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Budget $3000-3500 new or used

I listen primarily to acoustic jazz, chamber music, singer/songwriters, new and old folk, and love stringed instruments. I also love solo piano and female jazz vocals, which can sound harsh on the wrong speakers in the wrong room. I love every model of ProAc speaker I have ever heard and currently own the D13 small floor standers. However they are not great in my big listening room, which is 21 x 17 ground floor rec room, wall to wall carpeting on cement slab, some GIK Acoustics bass treatment columns on back wall. Room is well damped with floor to ceiling bookshelves of books, CDs and LPs. I have BAT VK55SE mono blocks and VK32SE preamp, with PS Audio DAC2 and transport, Marantz SACD player, Linn LP12/Lingo/Linto, and Squeezebox Touch. I have been happy with the sound in my room for 16 yrs. Recently my Genesis 500 speakers developed a problem and I have to change. I have listened to a few speakers in my price range locally but most local salons focus on home theater not 2-channel audio and so far the only speaker I heard that remotely satisfies me is the new Focal Aria 926. I was not able to hear the more expensive Be floor standing model but heard the Be stand mounted monitors and did not like it as well as the Arias so perhaps the Be tweeter is not for me even if I could afford it. I also compared the B&W CM9 and CM10 (I owned 801 Series III before the Genesis) but still preferred the Arias. I do NOT like the B&W Diamond tweeter models. I have a REL Storm III sub I can use if necessary but prefer not to if I can get away with it. I am tempted to buy some new Silverline Sonatina IV's or some used older Sonata II's offered in my price range, but have never heard either of them. I have no idea how they would compare to the Focal Aria 926 that I also liked. I know neither is comparable to my old Genesis but I am no longer in the market for $15,000+ speakers. I know I like the Silverline sound from the tiny Minuet Supremes I have in my living room with an ARC CA-50 tube integrated amp. I am also curious about the various Zu models available used in my price range, but again have never heard Zu, only read about them. People have recommended KEF and Joseph Audio to me but I have never heard either of these brands. It's foolish to buy speakers you have never heard even in a shop, I know. Can I take a chance since I have some information about the Silverline sound? Has anyone else heard the new Focal Aria line?
sc53
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 

05-01-14: Schubert
Silverlines are great on strings, far better than Maggies.
This flies in the face of about 98% of the audiophile press and my own experience, having grown up with a professional cellist, and having owned speakers with phenolic ring, silk dome, doped fabric dome, fabric-damped titanium dome, and finally Maggie quasi-ribbon tweeters in the Mag 1.7s, whose success prompted Magneplanar to redesign the rest of their line.

Of course, I respect Schubert's opinion and am sure he has plenty of reason to have formed it. But I've found these Maggies (which depart significantly from previous dogma about Maggies) to be very revealing of upstream components and cabling. I got a complete change of personality from switching amplifiers. I'm currently listening to Lynn Harrell's rendition of Dvorak's Cello Concerto, and if there's anything not lacking, it's the string sound.

I tune up my ears on this matter regularly with yearly subscriptions to the Seattle Symphony. I don't want to get into a pissing contest; I only urge you to give a listen to the latest iterations of the Maggies. If your room is right for the 1.7s, use the rest of your budget for a pair of Magneplanar's DWM's or some other quick subwoofers. I use a pair of small, enclosed, powerful ones with mine and they always come through.
sc53 OP
722 posts
 
Now someone is offering a pair of Triangle Stratus Volante for under $3000. Again, never heard them, but have heard good things about these models.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Buying speakers unheard is always a dicey proposition. I only consider used speakers which I have not heard if the seller is local and I have a chance to audition. Sure, you could always resell them if they do not work, but buying and selling speakers just for in home auditions is too much work for me. I'll do it with cables, preamps, even amps, but if I'm buying 200 pounds worth of speakers, I want to hear them first.
Of course, as usual, YMMV.
schubert
7,386 posts
 
Listen carefully to how the slight, but audible smearing of mass strings , makes brass overemphasized .
Of course could be just my ears, but others have heard it too.
All that matters in any case is if you're happy.
sc53 OP
722 posts
 
Interesting development--a pair of dealer demo Genesis 7.1f's are available within my price range. Tall slim floor standers with the sound signature I am used to with my 500's.
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