Started with $1k speakers … what now?
I got into this hobby during Covid, browsing YouTube reviews my first speakers were Polk L100s and Sonus Faber Lumina 1s. Not bad as an entry point, but wondering what would be the next level is where a speaker is built with fewer compromises in the drivers and crossover design. My hope was that in the $5k range truer “hifi” entry points may be found in a small room system with a REL t5x. My source and amplification is already in the $5k range.
I visited a hifi store recently but was overwhelmed by the amount of choice and unsure what would be an upgrade based on first listening impressions alone.
Thanks in advance for any insights.
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- 85 posts total
@jdavis234 I had a budget to spend up to $10k on monitors for my small office, 12 x 11 x 9 (I use my closet to stuff my desk and 6 monitors so another 4 feet). I use a SilentPC so no noise from this setup. I was thinking of the following monitors:
All very good to great and costly. However, the main thing to consider is the room. Experience with other speakers in this room told me that I would have difficulties getting any of those monitors to work perfectly in the small space (maybe not the Vivid). I lucked out and tried the $1000 Magnepan LRS+. This speaker produces a huge wall of sound and disappears in my room. The room is acoustically treated and the LRS+ seems to play the nicest in this space. I think the sound is directed differently than the others I list. Maybe less reflections which can really mess up the sound in a small space. I also use the KEF KC62 sub with the LRS+ and it works seamlessly. It sounds like 1 speaker. Only issue with the LRS+ is that it is hard to drive. I found a perfect amp for it. A used Sanders Magtech ($4k with warranty from Sanders). A CODA #8 would also work nicely. If you want baby steps the PeachTree GAN400 works rather well with it. It is about $1k and it does not complete with the Sanders but gets you about 80%. A great starter amp for the LRS+. Another option for a small room is the KEF LS50 Meta + KEF KC62 sub. That does not have the massive sound of the LRS+, but it has its own charms and its a sleeper setup, I had it before. I would get this pairing over the KEF Reference 1 for a small room, no matter what experts say. The LS50 Meta can also be driven nicely by 100 watts, whereas the LRS+ needs a lot more juice.
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@ltmandella ProAcs are also on my audition list. For what it’s worth, I’ve read from one online retailer that they mate well with the Artera.
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at this point you have to go to two or three other HiFi stores and listen. if you ask people online and start talking to Us in the peanut gallery you won’t be successful since many “experts” here are not experts or will recommend things you like. The best dealer I found is GTT Audio. Give them a call with some real budgets with some real money. most speakers under $10,000 aren’t made very well. There is just not enough budget in something that costs 500-1000 to make to really sound good. And if they cost 500-1000 to make they are $2500-5000 retail price. If you want to go cheap get magnepan .7 and buy real subs from REL and get S510’s! The T5-T9 rel’s are made in china and for home theater more than 2 channel. |
- 85 posts total