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Do I have to spend $4000 plus to get a better sounding speaker than GET model 7 ?

I have owned a pair of Golden Ear Technology 7's speaker for almost 3 years. I think they sound very good in my current set-up.  I bought them unheard based on the rave reviews they received at CES 2012. My concern is that if I was to invest in a speaker that is $3500-$4000, it may prove to be only marginally or fairly better. I am not saying that the GET's 7's are the best bargain in audio at $1395.  My experience with them is they are  very accurate with low distortion, but don't throw a particularly wide or deep soundstage. 

I have considered( not necessarily auditioned) Revel F-206;  Focal Aria 936;  Paradign F85;  PSB T-2';  Ryan 630;  B&W CM9S   Dynaudio X-34;  Duevel "Venus"  Audio Physic Sitara 25 and Tempo 25  All of the indicated speakers (except AP and Duevel) fall in the $3000-$4500 retail price range 

ProAc floor standers are off the scope in price, (often, even used)   Anything I buy will be used, because California sales tax is 8.5%,  and I can stretch my dollars buying used. 

Any recommendations are welcomed especially if based on you own experience with a particular speaker or brand.


Thank you, S.J     

sunnyjim
avanti1960
1,484 posts
 
sunny j-

i have heard most of the GE line including your 7s and 80% of the speakers on your wish list.  
as others have mentioned, the GEs are decent HT speakers but not quite optimized for simulating a live musical sound stage.  they have "synthetic"  sounding bass because of the smaller woofers and passive radiators which are very tough to make sound good.  also your sound stage is narrow because the ribbon tweeters have a very small horizontal dispersion pattern and sweet spot.  shift your head and the sound changes radically.  
you want a mucisal sound skip everything listed and go straight to Harbeth.   The C7ES3  will sound as close to natural live music as you can get within your budget and dealers will usually give a good percentage off from list.  
mofojo
2,304 posts
 
If you buy from people with good feedback you will likely not have a problem. If you get at a good price you can listen for a while and if it doesn't float your boat should be able to recoupe your money and move on to the next. 
ps
757 posts
 

A college friend of mine who's a very, very serious audiophile, now living in Taiwan swears by these:
http://http//www.hifi-elite.com/onlyforbea.htm
 JINYON AUDIO CO. LTD  Elite Aesthet VI.
He assures me that this speaker blows most other speakers away and  at an amazing cost of less than $1500.00 /pair.



audiozen
831 posts
 
Go for the Tekton Enzo XL's. It is Tekton's best selling model at only $1900.00 a pair. Grills are an additional $75.00. The XL's are the junior Pendragon's, their flagship speaker for a long time. They have the same drivers and crossover as the Pendragon's and Herb Reichert review in Sterophile mentioned they came within 90% of the Wilson Alexia's which cost $50K plus. Thats damn impressive. Their slighty larger than the Electron's and weigh 72 lbs.
213runnin
914 posts
 
And the Tektons come in "Red" or "Grey" too!

Surely they could do more about the looks of their speakers? Boring boxes with primary color options, but at least they throw in some extra tweeters!
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