Non-fatiguing speakers in $10K range?

Hi @mikhailark I just got back from T.H.E. Show audio expo in SoCal last weekend. Addressing your specific question I listened to 2-3 speakers that might interest you. The Legacy Aeries was auditioned in the room and for a ribbon tweeter, sounded smoother than I expected; certainly smoother than what I have heard before. Maybe the Signature SE or Focus used is an option for you. They use similar components, and owning a ribbon speaker myself, fatigue or harshness can be an issue. Also the beaming quality. The Aeries had none of that.

Have you heard of Lansche speakers? Their 5.2 was what they were playing through and that’s $60K. But their entry level 3.2 I found used for $12K (new $30K). Same plasma tweeter and OMG what a sweet pleasant sound! Extremely coherent sound as well. One of the few speakers that sounded well balanced. Haven’t absorbed all the tech concerning the plasma tweeter but it sounded so easy to listen to.

I did also enjoy the Fyne 502SP but since the Tannoys didn’t quite do it for you, maybe skip the Fynes? May be worth a listen? Let us know what you do!!

- PS - How much room ya got to the front wall? Those Borrensen X3 would be great but need a lot of room to breathe. The Fynes are bottom ported, so is the Lansche I think so closer to wall placement s/b OK. Legacy sealed so those are good for closer placement, too.

@deep_333 too bad you only have two ears :)

@mikhailark , thank you for the additional information.

That’s a nice big room, which imo implies that you will probably want fairly high voltage sensitivity for use with your 30-watt Pass Labs amp. You might consider speakers with a voltage sensitivity in the 94 dB ballpark. By way of comparison, this would put you in the same SPL ballpark as a pair of Revel Salon 2’s driven by 200 watts per channel.

When faced with the prospect of having to move fairly heavy speakers up and down driveways and stairs, I invested in a dolly with large pneumatic tires and nylon stair-skids. It wasn’t cheap, but I’ve gotten nearly two decades of use out of it for a variety of roles beyond moving speakers. Something like that might widen the range of options you can consider.

Another possibility is planning from the outset to use subwoofers for the bottom end, so that the size and weight can be distributed among multiple smaller loads, even if the total size and weight ends up being greater.

The Pi Speakers 3Pi with the Delta Pro 12 upgrade, or the 4Pi, plus at least two subs, are what I would suggest. Normally these are kits but I think Pi Speakers either has a builder or can put you in touch with one. The things I do are conceptually similar and imo Wayne Parham is a superb designer. The custom-designed horn he uses is excellent, and Wayne was one of my crossover-design teachers.

Duke

@mbmi - out of cusiosity, why do you think GR is a crapbox. Engineering appears sound and so are measurements. I have engineering and math background in signal processing so I can read charts and waterfalls and such. Can't find any measurements for Børresen and they seem to hide specs pretty deep in their Web site.

Some of Børresen engineering solutions appear to be questionable - ex, lots of small ports typically produce more port noise than one large port at the same port velocity…and that speaker has almost 100 ports? Two 4.5" woofers is about same as a single 6.5" driver, which is pretty small IMO and most probably require a decent sub. This takes the system way over $10K and I am not willing to spend more.

Also, there are no dealers close to PNW, nearest is in San Diego, I think.