2. speakers
  3. 126099-84284

Speakers in the 5-6K$ region & their components

Hi all,

This is my 1st post here.
I'm a long time audio enthusiast and even worked in high-end audio sales for a few years a while back, but I've been out of the loop for a few years now. I'm looking now for a new pair of speakers in the 5-6K$ range to replace my current Merlin TSM. The type I'm looking for is a 2 way 6-6.5'' speaker, preferably a floorstander. I know many brands and models and went through a lot of speakers in the past, so my question is a technical one:

I'm looking only for speakers in this range which use high end componenets. which ones are there?

I've already done some research, so here are a few examples of what I mean:

Proac in its response range is using Scanspeak D2604 tweeter (48$/unit).
PMC in its "i" series - Seas 27TFFC (45$/unit).
Spendor, "A" series - Seas 29TFF/W (52$/unit).

I can go on and also bring examples of the woofers used and more speaker brands, but I think the picture is clear. These are all quality units of well acclaimed manufacturers, but are by no means high-end units. Which are?
My research brought me this far to the following (All in my price range):

Kudos audio Super 10/Super20: Seas T29CF-002 tweeter (330$/unit) + a version of Seas W18NX (196$/unit)

Marten Form Floor: Accuton C173-6-095 woofer (over 300$/unit) + a ribbon tweeter I was unable to recognize (anyone?)

Merlin VSM (as second hand only): Dynaudio D330/A tweeter (over 400$ per unit) + Scanspeak 18W/8545-01 (173$/unit).

BTW, my current Merlin TSM is using Morel MDT30 tweeter (80$/unit) + Morel MW166 woofer (124$/unit) and sounds wonderful to my taste, despite a considerable lack of bass (being a sealed- box design). 

So, given all that, does anyone have any more ideas for speakers I should consider?
roylindenfeld
rippet
29 posts
 
I owned a pair of Acoustic Zen Adagios for a couple of years. I have since upgraded way beyond their price point. But for $4500/$5000 they sounded better than any speaker I heard up to $8,000.
Go read some reviews. Magnificent speaker at that price point.
soundsrealaudio's avatar
soundsrealaudio
756 posts
 
Hi Roy

You are so right about speakers built with .50c tweeters etc. Take a look at the Wilson Benesch Square 2. Nice floor stander. The mid/woofer is about a $500 piece manufactured in house, literally So much engineering not only in their drivers but the enclosure as well. 
http://wilson-benesch.com

If you dig a little you can find an expanded view of that mid/woofer. Exceptional.

Best
Jim
mike_in_nc
1,129 posts
 
Consider the Janszen hybrid electrostatics. Maybe a little more than you r range, but not much.  A very high quality tweeter- midrange indeed. 
roylindenfeld OP
11 posts
 
To those who are sure I'm making a great mistake etc., I’ve said it before and I’ll say it one last time: I’m not in this since yesterday. I’ve owned myself over 20 pairs of speakers, worked in hi-fi sales for several years and am well acquainted with driver & speaker manufacturers.
According to my experience, a speaker is nothing like a painting, a musical instrument or a work of art. It’s like any other technical device, same as an amp or a car. And no design, ingenious as it may be, can surpass the inherent limits of sub-par components. Take a look back at my kick drum example. there are things that a basic driver simply can’t do.
Your experience may be different, and that’s fine. But that wasn’t my question, and I WILL NOT put my money on expensive speakers made from cheap parts UNLESS I have first ruled out those who offer a much better parts/retail ratio.
roylindenfeld OP
11 posts
 
@Rippet: I’ve owned a pair of Adagios for about a year, and had mixed feelings about them. There were some things they did great but also some serious problems. The part (pun intended) that I couldn’t live with eventually was the tweeter. I have no idea which tweeter it was, but for my ears it was muffled and too "dark". I don’t know if it was the voicing the manufacturer intended from the start or an attempt to mask some tweeter’s limits by narrowing some of its bandwith in the cross, but something there wasn’t to my liking. On the other hand, it had very good, uncolored mids and exceptional bass. The heavy, very well designed transmission line cabinet has no doubt a substantial part in it. I do recommend it to people asking for my advice, but I was unable to live with it eventually.
More to discover