@emerald --
I would go a bit differently here than the direction I assume you’d prefer; if "workman" or industrial looks doesn’t bother you too much, and you can rid (that is: relieve) yourself of any want to "experiment" ad nauseam with amps and expensive cables, I’d choose a pair of actively driven ATC SCM300 ASL Pro:
http://atcloudspeakers.co.uk/professional/loudspeakers/scm300asl-pro/
These are great speakers by any measure and will go up against most anything out there, period. No - and let this be said once and for all: you don’t need a huge sized listening room to make these sing. I’ve heard them in moderately sized spaces, and they sang wonderfully - in the lower octaves as well.
One of the best midranges ever build, twin 15" per side for authentic LF to lower mids, ATC’s recent and self-developed (like the rest of their drivers) 34mm tweeter, and not least active configuration all superbly implemented into a sonically coherent whole. This is a proven design for years in the pro field, build like a tank to last many years - even driven hard and continuously.
Don’t bother their pro origins as anything that’s claimed to fall back negatively on their sound in a domestic environment. That’s just B.S. Anyone with a pair of functioning ears and a minimum ability to openly and honestly assess sound quality will acknowledge the serious merits of these active speakers.
Forego any fancy, finish luxuriating and overly expensive passive "high-end" speakers, and step off the merry-go-round with a sensible, active solution like the above. That’s my advice.
I would go a bit differently here than the direction I assume you’d prefer; if "workman" or industrial looks doesn’t bother you too much, and you can rid (that is: relieve) yourself of any want to "experiment" ad nauseam with amps and expensive cables, I’d choose a pair of actively driven ATC SCM300 ASL Pro:
http://atcloudspeakers.co.uk/professional/loudspeakers/scm300asl-pro/
These are great speakers by any measure and will go up against most anything out there, period. No - and let this be said once and for all: you don’t need a huge sized listening room to make these sing. I’ve heard them in moderately sized spaces, and they sang wonderfully - in the lower octaves as well.
One of the best midranges ever build, twin 15" per side for authentic LF to lower mids, ATC’s recent and self-developed (like the rest of their drivers) 34mm tweeter, and not least active configuration all superbly implemented into a sonically coherent whole. This is a proven design for years in the pro field, build like a tank to last many years - even driven hard and continuously.
Don’t bother their pro origins as anything that’s claimed to fall back negatively on their sound in a domestic environment. That’s just B.S. Anyone with a pair of functioning ears and a minimum ability to openly and honestly assess sound quality will acknowledge the serious merits of these active speakers.
Forego any fancy, finish luxuriating and overly expensive passive "high-end" speakers, and step off the merry-go-round with a sensible, active solution like the above. That’s my advice.