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Need feedback on loudspeakers

Hello All,
I have been researching a lot about loudspeakers lately - their measurements including sensitivity, impedance, phase, etc to make sure that they match in my system. Also had a chance to listen to a couple, but yet undecided, since I am not able to listen to all of the ones I have shortlisted below. I have a very short list of criteria for the speakers:

Sensitivity more than 88db
Nominal impedance 8 ohms and minimum not dipping below 3.5 ohms
Go down to about 27-30Hz
Price range is about $7k new/used

The loudspeakers that I have short listed are:
Spendor D7
PSB Imagine T3
ProAc D30
PMC Twenty 24
Tannoy Definition DC10T
Revel F208
Focal 1038 (used)

Could also consider the following, but not sure if they would match in my system because of their nominal 4 ohms impedance:
Sonus Faber Olympica III (used)
ProAc D40R (used)
Audio Physic Scorpio 25 (used)
PMC Twenty 26 (used, but has low sensitivity)

I love speakers that have the sound image starting about 2-3 feet behind the speaker front face, throw a wide image and disappear completely. That is what my current speakers do. My room is 15 X 18 X 8 and the speakers are placed very precisely (5feet from back wall and 3 feet from side walls) to achieve this imaging. I have a few panels to tame the sound in the room. My amp is Parasound A21 and I have an excellent Promitheus TVC. Current sources are able to effectively drive the amp and the speakers, without any issues.
I have listened to PSB Imagine T3 and Audio Physic Classic 20, and found that they image per my liking.
I know I have listed too many speakers. But would love to hear from owners of these brands on the "vocal characteristic" of the loudspeakers, now that I have provided a brief explanation of my preferences. There is no denying that the best way to seek a set of speakers is to audition in person. But sometimes this is not possible. Please provide your feedback, as much as you can. Thank You in advance!
milpai
milpai's avatar
milpai OP
2,501 posts
 
mr_bill,
Thanks for the info. I am planning to do a road trip to visit some dealers in the Chicago area where I can actually listen to the D7. In the same trip I plan to cover some ProAc and PMCs as well.

cholera,
Thank You for the detailed feedback between T3 and O3. I did like the O3s, though they were a bit o the warm side - nothing wrong with that. But it is their nominal impedance that bothers me. Having a TVC, I have to be very careful of matching loudspeakers in my system. It is funny that on another forum there is a post where a poster liked the T3s better than the O3s. So I feel it is a matter of preference. Hence I have decided to make the road trip to listen to as much loudspeakers as I can. Ultimately I have found that unless a dealer room is not properly treated or speakers are not correctly placed, you will not find what a loudspeaker is truly capable of. Even after listening to quite a few loudspeakers, I come home and find that my current loudspeakers do a fine job. I am sure, if I get any pair of the speakers I mention above, then they would sound fabulous in my room when I carefully take time and place them. It is the "flavor" of sound that I want to nail and settle down.
I have the Parasound A21 amplifier and have been much happy with them. I recently changed ALL my cables (except power cables) to Clear Day.
carmenc
293 posts
 
@milpai ....have you taken your journey to Chitown to do some auditioning?  Curious as to what you discover.  The Spendor D7 and Proac d30r seem like great speakers!  Keep us posted.  Regards......

mtrot
804 posts
 
For $7K, you may be able to get into a set of the new Legacy Audio Signature HD, which uses "the same Dual Air Motion Tweeter System and 7" midrange as the Focus SE".   If you are going to Illinois, you might want to visit them in Springfield.

http://legacyaudio.com/products/view/signature-se/

I have a set of the old Signature IIs from the 1990's, and it is difficult for me to go into an audio store and listen to any current speakers in that price range from Dynaudio/Sonus Faber/Focal/PSB/Revel etc., and feel like I would be upgrading very much.

Last Friday, I was able to audition a set of Dynaudio 3.4 at an audio shop in Austin, and they had a better defined mid range, as they should because the Signatures have old poly woofers, but had nowhere near the bass extension of the Legacy Signature IIs.  We then hooked up a set of the Sonus Faber Olympica 1, and they were ok, but I think I may prefer the Dynaudio "house sound".
milpai's avatar
milpai OP
2,501 posts
 
@carmenc, I have not been to Chicago recently. But if I do, then I will update this thread to update my experience.

@mtrot , I did listen to some Legacy loudspeakers during the AXPONA 2015. I believe they sounded pretty nice. I will stop by again if I visit Chicago area and listen to them at a dealer. Thanks for the recommendation.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
I’m sorry if I missed some of the details but the SF O3s cost almost twice as much as the PSB T3s. Did you really expect them to compare or come close sonically? Something like a B&W 802D or Revel Studio2 would have been a fairer comparison.
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