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$1000-$2000 Floor-standing speakers for larger room w/NAD 326bee

I’m looking for a set of floor-standing speakers for our main listening room. They will be 2 channel music only. They need to be "cat safe" (no fabric on front, or removable grills), able to fill a larger room (20x15 with vaulted ceiling) with decent volume (typical max listening level is 85-90db but a lot of listening is at low volume as well) and efficient enough for a NAD326BEE. Budget is ~$1000-$2000 for the pair. My old speakers in the room were open baffle design (Hawthorne Audio Duets) and I did like the relatively open sound stage they provided. I may move them to a different room or just sell them (they’re too wide for our current configuration in the room and they aren’t too high on the "cat safe" scale). I have a couple of Polk TSi400’s in the room now as "placeholders" until I decide on a permanent pair. Minimum distance between speakers is about 8-10 feet and listening position is about 10 feet from the speakers. The speakers will need to be within about of the wall behind them. The floor is carpeted.

Music is a mix of Jazz, Classic Rock and Classical and sources are turntable and streaming from a Roon server. I live in the Atlanta metro area and

I’ve been out of the speaker hunting game for a while so any suggestions would be very much appreciated!
ruleof72
ruleof72 OP
26 posts
 
I made it down to HiFi Buys today and listened to the PSB X1t, the ELAC Uni-Fi UF5 and the new Monitor Silver 200. Based on my short time with each speaker I enjoyed the Monitor’s midrange and imaging the most. They had a nice overall sound but lacked quite a bit in the low end. I’m thinking that might be a deal breaker, but I might be able to get a better low end with the now discontinued Silver 8’s?. The ELAC had a nice overall sound and was especially solid in the lower end. The PSB’s were somewhere in the middle but I think I would enjoy their sound if I had some additional low end presence. I wasn’t able to listen to the PSB X2T because they were still in the back but my guess is that they will have more of the low end presence of the ELAC.

On a budget busting note I was able to listen to a set of the new ELAC Adante as well as the Vandersteen Quatro Model 7 MKII and . Here’s my short review of each in order...WOW, WOW WOW WOW, and Holy Crap WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!! The Adante’s were the winner in my mind on a "dollar spent per audio nirvana unit achieved" basis. Simply put, for the $5,000 asking price, you are getting a fantastic speaker. I could almost, possibly, with an extra large tax refund in my pocket, see myself with them in my living room.The Quatro’s were also very impressive but at $14,000 for the pair I can’t drive them to work. The Model 7 MKII’s were massive and absolutely awesome sounding but at $62 grand for the pair I’d need to be able to live in them in order to justify their purchase.
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
I'm jealous you even get to listen to these things.. $62k, damn. That better be one bada$$ speaker!
ruleof72 OP
26 posts
 
@toddverrone Oh, they were completely bada$$....and completely out of my budget. The store's relatively close by though, I wonder if they'd mind too much if I showed up 1 or 2x a week with some albums to toss on the turntable and sit down for a listen?
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 
Ha!
good for you
we got our model 7 from Alan at HiFi Buys, love them
and yes they are badA
we did take over his high end room for 6 hours one day audition power amps while our Labrador slept at our fett so in short my guess is Alan is so customer focused you could ( almost ) move in !!!!
what I love most about your Post is the FUN you had

ctsooner
2,480 posts
 
agreed.  glad u shared.  Always good to have feedback on great dealers.  Thanks. 
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