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If you listen to anything other than Classic Jazz, don't read this.

:)  I'm a Jazz only intermediate audiophile looking to improve my system. i ONLY listen to jazz, and i think that matters. If you are of the opinion that great speakers make all music sound good then move on to the next post, because the premise here is that speakers for Acoustic Jazz ( Big Band to Post Bop) have different requirements. My jazz audiophile buddies and i hav A/B'd lots of different speaker/amp/turntable/cartridge combinations as a fun hobby for the last 3 years. i've gone through at least 3 whole systems to get where i am now:
All Rega System - Rega Exex-R, Rega P3, with upgrades, Rega MC Phono Pre,  Rega Apheta 2 Cartridge, Rega RX5 Speakers. 

It sounds really great, but want to get to amazing if possible, and have recently done some speaker comparisons with some Paradigms and Harbeths that show the RX5's could have a tighter, deeper bass and bit more high frequency... 

The challenge is threefold -
1 )information out there is hard to come by, often confusing and  i haven't found much information specifically on what speakers jazz heads prefer.
2) I want to be able to put them up against my current system in my room, which seems a difficult task
3) They have to look good. Aesthetics matter to me. Tektons and Magnapans are cool But Ugly AF, and not going to work for me.

i want someone to tell me this is the best my system is going to get and just enjoy it (which i do 82.5% of the time), or recommend a few things to try, hopefully with recommendation for speakers to try, but i'm open to other suggestions.

I look forward to your comments :)

sincerely,
Eric the Jazz Snob
128x128ericmbass
wsrrsw's avatar
wsrrsw
1,016 posts
 

The longer I swim in this swirling vortex passion the more I know the room is key. Some or a lot of room treatments can not be ignored. Power too.

The room daddy oh; the room will make it copacetic (said like Ben Sidran or Ken Nordine).

For me Jazz is better on Analog systems unless the system is high ($$$$) end.

I happy listen as you do (now playing Wes Montgomery D natural blues) using a PrmaLuna HP (KT120's) and  Sonus faber Guarneri evolution speakers (now easy to find at 1/2 to 1/3 of their original price same for PL integrated).

Any and all of the above are great recommendations. A great speaker and systems will do justice to all music excepting gamelan music. That's not my cup of tea.


ericmbass's avatar
ericmbass OP
7 posts
 
@mijostyn Have you heard the new 4 LP box set of Bill Evans live at the Village Vanguard. Lafaro's sound is incredible, even on my "intermediate" system :)  My other favorite Scott Lafaro sound is on the first Victor Feldman Record. It's the gold standard gut string sound I've been trying to achieve for the last 25 years!  Just like with my audiophile search, i'm getting closer :)  
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,803 posts
 
I will simply say that I have not yet found the "perfect" speaker or one that is absolutely best with all types of music. I wish I could, it would save me a lot of time, money and aggravation.
Sound Labs are great with everything I've thrown at them. So are the Classic Audio Loudspeakers. Those two speakers have very different amplifier requirements! I have a set of KLH model Nineteens in my bedroom and they seem to handle all genres as well as long as I don't play them too loud :) But the amp I play them with only makes about 5 watts (although the sub amp can make 1400...) so no worries.

So in those cases that's cocktail lounge jazz, rock, downtempo 80s pop, shoegaze, ambient, disco, classical, ethnic folk, bluegrass, spoken word, punk, death metal, speed metal, medieval, polyphony, new age, gothic metal, techno, gothic punk, 70s prog rock, big band, electro, electronic music, freeform jazz, fusion, acid folk and really, I can go on and on.

These very different speakers can do all that no worries. If you have a speaker that doesn't, I'd like to know what it is! I bought those KLH Model Nineteens on ebay for about $60.00.... although the Golden Ear Subx cost a bit more...


br3098
994 posts
 
@atmasphere I have not heard the Classic audio speakers in years and I couldn't describe their sound accurately now. I do remember them being very good horn speakers.

I have had some Sound Labs in for an extended period when I had my dealership. Good but I'm not really a planar/ELS speaker guy. Or rather, my room placement options are not friendly to these types of speakers.

For most of my listening I'm extremely happy with my rebuilt Shahinian Obelisks. The conventional wisdom is that they are difficult to drive. Not true - they are simply difficult to drive well in order to provide their best sound.

baranyi's avatar
baranyi
719 posts
 
br the shahinians do need the right amp to come alive! I enjoyed a variety of Dick’s speakers and they typically needed a good stiff solid state amp to work properly. A friend brought over an old Octave Research Class A amp and the obelisks really sang.  They were the top end speaker at the audio salon I used to frequent as a kid called Digital Sound around 1980. Hope Dick’s son keeps the brand alive. 
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