Organic, musical and natural sounding speakers up to $12K


Getting a new place next year. Living room will be approx 12-14ft x 16-18ft x 10ft.

Getting a new system and am starting with speakers. Brands I have shortlisted (recommended from magazines and forums) are:

1) Audionote J or E
2) Spendor (model ?)
3) Harbeth (model ? - perhaps 30.2/40.1 or ?)
4) Devore (0/93 or 0/96?)

I auditioned Audionote and Harbeth briefly a few years ago. If I recall, Audionote was organic, musical and natural. Harbeth SHL5 plus was natural and musical...but don’t remember if they were more organic than the Audionotes.

HF extension/air is definitely not a priority for I find it often translates to tizz to my ears. I love a large soundstage - big full sound!

With the 4 brands, am I heading in the right direction? Any feedback from users would be greatly appreciated. I am open to other brands too.

Thanks.




pc123v
Nice clean used 40.1 or 40.2 and you're done.  You're definitely heading in the right direction.
The Spendor D7 or D9 should be a nice fit! I never had a Spendor that I didn’t like!!





I would add Proac to that list as well. The D-30RS, or if you can squeeze it in the D-48R.
Ohm Walsh 5000's (you can tweak them to your liking)

Vandersteen

Salk SS9.5

No particular order.  
Oops, I meant to say the MG3.7i’s big brother, the 20.7i. The 3.7i retails for around $6k, the 20.7i for about double that. They need an amp like the Sanders Magtech though, so you have to factor the cost of that in. Sanders makes a second version of the amp especially for ESL loudspeakers such as his own.