New Speakers for $2000

Unsound. Just to clarify, I didn't mean that you will not get good results if you don't use equipment that is balanced or any of the other characteristics that I mentioned. With Vandersteen it's not hard to get good results. I do recommend them if you want the best possible results. I am not talking about tweaks; the differences are large and easy to hear.

OP. I understand that you don't have all of the best equipment now. You can start with what you have now and get good results and as you upgrade over time, you have a speaker that will be worth the investment. As for the 1.7, you state:

My wants in order of preference are:
-Resolution
-Neurality
-Imaging
-Sound stage width
-Good highs
-Not so slow mids that it'd make listening to heavier music unenjoyable
-A decent amount of bass or even slightly weak on punch is fine

Most of what you are asking for on that list is the exact opposite of the Mag., with the exception of the bass. The bass is excellent, its the mediocre mids and the bright, metallic highs that are not good. Magnepan knows the highs are a problem for most people so they even include raw resistors that you are supposed to attach to the binding post to roll the HF off. More importantly, though, and I hate to sound harsh, is that you have already failed. At this point it doesn't matter what you buy, Vandersteen or something else, putting your faith in equipment reviews is the single biggest mistake you can make. The worst part is that you probably won't realize this until after you have made some very poor choices. Along with this, though most people will deny it, is that most audiophiles I come into contact with get their listening experience by reading equipment reviews, as well. Again, I hate to be so negative, but I just don't see any kind of success going down your current path. Better to just save your money or go to a casino. Good Luck.

Rlg_audio, Gee, I really don't want to pick a fight with you :-), but again I feel the need to comment on your last post. I basically share your preference, I don't think the Maggies are nearly that bad, in fact I think though quite different, they're quite good, though I think you really have to move up the line to something like the 3 series to really compete with the Vandy 2's, albeit for more money. IMHO, the highs of the Vandy's and the Maggies both veer from neutrality, but in different directions. I'm not at all surprised that a Vandy enthusiast might find the Maggies bright, but a Maggie fan might find the Vandy's dull. IME, the Maggies can offer a different, and perhaps better soundstage than the Vandy's, but the imaging might be better with the Vandy's. The Maggies might be quicker in mids. The Vandy's can offer better if somewhat ripe bass. The Maggies are probably even more room/placement sensitive. It's really a matter of taste.

My wants in order of preference are:
-Resolution
-Neurality
-Imaging
-Sound stage width
-Good highs
-Not so slow mids that it'd make listening to heavier music unenjoyable
-A decent amount of bass or even slightly weak on punch is fine

I should have paid more attention to this set of requirements. Given these plus your narrow listening area, I think Nola Boxers would be the way to go. A mini is going to be easier to place given the narrow room boundaries than a tower. You can use the $500 saved for stands and cables, or toward a powered sub if desired.

I did, however, remember one more $2K speaker worth checking out, the Atlantic Technology AT-1. Available at $2K/pair, it's a tower with an MTM (D'Appolito) array backed by Atlantic's own H-PAS bass loading system that produces meaningful bass down into the 20s. Stereophile's review and measurements indicated an unusually flat response overall. The MTM array helps keep ceiling and floor reflections out of the image that reaches your ears. Review excerpts here, third-party measured response curves here.

respectfully, your 75w/ch amp may not be enough juice for magnepan or revel. in your budget i'd look at the ohms, von schweikert vr2 (huge soundstage and low end) or energy veritas; vanns is also selling mirage omd28 for $1400--they're extremely room-filling.

01-11-12: Loomisjohnson
respectfully, your 75w/ch amp may not be enough juice for magnepan or revel. in your budget i'd look at the ohms, von schweikert vr2 (huge soundstage and low end) or energy veritas; vanns is also selling mirage omd28 for $1400--they're extremely room-filling.

The Vann's price for the OMD-28 is $1400 each, so that would be $2800 a pair. That's still a bargain given that they retailed at $7500/pair and were very competitive at that price. However, the OMD28's little brother, the OMD-15, is also available at Vanns at $1K/pair down from an original $2.5K/pair. They're plenty competitive at their original price and with a sensitivity of around 91dB, will match well with that Cambridge 650A. I've been living with my OMD-15s for 3-1/2 years in an open architecture cathedral-ceiling living space. They definitely fill the space well.

Also, with the money you save you could pick up one or two decent powered subs and then you would have a true full-range system and you could dial in the bass energy for the program material and your listening space.