One vote for Klipsch Forte III's. Had a pair, had to downsize a bit to Heresy III's but miss the Forte's dearly. Easy to drive, dynamic yet refined sounding. These are NOT your grandpa's Forte's....
Speaker suggestions
Greetings,
I know this is a difficult question to answer, but any opinions are welcome.
Here is my situation. I listen mostly to pop and classical, including many symphonies. About 15x25 feet (5x8m) untreated room. 20wpc Decware amp currently driving 15 y/o LSI 15 polks. Polks are doing fine, nothing wrong with them. I am the 2nd owner.
I am considering an upgrade to my speakers. Would like to have full (or near full) range speakers, no sub, strongly prefer something made (assembled, not just designed) in the US, with 2-3k budget.
One option is to refurb/upgrade the Polks. About 1k gets me new premium crossover, new damping material, full inspection, and cleaning with some cosmetic finish work at a local well regarded audio shop.
The other option is buying something new. I plan to keep the system for at least 15-20 years, so need something well built, with solid fit/finish, and good internal electronics so I do not need to recap for at least 15 years.
Prefer new but will consider lightly used option if find something specific I like.
Have been looking lately at Tecton DI and Impact towers. Some posts mentioned that they do not measure very well, but I did not see any charts on the forums or on their site. Mostly great user reviews,
Other options are Ascend Acoustics Sierra towers, Klipsch Reference, SVS ultra towers. I think those are all US made. Spatial audio has great reviews, but not sure how well they handle complex classical music.
Can you please provide comments/suggestions? Any other options worth considering. I am not much of DIY person.
Thanks much.
I know this is a difficult question to answer, but any opinions are welcome.
Here is my situation. I listen mostly to pop and classical, including many symphonies. About 15x25 feet (5x8m) untreated room. 20wpc Decware amp currently driving 15 y/o LSI 15 polks. Polks are doing fine, nothing wrong with them. I am the 2nd owner.
I am considering an upgrade to my speakers. Would like to have full (or near full) range speakers, no sub, strongly prefer something made (assembled, not just designed) in the US, with 2-3k budget.
One option is to refurb/upgrade the Polks. About 1k gets me new premium crossover, new damping material, full inspection, and cleaning with some cosmetic finish work at a local well regarded audio shop.
The other option is buying something new. I plan to keep the system for at least 15-20 years, so need something well built, with solid fit/finish, and good internal electronics so I do not need to recap for at least 15 years.
Prefer new but will consider lightly used option if find something specific I like.
Have been looking lately at Tecton DI and Impact towers. Some posts mentioned that they do not measure very well, but I did not see any charts on the forums or on their site. Mostly great user reviews,
Other options are Ascend Acoustics Sierra towers, Klipsch Reference, SVS ultra towers. I think those are all US made. Spatial audio has great reviews, but not sure how well they handle complex classical music.
Can you please provide comments/suggestions? Any other options worth considering. I am not much of DIY person.
Thanks much.
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- 64 posts total
I have owned both the Tekton DI's and Ascend Towers w/Raal. I would recommend the Ascends.. I loved them. The mid range and top end is killer. They do need a sub. In fact, I had 2 of them as I had a 16x24 room and wanted solid thumping bass. The Tektons are a love/hate situation. I didn't think much of them and sent them back after my trial period. I kept the Ascends around here for several years before upgrading to Legacy's. |
If you can drive to pick these Silverline Sonatas up for $1000 I think they check all your boxes and will significantly outperform your Polks... https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649479570-silverline-audio-sonata-i/ I dont think you can do better for a thousand bucks. Best of luck. |
I can't imagine how you will be able to buy an audiophile speaker for $3,000. I would encourage you to buy the SALK Song3 Encores at $6,000 a pair. Jim Salk also makes a smaller speaker priced at $4,500. Since he sells direct, he uses the best drivers and crossovers you can buy in that price range. I listened to the Song3's at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in October and thought these sound better than a pair of $60,000 I listened to. They literally smoked everything I heard priced $20,000 and lower. They get down to 24 Hz and you will not need a sub. |
- 64 posts total