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With $20,000 in your hand, what speaker would you

I've recently gone into retirement. I am a 52-year-old diehard audiophile. I've had just about every statement level speaker the American market has offered over the last 10 to 15 years. The speaker I have found the most satisfying overall is my presently owned modified pair of Maggie 3.6R. I've also had their 20s and started with the Mg 3A. for my second favorite speaker I would have to pick the Avalon radian HC, and not the Eidolon( I had problems with the ceramic midrange distorting with dynamic vocals and the base was not perfect). I had dozens and dozens of conventional and electrostatic speakers so many I could bore you with the list. So let's just say I've been around the block a few times.

Let's assume that I made no mistakes meeting the speakers with the proper equipment, power conditioning and acoustical environment treatment. I have been mostly a tube person but I switched over to the new passlabs equipment because I found that I am
the equivalent sound or better than my reference tube amplifiers, without the heartbreaking experience of blowing up and $2000 tube replacements.(As I said I am retired now, I can't afford the maintenance fees anymore.

What I'm asking of my fellow audiophiles that have been listening with reference great audio systems is that they e-mail me back and give me their opinion on what conventional loudspeaker they would own if they had say $20,000 or so to spend(20,000 retail). Semi-full range down to say 35 Hz or so.

I'm going to keep the Maggies but, they don't feel the need when it comes to wanting a more compact/dynamic speaker that I could also drive with my Belcanto SET. Although, they don't need to be ultra efficient.

I would really appreciate anybody's input, I would find all of your input invaluable in making my decision.

by the way what do you all think of the Grand Veena 3A speaker. Is it better than anything for under $20-$30,000?

Thank you very much for all of your help,

Regards,
Andrew

thanks again,
Andy

PS I am still keeping the Maggies.
acollen
inna
7,296 posts
 
Well, I could try big Soundlabs if I had another $20k for amps and much bigger room.
Since I like Michael Green free resonance speakers, I would try to find his Chameleons. They are not made anymore, as far as I know, and should cost under $10k used, under $5k older ones. The man professionally tunes studios and performance halls, this requires quite an ear.
rockadanny
1,224 posts
 
I realize the OP is (likely) long gone (from this thread, hopefully not the planet) but feel a giddy need to answer anyway. I would select whichever speaker I could buy closest to $20k from Classic Audio Reproductions. Then sell whichever possessions I have to purchase best possible gear to source/drive them.
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
I'll purchase used Aerial 10T and the rest keep usin'...:-)
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,152 posts
 
Most likely, the only way I think I might ever really need speakers costing that much is if I am looking for something full range to run them off a flea powered SET amp or something along that line. Or if my room were really really big, like an auditorium.

I'd probably go for very high efficiency horns along the line of Avantegarde or something similar, maybe Jadis Eurythmie.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Not so fast, my friend. Not only will you need around 20-30 grand, minimum for appropriate electronics but also another 10-20 grand for cabling including power cords sufficient for the task. Add another 5-10 grand for room acoustics treatments and tweaks. Oh, and you should probably consider moving into a bigger place.
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