Best $1,500-ish New or Used Floorstander -


Hello,

After pouring through many posts over the last few weeks, I thought I would tap the collective Audiogon genius for advice on my quest to get back into the hobby. I have been a many year (decade?) fan of the community (lurker) but wanted to engage directly as I look for a good set of speakers for a 2 channel system I will be building.

What should my short list look like for speakers in the $1,500 range?

I am very open to used, but if there are any current production speakers that eclipse the used value equation I'll certainly give them deep consideration.

My room is "lively" and roughly 15 x 20.

Associated electronics: TBD - but budget commensurate with speaker pricing.

I'd like "well rounded" speakers in terms of music genre - not focusing on speakers that do well for "opera" and not rock, for example. If anything I'd like to make sure they "rock" though.

If you had $1,500 to spend on speakers that you hope last you many years - what would you get?

Thanks!
968firehawk
Many thanks to the community for your guidance - I'll second the special call-out for Johnnyb53. Much appreciated!

I made it out to my local Magnolia/Best Buy to listen to the Monitor RX6&8's lat night. Great advice! The demo conditions were less than ideal, but gave me a good indication of the potential. I'll take some of my music and try to give them a good listen.

To further muddy the waters, I hooked up my old Madisound stand-mount 2-way speakers with a Polk sub... I am now thinking sub/sats could be satisfying in my room. I like the idea of being able to invest in a good sub to match down the road.

So, I'm open to 2 way bookshelf speakers, but still leaning towards floorstanders.

In a perfect world, something not too difficult to drive, keeping my amp options more free. (I know you can't have it all for $1,500....)

Thanks again,
Energy RC-70 at Vanns. Beats speakers costing double the original retail price ($2k).
I have seen three or four ads in the past two years for Aerial 10T's for around $1700. In my estimation the 10T's are as good as any (and better than most!) speakers mentioned in this thread!
I would contact Tim Kroll from Shelby Kroll to see if he has any more of his B stock Nano Monitors left and get the matching sub at a later time. Awesome speakers and the sub is supposed to be awesome as well.
They haven't been professionally reviewed yet but they will be with a price increase surely to follow
Hi Guys - As an update, I snagged the pair of Monitor Audio RS6's advertised here. They should arrive Friday. While well under my budget, I think they will be a great value and stepping off point - down the slippery slope!

Many thanks for the guidance and advice.

Now off to researching a nice integrated to match.