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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
erik_squires
16,283 posts
 
FTR: Wilson used not only Focal, but also a lot of Scanspeak. Some of the most expensive commercial speakers I know of use Scanspeak including B&O, Wilson, and Gryphon. Magico uses Scanspeak tweeter motors with custom diaphragms.

Fritz uses a whole lot of Scanspeak. :)

Best,
E
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 
Look at this new make/model, playing at the recent CAF.

Recognize the mid-bass driver??

http://qln.se/prestige-three/
gsm18439
895 posts
 
@cd318

I have three pairs of speakers. Rogers LS3/5a in one bedroom (15ohm versions). Celestion SL700 in my master bedroom. And Zu Def4 in my living room. All three are great. I understand your concern that the drivers in the LS3/5a have never been updated; but sometimes a classic is a classic, and there were several versions manufactured by Rogers. The Celestion and Zu speakers best the LS3/5a in many ways. But given the OPs preferences, criteria, and limitations, I would put the LS3/5a on any shortlist.
towertone's avatar
towertone
82 posts
 
I don't have experience with any of the speakers mentioned save for the KEF LS50. I was very pleased with them in a small listening area but needed more low-end. I had considered the KEF R300 but caught the LS50 on sale (back then) for $300 off making them $500 cheaper than the R300, which you can now get for around $1300.00. 
I also think the R300 (in walnut) look very nice. 

On another note, I have an ancient pair of Jensen bookshelf speakers with 8" woofers that sound incredible, so you just never know....
tinear123
241 posts
 
I have the original De Capo and like them quite a lot.  I have listened to the II and BE models and the newer xover and tweeter are not my cup of tea.  God help me for the flaming to come but you should really listen to the KEF-LS50.  I purchased for a 2nd system (actually the LS50W) and I am blown away.  The mid-range is better than my Wilson's and John Atkinson of Stereophile magazine fame announced at RAF that he had replaced his B&W Silver Signatures with the LS50W.
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