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what speakers to buy

so this is my 1st time posting. the question is what speakers. i am going into this blind trying to put together a decent system on a budget. i live in a city where bose is considered the high end of high end and the nearest audiophile shops are hours away.
over the years i have owned a lot of vintage gear and still collect some of it. solid state and tube. some of the tube gear was marantz, macintosh, dynaco, heathkit, radio craftsmen, pilot etc. also the usual solid state marantz, pioneer, kenwood, adcom. speakers jbl, polk, altec (model 19 and vott), paradigm, klipsch, bozak, sansui, AR, advent. all the usual suspects
so far i have purchased a copland tube pre cta-305 and a pair of rogue audio m180 amps. all mint condition all under a year old for under half price of new. i also have a denon DP-60L TT 
(with sumiko pearl cartridge)
speaker budget is around 5000 give or take a 1000. if i'm patient i think i can find something that was originally in the 12-20k price range for what i want to spend.
so far i am leaning towards ew andra ii, dali euphonia 800, canton reference 3.2, revel studio ii. size is also a factor and all of these are within that limit.
i have a fairly large area open concept living /dinning and breakfast nook with high ceilings.
and i know "dont buy without listening" but not an option
so looking for some opinions/options

after speakers i will be getting tuner, cd and music server, current interconnects and speaker wire are all ZU mission


dragonbutx
biscorbit
143 posts
 
I'm loving my harbeth c7es3 for 3400 dollars tiger ebony!  The sound is amazing and it matches with many amps.  Mcintosh amp and preamp sounded great!  Rogue cronus magnum ii was good too, but mcintosh was king when we did an a/b comparison.  Even my buddy thought they sounded unbelievable with mcintosh.   He's ready to consider them for his second system.  
helomech
1,670 posts
 
If you're wanting speakers with textbook measurements, and all the typical audiophile wow factors, Revel, Focal Utopia, B&W 800s and the like will deliver as good as any. 

If you want end game speakers that you won't grow tired of 3 years from now, look toward the British brands such as Spendor, ProAC, and ATC, but consider Vandersteen as well. These speakers don't have the cabinet bedazzling, or over-hyped material buzzwords. What they do have is realistic PRaT and the ability to let you listen for hours with zero fatigue. These brands have the musicality factor that so many others forego in their quest for chest thumping bass and "look what I can do" dynamics.

Focal, Revel, Golden Ear and similar ilk are like a hot and wild girlfriend. They're great fun for a while, but not the ones you want to settle down with for the long haul.

james_w514's avatar
james_w514
286 posts
 
@helomech 

Great post and recommendations.
gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
Focal, Revel, Golden Ear and similar ilk are like a hot and wild girlfriend. They’re great fun for a while, but not the ones you want to settle down with for the long haul.
I’ll settle down for the long haul anytime with a hot and wild babe. Same for my Golden Ear Triton Reference.

EDIT: Keep in mind many folks have a different interpretation of exactly how much time (days, weeks, months, years, decades, etc.) the long haul is :) I take it to mean years, not a "life time".
helomech
1,670 posts
 
I’ll settle down for the long haul anytime with a hot and wild babe. Same for my Golden Ear Triton Reference.

I really shouldn't have included GE on that list. For me, they don't even fall into the fun category.

I auditioned the GE Triton 1s and found they were more fatiguing than just about any speaker I've heard. My girlfriend plugged her ears before the first song ended. Maybe it was just some weird room anomaly, but that was my experience with a pair driven by a McIntosh amp.
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