Speaker recommendations, budget $10-15K

Mcondon,
You have gotten good suggestions and Al`s comments about room placement is very relevant. I`ve heard the Daedalus Ulysses on two occasions and it was very good(you could not go wrong with its selection). You list the Acoustic Zen Crescendo, good choice.I heard this speaker for two extended listening sessions at CES this year(90 minutes and then 1 hour the next day).It was driven by the Triode CORP.of Japan 50 watt PSET 845 tubed amplifier.The sound this system produced was extraordinary,truly one of the most impressive at the entire show.It was very natural,alive,dynamic yet also exceptionally transparent with excellent tone and overtones.This is a fairly large speaker that disappeared in the room.

The amp has a power meter on the front panel and it seldon passed the 1-4(some louder peaks pushed it to 25-35 watt range very briefly) watt level.I`d say average listening levels in that room(moderately large) were in the low 80s db range.So it does not appear to be power hungry at reasonable listening levels.The key point that impressed me was how natural and honest the music was reproduced, it was very engaging.This system out performed many far more expensive systems I heard there this year. I have no idea how it would sound with your very different type of amplifier(as good,better,worse?).A variety of music genre were played and all sounded excellent.

As others have said, in this price range there`re many good options.
Good Luck,

Another vote for Daedalus, but I would say the smaller Athena or DA-RMa's, that I have, would be a better fit and match your budget better. My prior speakers were Acoustic Zen Adagios and good as they were, the Daedalus were in a different league. The Crescendos I do'nt know, but they are pretty big I think, maybe a problem in a small room too.

I use a very cluttered square 20 by 20ft room, the DA-RMas fit in just fine. Lou does have a number of owners happy to demo, I am sure he could find one if you were interested.

The Crescendo is a tall speaker and this could be a consideration. In terms of sound quality there`s no comparison with the less ambitious Adagio. They occupy entirely different planes of achievement.
Regards,

Thanks for the recommendations folks. Professional reviews and show impressions seem uniformly positive for the Crescendos, which is why they are on my list. (The dealer also carries Marten Djangos, which he seemed to recommend equally.) I also have sent an e-mail to Daedalus. I am thinking, based on comments about my room's dimensions, that the Ulysses might be too big. I will see what they have to say about other models. One review of the Ulysses (in Dagogo) said they are not "full-range" and are somewhat lacking in terms of low end extension. Is that at all true?

One review of the Ulysses (in Dagogo) said they are not "full-range" and are somewhat lacking in terms of low end extension. Is that at all true?

They are not "full-range" in the sense that they don't go down to 20 Hz or less. As I indicated earlier, though, their 28 Hz specification seems about right in my experience, based both on listening and on measurements I've done using test tones and an SPL meter. My strong impression is that most (but not quite all) owners of the Ulysses use them without a subwoofer.

As you've probably already seen, though, the smaller Daedalus models don't go down quite as far, with the Athena specified to 34 Hz, and the DA-RMa specified to 36 Hz.

Keep in mind, also, that all of Lou's frequency response numbers are +/-2 db. If he had based them on a looser tolerance, as a lot of manufacturers do, the 28, 34, and 36 Hz numbers would all have been at least a little bit lower.

Regards,
-- Al