High Sensitivity Speakers

   What speaker does Pass recommend? I have Zu and Klipsch Hersey’s . But at your price point and room size , Devore and the Klipsch Cornwall’s or Belles would be nice . Have you considered fresh crossovers for your existing speakers ? I’m interested in how this plays out , so please keep us posted . Regards , Mike. 

I would hesitate to part with those speakers myself.  If you do it should be because you’ve actually heard something different you like better.  Don’t assume newer speakers are automatically better. It all depends. 

I would not be in such a hurry to do away with them. Recap those old crossovers as I assume they have capacitors on there. Those degrade over time and I have had many 20+ year old speakers which have shown real improvement after recapping. Make sure all drivers are still well sealed to the cabinet. Might not hurt to do an ohm test and frequency sweep test on your drivers. If it is a sealed cabinet tap around the outside and see if your joints are working loose. Glue bonds do break and can cause ugly things to happen when volume is turned up.

I happen to prefer efficient speakers that are never less than 96db and the less the cone has to move to get your preferred sound level the less distortion you will have. Many older speakers are also made of plywood and not MDF and are far more durable. I have bought older speakers from people who did not bother to fix what they had and after getting them back right they were really nice.
  If you insist on getting something different I would suggest Klipsch. It is easy to get 101db+ very efficient speakers  that will last a long time and always have repair parts and good resale value. I don't know what your space is or your money to spend or how hung up on appearance you might be but you could go listen to a set of Jubilees and find out what less than 10g will really buy new. Old Chorus speakers are great picks but you will need to at least recap the crossovers but these will run under $1200 IF you can find some. I really really don't like MDF but I have heard the new Cornwall 4's and they are very nice.

" My recommendation, also to address the possible coherency issues pointed out above, would be to go all-horn from an arena in sound reproduction not commonly thought of as "hifi doable," namely Danley Sound Labs Synergy horns paired with Danley’s tapped horn subs. On top of the coherency offered by an all-horn approach you’ll have phase-coherent main speakers to boot - a "killer" combination, if you ask me. Think of models like SH50, SM96 or SM60F Synergy horn main speakers paired with two TH50 tapped horn subs. Any of these 3 main speaker models in conjunction with named subs would be a set-up to admire and capable of any music genre and SPL in a domestic environment one would care for - full range at that, and with headroom to spare. "
  You touch on something rarely mentioned I fully agree with. Pro gear just has much more headroom and effortless superb output. All I would consider for my own use is now Klipsch pro gear starting with at least a KI-904 or better or older versions at least as good as the KPT-456 or better. Some of my speaker buddies have Danleys and love them. It really boils down to what is most important. Sound or looks and here sound wins. Danleys are darned hard to find and so is Klipsch pro gear but the Klipsch does show up from time to time. I listen to a takeoff of the MWM bin from the MCM-1900 ( stock MWM is 40" deep mine is 60" deep same basic configuration though just bigger)  made so it goes down to an honest 27hz and with a Klipsch 402 horn and driver on top out to well past 18khz. This is a true two way all horn system and you just cant beat horns for best sound. It is why I recommended the Jubilee because it too is an all horn system and the gateway to superb sound.

After 15 yrs, speaker technology is still almost the same, although there may have been some advances in implementation brought about by research.

Well usually research is how advances are made :)

I'm a fan of the Classic Audio Loudspeakers and have a set of T-3s. They are 16 ohms, 98dB and go flat to 20Hz.  The midrange driver is field coil powered for less dynamic compression and employs a beryllium diaphragm with a Kapton suspension. Its first breakup is at 35KHz; as a result the speaker is detailed, fast and smooth.

 Also the bass got flabby/slow/less present.

@chilli42  One thing to be careful about in the bass department: 'tight' bass is a coloration brought on by the amplifier having excess damping of the woofer(s). Many audiophiles like it, but out in the real world its a very difficult thing to encounter! Another issue is standing wave; the most elegant solution I've seen is the use of a Distributed Bass Array which may have been what you were trying with the Rels. Did you place the Rels asymmetrically in your listening room?