Bookshelf Recommendations

I use a set of pre-owned KEF LS-50s on stands in a 15 foot squared room with 9 foot ceiling and while they won't ever convince you that they are full range; they do what they do really well; highly detailed and enjoyable music that is fun to listen to without physically dominated the room (spouse acceptance factor).  Don't be too quick to dump your solid state amplifier, I am a devotee of tubed pre-amps with a CJ Act 2 and solid state amplifier power with a CJ 2500 A.  I've had tubed amps in the system and it is too "tubey", meaning soft, a little slow and somewhat muffled compared to the tubed pre-amp, solid state amp combination.

What speakers are you replacing? 

I also use a tube pre with a SS amp. A solid approach for many reasons. Not to say the only one.

A couple stand mount speakers I have heard you might consider:        Dynaudio X14, X18
   B&W CM5
Either could be bought used for~$700. 

The Vandy 1Cs may also serve you well. 

I’m amazed and at the number of responses and truly appreciate the detail and wealth of information this topic has generated.


Since I’m leaning towards pre-owned gear, it’ll likely come down to my short list, compiled from those suggested in this thread. Wish $$ were no object, but I’m sure I’m not alone in that regard

At the expense of betraying my ignorance on the subject, NONE of the speakers that I’m now focusing on were even on my radar prior to this posting. If only in a virtual way, thanks for opening my ears...

Another vote for Ascend Sierra S2, absolutely stunning ribbon speaker worth multiple of its price

Wharfedale Denton 80th, it has LS3/5A kind of sound with powerful and elactic bass, some even prefer it over KEF LS50, which can sound fatigue if listen for long, search for forum discussions if you are interested, but remember to have a better powerful amp to drive it, the Denton I would say is medium sensitivity in terms of power requirement. Another option worth to try is PSB P5, it has balanced sound from a lot reviewers.