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Your thoughts on best audiophile speakers in $10,000 neighborhood?

I know the best way to select a speaker is to auditioon them at a dealer or in my own home. However, living in a rather rural area in northern Michigan, there's only one reputable dealer (Sonus Faber) in town so I may end up relying on reviews and your feedback. 

I used to own Vandersteen Model 2Cs in the late 1980s, but finally want to step up my game. I currently have a legacy Nakamichi receiver / amp with 1000wpc, but will probably upgrade that once I select a new pair of speakers. Currently I'm playing mostly LPs on a Technics SL1210G. I now listen mostly with a Mark Levinson 5909 headphone connected to a small Class A pre-amp, so I treasure detail and transparency and don't lean toward "warm" speakers.

Room is good size since it encompasses living room and opens to dining room and kitchen behind it. Cathedral ceiling is about 12 feet high. 

I'm considering the following speakers: Vandersteen Treo CT, Wharfedale Elysian 4 (perhaps too big for my room), Monitor Audio Gold 300 and the Sonus Faber Sonetto VIII. These all fit within my budget. What are your thought about any of these...or do you have others to recommend?

Thanks for whatever guidance you can give me.

 

aphilc
westborn
156 posts
 

Congrats on your choice of the Treo CTs.

I was going to say, if you have heard or owned a speaker with a certain ’sound character’ that you like or know that you will miss if you don’t have it, that goes a long way in a future decision. The old saying ’we like what we know and we know what we like..’ A reason to choose outside of that ’preference’ is if you want an entirely different presentation or sea change in technology/upgrade.

Another way to eliminate speakers from contention is to understand what you don’t like (and especially the midrange reproduction). Ie - I have always liked a [midrange] speaker with a paper based driver. I know technology has improved greatly, but over the years, I could almost tell you I wouldn’t buy a speaker with a metal or polypropylene cone midrange driver, regardless of how well it imaged or how accurate it measured..

Staying within a brand you have owned and liked is a safe choice. Enjoy.

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,454 posts
 

Good choice!

ghdprentice
7,267 posts
 

Given my values of musical and natural sounding music Sonus Faber and tube equipment like Audio Research, Conrad Johnson, and VAC is perfect. The combination captures the warmth and depth from a sax or female vocals, but rises to high impact electronic music not sounding sluggish or muted in any way. 

steve59's avatar
steve59
1,789 posts
 

Congrats on your speakers!!! I never ’got’ the Vandy sound, I find the mids to be a little strange, however every show I’ve been to the Vandersteen room is among the most popular and I seem to be among the minority regarding their speakers.

willywonka
278 posts
 

@mglik I know this is an older thread but you claimed to have already purchased the Quad ESL-2812X in April yet even today the X version of this speaker is not available and has not even been announced by Quad yet. I have spoken to the distributer and a popular Quad dealer, and they confirmed this. They have announced its bigger brother the ESL-2912X but even that is not yet available. Did you make a mistake and just get the ESL-2812, or did you have some special connection within Quad to get the X version before they announced them or even acknowledged them? Just interested because I'm considering this speaker if it is ever announced and released. Also, I'm being told the X version of the 2812 won't be sold at $10K but at a higher price, possibly $2-3K higher.

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