A year or so ago, I was at Boulder Amplifier and heard their reference system (and room) built around Stella Grand Utopia's. Easily a > $500k system, not counting the cost of the room. They poured a separate foundation for the listening room, built the room, and then built the factory around it. Delightful overkill :-)
Not that long thereafter at a Colorado Audio Society meeting, I heard a member's system that featured a set of Acoustic Zen Crescendo II's in a smallish room. (His electronics were home-built). I was struck at how similar the soundstage, dynamics and overall voicing was to the Grand Utopias. They are $25K new and I recently saw a used pair advertised on Audiogon for ~$9k. Didn't have the spare change lying about or I would have pounced without hesitation.
I think they're a must audition in the price range you're talking about.
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The Yamaha NS 5000s are probably as good as anything regardless of price.Certainly in terms of sounding real and natural.Other far more expensive speakers might sound more impressive and more "hi fi" but I doubt they are better.
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All speakers over $10,000 rival each other. Pick your look and pick your sound. It's totally personal - no better or worse. |
If you can afford $50k then I think you should focus on finding the, in your opinion, best sounding speakers for that amount. Don't worry about more expensive speakers.
If you want to compare $50k speakers with $200k I am no expert. I have heard both the m6 and some Utopias. My memory is that they had dynamics and an effortless that I have not heard from any sub $50k speakers.
A much cheaper speaker that also impressed without being as good was the Kii Three with bass modules. And Boenicke but I only heard the standmounts. MBL 101 sounds very good and starts around 70k if you can push your budget. - I'll look into those suggestions, thanks. Paradigm Persona 9H’s = $35k/pr.
There, I saved you another $15k - you’re welcome! - Just heard the 7Fs and was really impressed with their incredible resolution and precision. I think you might be right on the 9H which should have much better bass. I don't believe you should try to find $50K speakers. Find the best speakers you can afford, and if they cost $20 each then so be it. - I agree, probably my post should have been about the best speakers under 50k. @ smodtactical
Your room size is about the same as mine (11x15.5x8). I have had towers(Snell CV), OB (Caintuck Betsy w/ Hawthorne OB bass augmenters), 3 different Omega speakers (Compact Hemp, 6 Alnico monitors,and XRS 8 Alnico all with Omega Deep Hemp subs), and Shelby+Kroll monitors with matching subs. With the S+K I used the Dspeaker Dual Core for room correction and sub blending. Of all the systems the best sounding was the S+K Dspeaker combo until the set up I have now. Read on... - very interesting suggestions, haven't listened to horns yet will look into them, thanks Magneplanar! - got to hear them Altec a5 with modern crossover and a good tweeter will be as good as $250,000 speaker systems plus they are far more fun. - thx I believe in the law of diminishing returns.
I believe the law law may kick in as low as $3,500.
I believe it kicks in for sure at $5,000.
I believe that it seriously kicks in at $10,000
Someone said that everyone’s ears are wired differently. I agree. Over $20,000, it’s personal preference for sure.
The same folks who wanna spend $600,000 on a pair of speakers wanna spend $500 per foot on speaker cable (I use chicken wire 🙄).
Then, surely you’ve heard the joke that the size of a guy’s speakers are inversely proportional to the size of his dick?
My speakers are pretty damn big, 😳, ... but my wife hasn’t been complaining. - I compared the 100k+ stella utopia to the 20k+ persona 7f and I would say there was a pretty big gain in sound stage and separation but obviously not the kind of difference that would justify the price, but ya the law does work hard at these levels If you want that "big buck sound" for under 50k, I believe you would be wise to look into the Grandinote Mach 9's. They list for around 42k, and they are a wonder. I own their big brother, the Mach 36's, which retail for around 150k, and although the 9's aren't quite up to the 36's in terms of sheer magnitude, they have very similar characteristics, especially when it comes to the sound-stage and neutral coloration. I know these are not well known in the states (they're manufactured in Italy), but if anyone here is in the NY area and would like to hear the 36's, I would welcome you to come over to my house for a listen, perhaps embellished with a fine dram of single malt.
By the way, the Mach 4's, which run about 25k, are also an amazing speaker, especially in a smaller room. - Cool suggestion! Never heard Grandinote, will look into it Agree with the Magnepan 30.7. But as others say, it depends on what your priorities are. The Maggies excel on acoustical music, they have a spooky realism to them. Even my old Tympani IVa's can be jaw-droppingly realistic (talk about bargains -- maybe $3000 used), and the 30.7's better them in every respect.
- whats the downside to the maggies? For a full range speaker it's difficult to go past B&W 800D3.
- heard it vs the persona 7F and have to say the persona was much sharper, crytalline in its detail and had better imaging, bw perhaps better bass, but overall prefer persona Probably lots of speakers would fill the bill but one I'm sure of is a used pair of Rockport Cygnus. - i would love to hear the cygnus, there is a used one going for 40k I’ll take the big Raidhos on looks alone. Wow! I don’t really care how someone thinks they sound. The sound is a function of a great many things. Almost any speaker can be made to sound great. - thanks, Raidhos do look interesting, i want to hear those diamond woofers These were mentioned above, but the 2 models that always come to mind for me are:
Joseph Pearl 3
KEF Blade - thx will check these out A year or so ago, I was at Boulder Amplifier and heard their reference system (and room) built around Stella Grand Utopia's. Easily a > $500k system, not counting the cost of the room. They poured a separate foundation for the listening room, built the room, and then built the factory around it. Delightful overkill :-)
Not that long thereafter at a Colorado Audio Society meeting, I heard a member's system that featured a set of Acoustic Zen Crescendo II's in a smallish room. (His electronics were home-built). I was struck at how similar the soundstage, dynamics and overall voicing was to the Grand Utopias. They are $25K new and I recently saw a used pair advertised on Audiogon for ~$9k. Didn't have the spare change lying about or I would have pounced without hesitation.
I think they're a must audition in the price range you're talking about. - the zen cescendos look good i wonder how the zen maestros sound Yamaha NS 5000s - a friend on my audio discord strongly recommends these, i will listen |
