreciated!
blnd2spll
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 

05-04-10: Metman
Martin Logan at Best Buy? Are you sure? This must have something to do with the new owner

Best Buy has been selling several Martin Logan models for a couple of years now but only at locations that have the Magnolia room
Correct! Magnolia Audio-Video (formerly Magnolia Hi-Fi) is a reputable dealer of high quality home entertainment electronics, originating in Seattle many years ago. Being a Seattle resident for several years I've been accustomed to visiting their high end rooms and seeing/listening to Krell, McIntosh, Sonus Faber, Vienna, Martin-Logan, Def-Tech, etc. for some time.

A few years ago they struck up a deal with Best Buy to set up high quality audio/video rooms in some of the Best Buys, meaning you can get Martin-Logans at some Best Buy stores.

I just got my AudioAdvisor Closeouts catalog and was going to recommend those M-L Prefaces on this thread but you beat me to it.

I will add, however, that these M-Ls have a sensitivity rating of 92 dB (good for a large listening area), and M-Ls have traditionally worked well with tubes.
hi_hifi
120 posts
 
Now you are headed in the direction of seriously good sound, although maybe not with a high WAF. Martin Logans are poplular electrostatics, but to do their magic they will want to be reasonably far out from the back wall (check the Cardas formula) and they won't resemble much else in the way of typically high WAF furnishings. I'm not sure how much ML speaker you can really get for $1k, but if you can relax the budget and the WAF specs, there is no doubt that in a decent room electrostatics and tubes can reproduce music beautifully. If you can consider MLs you might also audition some Soundlabs and Quads, and probably some Maggies (not electrostatics, but planars). Maybe your wife will think planars are cute :) and then you are in.
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
05-04-10: Hi_hifi
Now you are headed in the direction of seriously good sound, although maybe not with a high WAF. Martin Logans are poplular electrostatics, but to do their magic they will want to be reasonably far out from the back wall (check the Cardas formula) and they won't resemble much else in the way of typically high WAF furnishings. I'm not sure how much ML speaker you can really get for $1k, but if you can relax the budget and the WAF specs, there is no doubt that in a decent room electrostatics and tubes can reproduce music beautifully.
Not these M-Ls. They aren't electrostats; they aren't dipolar at all. They use a proprietary M-L "ATF" (Advanced Thin Film) forward-firing driver for the treble, augmented by 3 woofers in (I think) a 2-1/2 way configuration. They occupy a fairly modest 9"w x 17"d footprint, are slightly under 40" tall, and don't have to be far out into the room to "breathe." Also available in dark cherry finish. Read about 'em here.

Developing this ATF driver combined with dynamic mid/woofer drivers enables M-L to compete more effectively in the HT and WAF market segments.
hi_hifi
120 posts
 
Ok Thanks for the clarification
The new ML design would seem to offer some promise
A listening session might be in order
sgtr
9 posts
 
I am also in the market for that price range. How about the following:

a. Vandersteen
b. Paradigm
c. Quad
d. PSB

Any ranking of these please?
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