Looking for speaker ideas.


Looking for speaker ideas and room size is 11 w x 16 l x 9 ft ceilings.....room has acoustical panels. Music ranges from Big Band , Blues, Rock.

Equipment so far is :

Wyred 4 Sound st-500
deHavilland Mercury Preamp
Sim audio phono pre
VPI Industries HW-19 mkIII GLOSS BLACK W/MOERCH UP-4 / Ortofon Black

Have looked at different Spendor , Proac, Totem speakers but not sure if those would work for the rock music and would a sub be needed with those if they would be able to play rock music ?

Budget is $2000-2500
addyson815
@bsmg   Do those speakers come broken in?  If not, two weeks is all but useless as most drivers and crossover components will take 1-2 weeks to break in. Not much time to really listen to them at their best!

+1 hifiman5
Even though Zu gives you a 2 week trial. I noticed that my Omen's needed more than that to open up. Perhaps contacting the company (whoever you are buying from) and see if they have some broken in speakers for trial.
Actually, Zu offers a 2 month trial period

http://www.zuaudio.com/60-day-guarantee

They are shipped somewhat broken in. That said, my Def 4s continued to open up for months after I received them
My experience buying the Vandersteen Treo CTs this past summer taught me to have patience with break in.  They kept opening up and revealing finer details for several weeks.  The last driver to reach its apex was the carbon tweeter.  Ride cymbals on good jazz recordings told the story there.  I knew I was about there when I could hear subtle changes in timbre as the sticks moved around the drum kit to various cymbals of different sizes.  Cool to hear that...more there there!
With your room dimensions, I would suggest an in-home audition of Ohm Walsh 1000s ($2000/pr) or 2000s ($2800/pr, but you can wait for a sale, the next one will likely be around Presidents' Day).  IME, they are excellent on all types of music, including rock.  Note, however, that a large amount of sound absorbtion in your room would not work well with the Ohm's near-omni radiating pattern.  I had a lot of foam panels up, and actually took some down.  That resulted in a wider, deeper soundstage.  And you will need to keep them at least a little bit away from nearby walls. YMMV, of course.