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I'm ready to pull the trigger on some new speakers.looking for some last minute advice

Hey all,
I know that there are too many posts like this when it comes to buying speakers, and I know that the answer is 'what sounds best to me', but maybe there's something that I have overlooked. Maybe someone has had a bad experience, or has been blown away, etc.  I hope to buy one of these soon. I have an 80W NAD int amp and my room size is 14x12'
The speakers I've listened to in the last 3 days are :

Golden Ear Triton Two+ Tower
Paradigm 85F
KEF r700
B&Wcm10
revel F206
Focal Aria936

It's not easy to remember what one speaker sounded like when listening to a different one days later.
One dealer won't do an A-B comparison because he believes it's deceiving?
From what I've read, the Golden Ears are either loved or hated.

So any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

Dan
128x128snoopgordie
bondmanp
1,808 posts
 

Of the speakers you listed, I have only heard Golden Ears (Triton 3, but similar to the 2+), and IIRC, the Revels. The Revels were very good, but I loved the sound of the GE’s folded ribbon tweet. Smooth and clean. I doubt you will ever experience listener fatigue with the GEs.


But there is no substitute for an audition in your home with your gear, and without any pressure by a hovering salesman. For that, you need a cooperative dealer, or a direct seller with a generous return policy. I had a 4 month in-home trial of my Ohm Walsh 2000s ($2800/pr) before I decided to keep them. I knew by then that I would never get bored with them, and five years later, I still have no interest in replacing them.

erik_squires
16,041 posts
 
The Stereophile review of the GE Triton 5 has a frequency response that is almost an identical match to the B&W 802D's. If you like that sound they will have similarities.  I find it unnatural.  Also the GE does not have the dynamic range of the B&W's (nor the price) but I found their AMT implementation incredibly hard sounding when turned up.  I experienced listener fatigue within about 30 seconds. 

I'd suggest Paradigm or Monitor Audio as being more natural and easier to listen to for longer periods of time in the same price bracket.  Used, especially, the Monitor Audio Silver series are absolute bargains. 
guych
13 posts
 

If you live in NH close to NY  assuming that's New Haven CT, you should visit Take5audio in New haven.

inna
7,296 posts
 
FidelisAV in NH and Goodwin's High End in Boston are reputable dealers.
toddraymond's avatar
toddraymond
13 posts
 
Thanks bugredmachine for the Sulk suggestion! I’ve been seeing many positive impressions of their stuff popping up lately, and I’m looking to upgrade my monitors, so those Exotica’s have me intrigued.

Snoopgordie, I personally feel that you could do absolutely no wrong with either the R700s or Aria936s. Both series seem to sound very decent with modest gear, but will also scale very well as you improve upon your upstream components. Obviously, it will boil down to personal preference. I feel that the Focal Aria series, for the money, are tough to beat. This from my own, fairly limited experience. (For what it’s worth, I have CC 900 and 906s in my home theatre system, and a friend has the R500s.)
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