Candidates for best speakers in the $2000-5000 market


I’m asking for listeners’ experience in this bracket, buttressed by reviews and/or data; I am not a fan of "whatever sounds good to you." Ultimately, yes, that will be the case. But in getting to that point, I’m looking to benefit from the advantage of a thousand pairs of ears rather than mine alone. Those ears can include the inanimate. Thank you.

My experience has included my own Elac 403, Elac 407, and Dynaudio Special 40. Auditions have included various Sonus Faber, and Magico. All of this is in preparation for justifying the leap for an Electa Amator lll or its equivalent. But that’s for another day, another forum.

Ag insider logo xs@2xrichardmathes

I heard a pair of Rosso Fiorentino speakers at Capital Audiofest and they sounded very good.  They sound reasonably fast and clear and delivered impact when called upon to do do without sounding overly harsh or brittle.  I am sorry I don’t recall the specific model (retailed for $17,500, it was a three way, with a sort of pyramid on top of an inverted pyramid appearance).

There is a pair of Harbeth Super HL5 Plus walnut just listed here for $3995.00. I’ve owned every Harbeth minus the 40. The HL5 is my favorite. With the right stands they would be an outstanding choice.

BTW, that asking price is about half when new! Grab them before someone else does!!

LOL, we have as many nominees as we have posts. Perhaps testimony to a good question, right?

If current popularity is a guide, Harbeth, Mission, KLH, JBL and Wharfedale big box, low baffle step throwbacks may be worth a chat as a category of speaker within this discussion.

Because hi-fi is such an immersive technical hobby there’s not much chance of consensus but it might be fun to develop a decision grid by category of good products available between $2k snd $5k.

Reading some love here for 3-5 year old second hand, for example, as a category?

If you're wanting to stick w/monitors to match your gear and buy new, consider Klipsch Heresy. A used pair of Tannoy Stirling or Eaton would sound fabulous, too, and match well, but might be a little large for your wife although they're elegant and furniture-like if that's your bag. I liked them both and they're easily driven by your amp. 

Vandersteen mate well w/pretty much anything except your wife. Dynaudio and Totem monitors are exceptional but your Primaluna won't have the power to open them up.

Having owned all the above and held the same considerations, the Klipsch stand a good chance of making you both happy. Having written that, I picked up a pair of Daedalus Athena v2's for 3500 and they're not leaving anytime soon even in the face of some initial lamentations and protests from my wife. In the end, though, she's happy to see the parade of cartons having come to a close....temporary as that may be give our collective predilection!