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What are the best monitor speakers for classical?

What are the best bookshelf or monitor speakers, mounted on stands, paired with a Sunfire True Subwoofer Junior for classical music, orchestral and chamber? Associated equipment: Magnum Dynalab MD-308 integrated amp; Rega Jupiter CD player; Taddeo Digital Antidote II between CD player analogue and pre-amp inputs. Listening room: 120 sq. ft. Listening for best possible tonal balance specifically, clarity of midrange and relative sharpness/harshness or softness of high frequencies. Fullness of bass is not a concern - will purchase crossover to relieve midrange/woofer of 150 Hz and down. Also listening for imaging, i.e., projection of a 3-dimensional space; and spaciousness = the overall depth conveyed and a sense of sound happening in a real space.
classical_fred
sphere
72 posts
 
If you plan to go the speaker-sub route, then go for the Manger Swing. It has all the qualities that are required for a small room setup and can still end up sounding huge. It looks great too.
jimmy2615
418 posts
 
120 square feet is pretty small. I like Tyler Linbrooks (which I own). They are very easy to set up and listen to in the near field. I listen to classical also, and still have yet to find a speaker that does much better, especially for anywhere near the price.
kef_lover
29 posts
 
classical_fred,

If you have a good local shop that can do some relatively simple speaker mods, then I highly recommend getting a pair of KEF 101s. A nice used pair can be had for $300 to $500. Paired with a good sub, these will be very hard to match for classical music. I can tell you that my pair has all the qualities you specified. If you’re inclined, let me know and I’ll tell you the mods ( internal wiring, upgrade crossover parts, bypass overload protection circuit).
jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
3,853 posts
 
I will recommend tha Arum Cantus monitor
schubert
7,386 posts
 
Anything Triangle makes , though they are hard to find in USA .
My hears tell me France is building speakers on a level with their food .

Short of that the small Silverlines and Totems  do well .
Best little speaker I ever heard was Totem Dream Catcher .
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