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Looking for suggestions on best small footprint speaker under $4K

Greetings
i’m a long time 2 channel system guy that rekindled his  interest in music and Is looking to upgrade speakers.    I just currently upgraded from a small  tube amp to a 150 W Krell amp and have really enjoyed the improved response from my  7 year old KEF LS50’s.     My favorite Brands of speakers over the years have been Maggie’s and B&W.   I have also downsized  homes and size of speaker is an issue.     Looking for the best sounding speaker for jazz and lite rock.    Attractive cabinets are important to me so I don’t like the looks of golden ear speakers..   25 years ago I loved Vandersteen speakers but they were just not attractive.

As I begin my search what would yoou suggest.   I have started looking at Monitor Audio and Salk but have not heard any.  My budget is $4K.

i appreciate your feedback.


128x128miamiangler
maggiefan8
27 posts
 
I'm a huge Maggie Fan as well, and when my rig got moved from our main Great Room to a small media room, had to trade in my 20.1's to stand mounted speakers.  I've had great luck with Dynaudio Counter S1.4 LE's (limited edition build), and now Joseph Audio Pulsar's.  Both can be had for $4k or below (the Dynauio's for about $2500), but seldom come up for sale.  Both put out much more bass, in my room, than I expected.

Good luck.
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,578 posts
 
miamianglerconsider a Thiel CS 2.4 speaker. If you enjoyed the Vandersteen sound, you will love Thiel Audio.  Nice match for the Krell amp as well.
Happy Listening!
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 
If you're serious about small footprint, look at Totem or ProAc.  You could get something pretty nice on the used marked for 4K.
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 
As Jafant says Thiel or if you prefer a company still around and supporting product might I suggest Vandersteen’s lovely small footprint and imo attractive Treo ( I own the CT )

you can find a used pair inside your budget
my 2nd picks beside used Thiel ( Brother owns a pair ) would be the ET or Maggie as mentioned

have fun
it is all about the music

kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
Small footprint means different thing to different people. Magnepans may (technically) have a "small" footprint per square inch but take up a lot of room and need a lot of room behind them to sound any good. Same with Vandersteens at least model 2 and 3s. I'd think narrower speakers like Proac, Salk, Golden Ear, etc., qualify better as small foot print. Or just go with stand mounts.
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