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Totally overwhelmed (speakers under $5k)

I am newer to the audiophile community and don't have much in the way of higher end gear to be honest.  I have been upgrading things as I go with my home theater (now Anthem receiver, Martin Logan speakers, and SVS sub) and am now wanting to upgrade my music system that is in my home office.  It is currently equipment that was originally in my home theater that has been replaced.  So I have a BasX preamp, 7 channel solid state BasX amp running 2 channel, T2+ speakers, and cabling all from Emotive.  The wires are basic copper speaker wire with banana plugs on the ends.  And I have an RSL Speedwoofer 10"  subwoofer. My source is Amazon Music HD on a Macbook Pro fed to the preamp by an optical cable. All in all it sounds pretty good but I want to take it up a notch.  

The other day I spoke with James at Raven Audio about cables and he said suggested that I would actually get a lot more bang by upgrading my equipment than worrying about my cables (which is fair).  Of course he is a fan of his own brand's amps and speakers but he also said very good things about Dynaudio and Focal (which I do have some experience with for car audio and headphones).  In doing research on the Raven Audio speakers, I have seen people lauding the Tekton Moab, Aperion Verus III, as well as others.  When I do searches for "best speakers under $5000" I get lots of mainstream review sites that talk about brands like Definitive Technologies, Polk, KEF, Klipsch, SVS, and more.  But they generally don't talk about Ravel, Tekton, or any of those. I assume it is because they are too small. 

Honestly though, at this point I am overwhelmed. Too many brands with too many speakers and where I live there are not a lot of shops to go listen to these higher end speakers. I have seen lots of debates on here along with folks that really have their definite opinions.  Here are my requirements and hopefully I can gain some knowledge, insight, and direction from folks on this site that have much greater experience than myself. 

1) I want speakers that are clear and clean with lots of detail.  But I also want to be able to just listen to the music, being immersed without having my ears ringing from the sharpness after a bit.

2) I want to be able to plug them into my current preamp and solid state amp and be able to enjoy them as is.  Later on, if/when I decide to change the amp to a tube amp, I want them to be able to work well with those characteristics too. 

3) I want the new price to be limited to $5k and under.  I am open to used in the right circumstances but hoping to get a smoking deal on some used $15k speakers (like some Legacy's) is just wishful thinking at this point.  With new, you know what you are getting and will have a warranty.  

4) I listen to all sorts of music so it needs to be able to switch between rock, heavy metal, classical, jazz, hip hop, bag pipes, and everything in between.  

5) Subwoofer is optional.  I have the Speedwoofer currently which is know is not perfect for music (ported).  I am fine upgrading to a sealed SVS at some point or getting towers that don't even need a sub. I actually have an older pair of Infinity SM 125's that I got close to 30 years ago that don't really need one.  

6) Aesthetics are a plus but not a requirement.  I am a function over form guy.  Some of these B&W's, Focals, and others look beautiful compared to the Moabs which are more utilitarian but I am not stress about it. 

7) Size can be whatever.  Again, the Moabs appear to be massive and that is fine but so is something that is much smaller.  The room is roughly 14' by 24' with 9' ceilings.  While it isn't an auditorium, it isn't just a small room either.  

Ok, I think that covers it except to say straight up, I don't tend to care for negativity.  If you have heard something and you don't care for it for X, Y, and Z reasons, great, please say so.  But please don't put something down because you don't like their marketing or you believe that it has to be a $100k system to be worthwhile.  Thank you in advance for your responses. 

ddonicht
elliottbnewcombjr
5,469 posts
 

anywhere near LA?

 

Post removed 
lradder
57 posts
 

It's very easy for someone to recommend speakers that they own. On the other hand,  you can get into a "Paralysis Analysis" spiral. So first, do a bit of research online to understand the "sound" of each brand you think you could be interested in, and how your amp will influence them. Then, try to audition as many speakers in your price range as possible and let your ears make the decision. Just be careful of the amps used in the demos. You've had several good suggestions above such as Monitor Audio, Focal, Bowers & Wilkins, Sonus faber. Your online research will explain that each company has a "sound" specific to their brand, but understand that some over emphasize one level over the others. Some of the above are considered "bright" and others "bassy". Your amp will influence that as well. But by all means, enjoy the process. Don't just listen. Hear. Don't rush to a conclusion considering that you want to enjoy the end result for a much longer period than your initial search.

blancpain1
9 posts
 

Systems are so subjective it really depends on what you like and what sounds good to you and your music type. The more you look at speakers the more you will think you need this one or that one. For 2 channel music, I prefer floor standing full range no sub, for movies totally different story. There are many excellent speakers out there under 5K New or Used. I prefer U.S. made so that limits my choices, but still many excellent ones to choose from. I would almost guarantee, whatever you get you will enjoy, just be careful listening to all the opinions out there that will try and change your mind. As for cables, just about any simple one works just fine.

axo0oxa
98 posts
 

As mentioned you should decide what type of speaker design your ears and heart love and then begin to narrow that design field down by really focusing on that style speaker. Two other considerations you should be thinking of; tubes or solid state to drive the speakers and how much flexibility there is in the room where your equipment and speakers will be placed. If your ultimate goal will be driving them with tubes then this will have a big affect on the efficiency of the speakers you chose and help narrow the field down. If the speakers can be placed far from room boundaries or must be pushed up against them will also will have an impact on which model of speaker you chose due to some speakers not performing their best if not allowed to be moved away from room boundaries or require to be placed in the corners of the room. The last part of narrowing down prior to beginning your listening to a specific speaker design is how far will you be sitting from the speakers and since it is an office will there be a monitor on your desk that will act as a barrier between you and the speakers? Will the room be set up so you have your work desk but also have a listening chair specifically set up for down time from your office work or when you need to just read over work?

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