best speakers for vocals?

Wilson Benesch ACT speakers. Current model.

You won't be disappointed.

-George

there are hundreds in your pricerange. the female voice is not the best way to audition speakers. some favor certain frequencies often sound great with female vocals ....put on something a little complicated and the tone and weight of instruments just isn't there.

The 300b valve is another important ingredient to consider.These struggle to drive many speakers though-certainly most stats.The alternative is to use a 300b preamp like the Supratek Cabernet.

JT

Shahinian
www.shahinian.com
Plus they have a great WAF.
I know for sure if I could (had the money) their top of the line products would grace my house.

If high volume levels are not required, try the Merlins (mine are VSM SE) with a 300b set amp. I used the Cary monoblocks. This is the best vocal reproduction I've ever acheived and I've owned (or still own) a bunch of the speakers listed on this thread (including the Verity, Maggies (3.5) and Silverline Sonatina). While I'd still choose the Parsifal Encore overall, the Merlins are hard to beat for vocals, IMHO.

Another interesting way to go is to choose one speaker for overall performance and add a second, limited bandwith pair for vocals. Some of the single driver or minimalist crossover designs (e.g. deCapo MM) acheive excellent mid band performance at modest cost by trading away performance at the edges. On the theory that no single design does all things best, your budget would put ca. $2500 toward these and would still leave app. $12,500 for a pair of very dynamic full range speakers of your choosing.