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Seeking advice on Speakers that create an intimate 2 channel listening experience

So the past month I started a couple of threads on speaker choice on AVS forum (One asked for Powered/Active floor standing Speaker choices and another one around non-active FS speakers for a tube amp I was looking at).

But I've come to realize this was the wrong tact, got lots of flack much deserved and wanted to try to solicit the advice/opinions on this forum which I just discovered.

Short background...Hunkered down in a suburb just outside NYC now for the past 3-4 months, I started to get the itch for a dedicated 2 channel stereo Turntable setup in our living room in May. After much research and twists and turns and immediate upgraditis, as some know on here from other posts, I've finally settled in and now own a Rega Planar 10 Turntable. I also own a Sutherland phono --20/20 with LPS and that's staying. Right now the phono preamp is hooked up direct to a pair of ELAC ARF51 floorstanding speakers (all drivers powered by built in AB amps) which I like a lot BUT ITS HERE THAT I WANT MORE. Btw, I love the ELAC design of mounting the tweeter concentric in the mid driver -- makes sense to me.  I kinda wish ELAC would take the same design and make a reference speaker but thats for another day.

So to swap out the ELACs, I will obviously need an amp, but I will figure that out later and want to focus on getting the right speakers for me for what I want. So what do I want?

1. Floorstanders. Close to full range as possible. No subs.
2. Looks count since in my main living room.
3. Speakers that prioritize Imaging Imaging Imaging. That disappear in the room creating an intimate but 3D listening experience. Clean (Accurate) warm sound. No distortion. I would easily sacrifice low end for untiring highs and warm mids I don't listen to metal or hiphop anymore so I don't need loudness, more like lounge experience if that makes sense. Apologize if I got the adjectives wrong but its personal description of what I'm seeking.
4. Price Point - -$10k-25k. Room is 22x18 with 25 foot ceiling

I would like to audition/demo before I buy and since I live in the Tri-State area it should be possible. But I'm finding that obviously difficult to do right now. I listened to a pair of Salk speakers but didn't love them. And have an appt with the Audio Doctor in NJ in two weeks.

Thanks in advance.
aj523
dprazze
9 posts
 
I also recommend Raidho. I have a pair of D2.1s with a Gryphon Diablo 120 that are decidedly intimate, holographic, warm. They are not full-range however, but I'm not missing anything. Still you should give Raidho a listen. If you buy Raidho used you might make it in your price range (that's what I did). But you price range is perhaps too restrictive for all you are asking the system to do. You can get the Diablo for under 10K and it is one of the very best integrateds out there.
Since you like the concentric driver--why not Kef Reference line? Paired with a Hegel H190 or 390, could be a real winner for you. Also worth a listen.
tosicka
14 posts
 
Try to find Anthony Gallo 5LS
And two Gallo Subs. 
Won't bang on about these but worth a listen if you can find a mint pair. 

tosicka
14 posts
 
Anthony Gallo 5LS and Gallo Subs X 2
Oldies but goodies. 



bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,819 posts
 

Duke, agree with everything you say above. For clarity, I didn’t describe an OB/Dipole sub as a line source, rather that such a sub behaves like a line source loudspeaker in the matter of SPL drop off as listening distance changes. Even the mighty Infinity IRS suffers from that weakness. It uses a column of woofers (servo-feedback controlled) in a sealed enclosure for bass, a large "wing" with line sources of EMIM’s and EMIT’s for mids and highs. Again, the balance between the woofers and the m/t drivers changes as listening distance increases and decreases.

Your idea of reversing the polarity of one or more subs in an DBA is a great one. Danny Richie displays at shows with a pair of OB/Dipole subs at the loudspeaker end of the room, a pair of sealed subs at the other, their polarity reversed.

Rythmik’s Brian Ding prefers sealed subs to the OB/Dipole, liking as do you the pressurizing of the room the former provide. He finds the OB to sound too lean, without enough weight. Others view that weight as too plump, or fat. Each to his own! To my ears, the OB/Dipole Sub sounds very much like the bass panels in the Magneplanar Tympani bass panels (which I also own), still considered by some as the best reproducer of instruments like bass drum, upright bass, cello even, the lower piano and organ registers, etc., ever offered to the consumer. Some feel the same about the bass produced by the Apogee full range ribbons, which I've never heard.

mtdining's avatar
mtdining
131 posts
 
You really ought to listen to a pair of Wilson Audio Sabrinas. Wilson makes the best speakers in the world, and builds on decades of experience doing so. The most affordable of their floor standers, the Sabrinas are on a whole other level than most of the competition. Wilson has sold more than all other Gigi speaker manufacturers combined with good reason!
Unlike some manufacturers, the quality and technology implemented in the top end speakers are also used in the bottom. While their impedance dips to ~ 3 ohms, they are not terribly difficult to drive - I’ve heard gorgeous results with a 20 Watt Luxman Class A integrated amp and even surprisingly good results with the modest Parasound Hint6. Nobody can match Wilson for low distortion! It is related to how they look - the X material and other materials in the cabinet damp virtually all vibrations coming anywhere other than the intended directions, but require automotive style finishes.
Also worth considering, but not remotely close in bass, are the Paradigm Personas.
they have extremely high resolution, but can’t match the Wilsons in dynamics, naturalness or bass.
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