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Is There a Speaker for Me/Impossible Requirements? (budget: $2000)

Well, I just lost a very long and detailed post. Here’s my second shot:
After years in headphone purgatory I’m finally dipping a toe into ’real’ hifi. Turns out, its not as straightforward as I expected.
My equipment: 320-lossless files into a Moon i-5 in a 9 1/2 x 11 1/2’ room with 7’4" ceilings and a large rug. No issues or concerns regarding acoustics nor any interest in treating. Listen at 60-90 db for 3-8 hours a day- music is all over the map but a strong preference for neo-classical/ambient (Olafur Arnalds, Nils Frahm, Jonsi and Alex, etc), baroque/solo piano, fingerstyle guitar, and ’indie’ (whatever that means nowadays).

After reading a whole lot I purchased the following speakers based on my headphone preferences (HD650):
Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniv: VERY forward, VERY mid-centric, and not at all for me. They seem to have the veil people associate with the Senns, though I’ve never experienced it myself.
Spendor S3/5: These are much more interesting. Imaging is amazing- they do seem to disappear completely on certain tracks. However, the sound is rather unexciting. Perhaps this is closer to neutral but I find the speakers end up falling into the background and don’t really pull me in to the music. Tonally, the 3/5 seems very coherent though the lack of visceral bass is quite evident.
Spendor SP-1: The best of the bunch to my ears. The imaging is maybe a little behind the 3/5 but the sound seems much more balanced with more bass presence. On some songs they sound a bit U-shaped (maybe a little ’thin’ vs the ’non-present’ 3/5) and not quite as unified (lack of mids?) as the other Spendor.

My hope is to find a speaker I can keep for a long time that fits my listening space and music preferences. Given my experience where would you head from here:
A) Keep the SP-1s and spend more time placing them within my space/experimenting with stands and/or upstream gear?
B) Get a sub for the S3/5 and compare against the SP-1 again?
C) Try for another speaker altogether? If so, my max budget would be $2000 with a preference for value. I do have a pair of Meadowlark Kestrels on their way to me, but I haven’t heard them yet. Harbeth, Totem, ProAc, Vandersteen, Ohm, and Revel all sound interesting to me.
Grateful for any thoughts,
NM
joincoolkidclub
richdirector's avatar
richdirector
269 posts
 
Harbeth P3 good but think you will
relish a larger cabinet more if
you can get one as no matter
the driver - a bigger cabinet just needs to work less and portrays a sense of scale much better.
and this is from me - just upsizing from a Harbeth 30.1 to a Tannoy Arden 
vdotman's avatar
vdotman
140 posts
 
Falcon Acoustics RAM Studio 10 or Studio 20 (full disclosure I own a pair of the Studio 10’s).
Non-fatiguing with excellent imaging and great bass performance for their size. A bit of a sleeper right now as their NA distributor recently changed to MoFi and they are currently focusing on Falcon’s LS3/5A reissue, also a loudspeaker to consider. Hope this helps.
bstbomber's avatar
bstbomber
73 posts
 
Check out ADS Speakers Although they are not built anymore you can find a nice used Pair.
For the size of your Room a pair of L710 or L780. Both are 3 way.
arcam88's avatar
arcam88
438 posts
 
Upgrade the source. As far as I know 320 kbps is not lossless. Try some flac or wav files!😎
pbraverman
22 posts
 
@arcam88 Certainly correct, but I think he meant "from 320 to lossless." Could be wrong, obviously. On topic: I heard the Harbeth 3 for the first time the other day at The Listening Room in Maryland (amazing store with one of the great owners in the biz) — and it's pretty damn great, if you can live without the bass or can augment with a sub. The imaging is what you'd expect, and theyy play WAY louder than you'd think possible from such a small box. Scansonic 2.5 would also fit the bill at used prices ($3500 new). They're not the last word in bass, but the ribbon tweeter is killer and they are perhaps the best-imaging speakers I've ever heard — they're forward without being aggressive at all. In full disclosure that's a little self-serving, as I have a pair I'm thinking about parting with to move up in the line, but there it is.
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