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Bookshelf Bake Off

Fellow Audiogoners,

Lend me your ears.  I live on a farm in South Georgia and have a 3+ hour drive in any direction to audition anything.  The price I pay for land, peace and horses I suppose.  I am putting together a secondary system and can't audition everything I have interest in, so I am hoping you can help me shorten the short list to a manageable set of maybe three (two would be even better) auditions for bookshelf speakers. They will be driven by 2 x PS Audio M700 Monoblocks, Schiit Freya+ tube preamp and a Mytek Brooklyn DAC+.  The space is fairly small at approx. 10'x20'.  For a number of reasons, floorstanders are not a possibility, hence the call for bookshelf speakers.  I would like to keep the budget in the $2K range, +/- a reasonable %.  I am not someone that feels the need to max the budget, i.e. linear correlation of price and quality, so feel free to suggest high value brands/models less than the max budget.  I have a pair of Focal Aria 906 in another system and very much like their sound, but want something a bit warmer with similar (or better) resolution.  Deeper low frequency extension would be a plus.  The brands I have narrowed the field to are:

Revel
Legacy
KEF
Monitor Audio
Sonus Fabre
PSB

This list is not written in stone, just my initial list after research.  Feel free to suggest anything I have omitted that warrants consideration.  Thanks in advance for your ears.

Mark


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bryhifi's avatar
bryhifi
373 posts
 
Worth looking into for a surprising sound from a monitor sized speaker that digs deeper than I ever expected from something it's size.  Owned a few pair of Ushers along the way and always thought fondly of them.  I would not be hesitant to buy these again given their used price now.

http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/revequip/usheraudio_be718.htm
pani
1,217 posts
 
Get a slightly bigger, high quality British monitor speakers and pair it with a nice high current amp and you are set. Some recommendations:

Speakers:
1. Tannoy Sterling (not a bookshelf but behaves likes bookshelf), great speaker
2. Proac Response D2 or D15, D18
3. Neat Momentum

Amps:
1. Naim Nait 5si
2. Naim supernait 2
3. Plinius 8200 Mk2, 9200

luxmancl38
580 posts
 
Klipsch Heresy III's.
coffee-jerk
72 posts
 
I'm going to second pani's post:
I have a bookshelf speaker "problem", and similar musical taste.   I have owned a few brands (B&W, Dynaudio, Totem, Proac).   

I use Proac Response D2 in my "main" system and D1 in my office system, and I couldn't be happier.    They are simply more fun to listen.  

If you want a really small system, the Proac Response 1sc are a special speaker, and can be found used for a very reasonable price.
elevick
2,636 posts
 
So, you said "bookshelf"-are these going in a bookshelf?  If yes, you can't have anything rear ported.  Anything with decent bass extension may sound drastically different in a bookshelf.  
You might find things to be more flexible if you consider a subwoofer.  This will help bass issues.
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