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Need Small Bookshelf Speakers With a Big Sound

Good morning.  I have been out of any kind of audiophile circles for a long time.  We moved into a house with built-in speakers about 5 years ago, which I really enjoy, but of course it's better for casual listening at a party than for quality listening.  Our family room is in a pretty open space that borders our living room and kitchen, so my wife is very focused on speakers being unobtrusive in appearance.  I was therefor looking for small speakers and got turned onto KEF LS50s, which sounded really nice for the price, and more than good enough for my desires.  And they are small.  But I didn't really focus on their "untraditional" looks.  It turns out that was a deal-breaker when I brought them home to demo.

So, I am back to square one.  What I would really like is a speaker that is about the size of the LS50s, or maybe a little bigger, and has a nice looking, traditional wood finish.  Bright colors and artificial surfaces, no matter how good they sound, need not apply...

I would say my self-imposed budget is around $2,000 at the top.  Unless new speakers leads me down the audiophile slippery slope, the speakers would be powered by my old Adcom 545 II amp and GTP 500 II tuner, with either an Adcom CD changer or Apple TV streaming the music.  Not exactly Audiogon Best In Class, but I think it will bring a smile to my face.  And you never know if this will lead to upgrading the whole shebang.

Any thoughts appreciated.  Not that it matters, but I am in the Chicagoland area.
chiguy
213runnin
914 posts
 
As soon as I saw this thread, I predicted a lot of brands being suggested, and there surely are!

I'll 2nd the Acend Sierra 2 though.  These are some serious big sounding speakers that can take 250 watts at higher volumes and make your jaw drop, I am not kidding.  The Raal ribbon tweeter has a higher level of accuracy than domes but is never harsh.  

It sounds like the OP is doing this old school, shopping from store to store, and expecting to pay retail.  The internet direct prices offer much better bang for buck if one is willing to try a 30 day trial.  

tenhead
4 posts
 
You should check into a pair of 
LS35A  speakers....from Spendor, Rogers or whoever. There are many people who made this speaker. 
hddg's avatar
hddg
123 posts
 
Klipsch are good, big sound, so are Harbeth, Dynaudio. I use the XTZ Master M2 and would recommend them without hesitation. Absolutely great speakers, powerful, detailed at each spectrum level, balanced and more. These are audio jewels unknown in the USA. An absolute must!!! N.B: they don't sound good right out of the box and really do need the 50 hrs break-in, just like real high end stuff...
soundsrealaudio's avatar
soundsrealaudio
756 posts
 
The nice thing about the mm de Capo's is that they are very efficient so if you ever upgrade your amplifier you could go with a sweet sounding 300B amp which will make those speakers really sound big. Their mid/woofer driver is directly wired to your amplifier and is a good part of the equation. 

good luck
chiguy OP
17 posts
 
Thanks everyone -- lots to consider.  FWIW, I don't mind internet shopping although I'd like to have a pretty good idea that something is going to work visually and sound-wise before being on the hook for shipping stuff back.  Speakers, I imagine, aren't cheap to ship.

I'd much rather get a used set of good $2500 speakers for $1300 rather than a new pair of $1300 speakers...

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