Speaker Recommendation: 20K range

Dave and Troy raise some interesting questions:

1: Is the size and look of the loudspeakers important?

Few small speakers can fill a big room at high SPLs without significant thermal and/or mechanical compression.  Briefly, having a fair amount of speaker headroom above the loudest anticipated peaks helps to keep those peaks uncompressed.  Uncompressed peaks = better dynamic contrast = more emotion from the music, because musicians use dynamic contrast to convey emotion.  I like to shoot for 10 dB of speaker headroom above the loudest anticipated peaks. 

2: Are you willing to look at fringe brands you can not easily demo?

It's probably not worthwhile buying a plane ticket to audition a $1000 speaker.  However it might be worthwhile buying a ticket to audition a  $10,000+ speaker IF it seems to meet your criteria exceptionally well and the only real question left is how it sounds.  I used to sell fairly expensive speakers (Sound Labs) and most of my customers bought a plane ticket to audition them.   

3: Are you the type of person who would prefer getting the sevice and support of a larger manufacturer vs dealing with some of the issues with smaller companies?

I disagree with the implication here that small manufacturers do not offer customer service every bit as attentive as the big boys (and maybe ever moreso sometimes), though I will admit that our delivery times are usually longer.  But there is one thing a big company with a dealer network CAN offer you that us little guys usually cannot - the DEALER!   If you find a dealer who takes good care of you and who sells a speaker that meets your criteria and makes the magic happen for you, then by all means offer him your business!  And if not, well, you still have options.

Duke

dealer/manufacturer/on both sides of the fence

@tomic601, good observation!  With a small direct-selling company, in effect the manufacturer becomes the dealer.  But I think having a local dealer would usually be preferable, all else being equal.

Most of my work is in prosound.  Agreed that 500 watts is a lot, easily enough to cook most home audio speakers (and most ears) of one is not careful.   Like Peter Parker's uncle Ben said, with great power comes great responsibility. 

Headroom is a nice thing to have, a luxury seldom enjoyed in abundance in prosound, at least not in small to medium venues.  Seems like most musicians want just enough amp & speaker to get by, because they'd much rather put their money into instruments and effects. 

I guess 500 unclipped watts doesn't intimidate me all that much.  I'd have to beef up some of my crossover parts, but my drivers can handle it.  I use similar drivers in prosound cabs that get pounded by 500 watt amps two or three nights a week. 

Duke

Hey Guys – thanks for all the advice and recommendations so far – getting some really good opinions here.

 A few things I left out of the original post in terms of criteria etc:

-       I forgot to mention that looks are a factor for me. Not so much the WAF as much as the fact that I like sexy speakers that do not look like hideous behemoths. I’d also prefer that they not weigh a ton since I’d like to be able to unpack and move them with the help of just one other able-bodied individual. Now the last point is somewhat discretionary – for amazing sound I’d do sexy looking monstrosities since the logistical PIA events are really just a 1time or few time phenomenon, but again I hope to avoid buying elephantine speakers

- Listening area is approx 750sq ft - and the listening position will be around 15ft from the speakers

-       I understand the point of diminishing returns in this game – I know I won’t get twice the improvement by upgrading from the Kanta’s – but what I do want is easily discernible improvement across the board if possible. I also understand that my current electronics may be somewhat limiting but I am hoping that’s not the case. I do intend to upgrade the amp/pre/streamer etc. down the road and so getting a pair of speakers that may somewhat outclass the other parts for now may actually be prudent

-       Just wanted to clarify the 500W criterion a bit – I think I get the relationship between speaker sensitivity and power/sound levels - the only reason I mentioned 500W is that I want to take zero chances that I may damage the speakers with unanticipated/occasional peaks and/or when I amp up the wattage on the very infrequent occasions when I pump up the volume somewhat - like when I’m enjoying a fine bottle or 2 of wine and 90db’s sounds more like 80db’s :) I do most of my listening at around 80-85db; at that level my C2600’s volume output is set to between 50-55% - at some points during listening/peaks, I can see the 452’s watt meters spike to near the 450w mark – I want to take on zero risk that my speakers will be damaged during those episodes. I’m thinking that 400-500W rated speakers should suffice given that the ratings are often conservative.

-       In terms of what I like/dislike about the Kanta’s – they sound amazing to me only with jazz and some vocals – they do not sound that great with rock/pop and other genres – I can’t give you an audiophile level or technical explanation as to why – they just aren’t that impressive sounding. Also, the bass can at times sound like popping sounds with some songs – that happens very infrequently but when it does, it annoys the hell out of me. That being said, there are some songs/albums that blow me away – for example, Brothers in Arms by Club for Five, Leonard Cohen’s album You Want It Darker, and most jazz especially saxophone centric jazz. I want to be blown away by the vast majority of what I may listen to, irrespective of genre. I want all the usual things most folks look for – very good sound at moderate SPLs, very high levels of detail/resolution, high clarity of mid-range, great bass (I’d prefer not to have to employ sub-woofers just yet), great timbre, a wide and deep sound stage, great imaging etc.

-       At this point in my audio journey, I’m looking for mainstream brands via an AD – not to take anything away from the niche/boutique brands – I am sure there is amazing sound to be had but I am just not ready for that step yet – perhaps in the future if/when I tire of the stalwart brands and need to find out what’s on the other side

-       I am going to check out both Audio Connection in Verona NJ as well as the AudioDoctor in Jersey City (I used to live there but am now in Morris county close to the Audio Connection). I also work in NYC and may check out some stores I bought B&W 600 series speakers from back in the early 2000's – Lyric HiFi, Innovative AV, Stereo Exchange etc. (if they’re still around). Hopefully some of those auditions will be possible with the pre and amp that I have.

-       Some prelim candidates I’d like to check out based on the recommendations I’ve heard – Focal Sopra 3s / Scala Utopia v2, Paradigm Persona 7F, Dali Epicon 8, Legacy Aeris, Harbeth 40.2, B&W 803 D3

 Thanks again for all the advice and keep it coming please – A’gon rocks beyond measure or description.