Searching for the most "accurate" speaker (below 15K)

Dave,

Thanks.

I’ve been at this hobby a long time too, I’ve got a good idea of why I like the Thiels ;-)

I know the old Thiel rep for brightess. It was actually hearing the Thiel CS6s on VAC amps, way "back in the day" that got me interested in Thiels and tubes, and the CS6s sounded fabulous on my CJs.

Jim Thiel’s last design, the 3.7, really licked those niggling complaints - not bright, open but incredibly smooth, no more slightly hollow or nasal reductive character to the upper mids (which depended on seating position). The 3.7s are really the fruit of Jim's speaker journey IMO.   I tend to prefer tubes for most speakers so I love them combined with my CJs. My pal reviews for a high end mag (I used to do a bit too), and his impression of previous Thiels were "made me want to run out of the room." But he did a 180 on them once he heard my set up, and thinks they completely unfatiguing and easily the best sound I’ve ever achieved.

As I mentioned on the Thiel thread, I’d enjoy hearing the Persona’s hooked up to my CJs, or a similar type of tube amp. I’m sure it would nudge them more towards my own preferences.

That said, I’ve found there is only so far one can go with peripherals like amps etc in terms of altering the sound of a speaker. Most speakers have a voice, or timbral quality of their own, that remains and usually I hear that no matter what’s hooked up on the other end. There’s no speaker I’ve ever owned that I didn’t also like with different amps - e.g. solid state - because of the continuity in a speaker’s presentation. Adding tubes for me is just perfecting the sound, not a large alteration.

So there has to be a "hook" that I hear in the sound of a speaker, a general voice that I get on with, and then I can nudge it this or that way with set up, amp choice. (Blind testing cured me of spending lots of money on cables used as tone controls....).

If you mean accurate as in a speaker that sounds like the real thing then I think the Yamaha NS5000 sets a new reference point.Especially in the midrange.Piano ,voices,strings or anything natural are all the most convincing I have heard from any speaker.And by a fair margin.
Not only are they extremely detailed  but they are also very musical and organic sounding.Imaging is also right up there with the best I have heard.
I used to love the Magico S5 but when I went directly from them to the Yamahas I realised the Yamahas sounded real whereas the Magico just sounded like a speaker-albeit a very good one.

@prof , Thanks for sharing your experience. I know the Anthem electronics and I see them as "good value" but a long way behind the refinement of the absolute best solid state amplifiers (the newest Nagra generation, Constellation Audio, Soulution, CH Precision, Dartzeel or Pass Labs). So I think your opinion could be somehow different had you listened to them with different electronics. But I also agree with your statement "I’ve found there is only so far one can go with peripherals like amps etc in terms of altering the sound of a speaker. "

So, "vive la différence" ... the world would be quite boring if we all agreed :) Enjoy your Thiel’s!

@jtgofish : i heard a lot of good things about the new Yamaha 5000 ... but they're not available in my country :/