2. speakers
  3. 140026-121318

Best bookshelf speakers

I’m building my first high fi system after being more of a portable audio person. I want to start with the speakers. Space is limited so bookshelf speakers are a must.

Preferences:
Balanced and revealing with a hint of warmth.
Midrange most important to get right over highs and lows
Timbre is super important - I listen mostly to acoustic music especially jazz
But I do need some bass as I also listen to some electronic music
Smaller is better but SQ is most important
A speaker that sounds good with different amps but also scalable with high quality sources
Wide sweet spot - I wont have money for a great amp at first but want them to be scalable for later

These speakers have caught my eyes - any thoughts on them?

Ascend Sierra 2s - Ribbon = dispersion limitations?
BMR Philharmonitor - See above. Also massive.
Buchardt S400/S300 - Wary of the sudden hype train and limited info
Silverline Minuet Grande - Limited info
Reference 3A De Capo - This caught my eye as a potential endgame speaker if I could blow up my budget a little. But concerns about BE tweeter as well as some potential snake oil stuff (cryogenic treatment (!?)), exaggerated sensitivity claims and wonky measurements put me off.

What else should I be looking at?

Edit: I could have sworn I had <$2,000 in the title... Anyway, my budget is 2k.

stuff_jones
whoopycat
169 posts
 
My goodness, reading through this thread I don't think some of you are able to sleep at night without the security of knowing your speakers were designed by a bunch of dudes in white lab coats using a combination of Kevlar, berillyum, adamantium, Clark W. Griswold's experimental cooking spray polymers, and some kind of fish paralyzer.  

To the OP, I'd say buy used.  And if you can hear a pair of Trenner & Friedl bookshelf speakers (either Sun or Art), it would behoove you to do so.  An incredibly big and articulate sound in a small footprint.  

Post removed 
whoopycat
169 posts
 
Kosst, your killin’ me. Pick up the latest Stereophile. Don’t even open it. Just flip it over and look at the lovely Focal ad on the back cover.

So let me get this straight... John DeVore is an amateur. As are Sean Casey, Keith Aschenbrenner, Andreas Friedl, and all the other amateur designers who have speakers on the Stereophile Recommended Components list just because they use sourced drivers and then design their own motor assemblies, doping, phase plugs, etc. Got it.

Perhaps we should petition John Atkinson to change the name of Stereophile to "DIY Audio Monthly"?

thecarpathian's avatar
thecarpathian
4,865 posts
 
Kosst..."Direct to consumer models depend entirely on aggressive advertising schemes..." Far from it. The vast majority of ID speaker companies spend practically nothing on advertising, let alone ’aggressive’ advertising. Most rely solely on their set ups at CES’s, and word of mouth from very satisfied customers. Lots of these guy such as Salk, Fritz, Ascend Acoustics, Philharmonic Audio to name a few have been around for years because they offer great sounding, quality products at reasonable prices, offer personalized service, and have a rabid following of happy customers who upgrade within the brand.
Post removed 
More to discover