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Need Recommendations for a pair of Speakers around $1,000

Hey All !

Ok, so with wife is good with spending about $1K on a pair of speakers.

I'm not sure of the preamp yet but the amp will most likely be an Adcom GFA-545 not the 545II.

I now have an older pair of Dayton Wright LCM-1's which are more suited to a smaller room.

The new speakers will be in the living room connected to the Adcom and also a signal fed from the TV but I don't want a multi-speaker system. Stereo is fine and if they sound good to me with music the wife will be happy with the TV sound. She just wants them to look good and not have a lot of wires hanging around. We'll be listening to vinyl, CD's, Lossless, FM and possibly music fed through Apple or AT&T fiber optic TV setup.

The living room is 19' w X  29' d with a 12' ceiling, hardwood oak flooring and 4 - 6' tall windows on one wall. The other side wall is open to a long entrance way and 2/3 of the far side is open to the kitchen are.

I thought about a used pair of Klipsch Hersey's but I keep reading comments that they are too outdated compared to advances in audio over the last few decades.

So for around $1K what are some good choices. I'm OK with used.

Thank you !

 

gorquin
rop45
68 posts
 

You asked to compare my suggestion to Golden Ear Aon3.

Note: this is only from reading reviews, albeit with a bit of speaker wisdom applied, ha!

Golden Ears are great for their price and for their size.  You can't go wrong.

They might have an advantage in the tweeter if you like AMT tweeters.

The CSS CRITON 1tdx would have the advantage in bass, and possibly midrange too.  CRITON tweeter is a soft dome with some modern features that lower distort ion.  From what I have read, everyone says they are good enough, one person said he wished they were more detailed.  One more (Thomas & Stereo) YouTube review said he initially wished they were brighter tweeters but over time appreciated them more and more.  He is self-proclaimed "Focal fan boy" (Focal is often regarded as highly detailed) but in the end he said sometimes when I don't want to analyze my music, but instead enjoy it, it is good to switch over to the CSS.

The CSS bass is legendary.  Not just for it's size.  CSS midrange was compared favorably to Sonus Faber (which exemplifies warm midrange). CSS treble does nothing wrong, is never offensive, although some people have different preferences about the treble,

to say the tweeter does nothing wrong - does not call attention to itself is a high compliment (quoting The Audiophiliac)

lanx0003
855 posts
 

List is really too long.  New or used.  Bookshelf or floor stander.  Need to do your own homework.  Read reliable reviews such as Stereophile or on-line.  You will get much better information that is from true experts instead of ad-hoc opinions here.

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

List is really too long.  New or used.  Bookshelf or floor stander.  Need to do your own homework.  Read reliable reviews such as Stereophile or on-line.  You will get much better information that is from true experts instead of ad-hoc opinions here.

I agree, but at least the OP has some names to start out with… so maybe it help?
Or like Devo says, “Freedom from choice” is what we want.

crustycoot
644 posts
 

Focal is offering discounts on the Chora 806, which is a well rounded stand mount. Revel is offering 30% off M16s and F35s. If you are a tool using man, look at Parts Express kits. The Morel Ardon kit or the Amiga MT.  

lanx0003
855 posts
 

@holmz Freedom of choice is what you’ve got here, but I am not sure if freedom from choice is what you want. Do your due diligence first and get the list down to three before home trials. Otherwise I could go with the flow here and throw in the recent hype: Revel M16 $693 pair brand new ($10 30 day home trial from Crutchfield) to show I am willing to help. But am I really helping?

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