Help with speaker selection, please

Of the brands mentioned I would choose the Proac 4, but you might want to look into used Avalon Radian HC and if you are lucky maybe used Avalon Opus. Both the latter are better speakers to my ears.

Regards

UlrikGM

When I was shoping for full range speakers, I compared the Proac 3.8's with the Dynaudio 3.3's. Both speakers sell for about the same price. I would recommend you listen to the Dynaudios. Although I primarily listen to cd's (of all genre), the Dyns are also used with my satellite dish, DVD and VCR. They sound great. IMHO the Dyn's were more dynamic with excellent tonal accuracy. The bass was taut, controlled and detailed. The highs had no grain and mid-range was exceptionally neutral. Voices were very life-like. The Proac 3.8's did not sound as dynamic and the bass had a bit too much slack for my taste. Although, I liked the look of the Proac's over the Dyns.

Brian aka TheDautch:

Sounds like you have an interesting system, with so much running through the same speakers!

Unfortunately, even at eight grand a pair, you will have to make tradeoffs.

From this list of qualities, what are the ones you prize most? In what areas are you willing to make compromises? Please feel free to make your own list, of course!

1. Timbre (the natural sound of voices and instruments).
2. Clarity & nuance (you can hear all the details).
3. Dynamic contrast (liveliness).
4. Superb soundstaging for a single listener.
5. Good soundstaging over a wide listening area.
6. Natural-sounding bass.
7. Extreme deep bass extension.
8. Unobtrusive size and visual appeal.
9. Sounds great at low volumes.
10. Sounds great at medium volumes.
11. Sounds great at high volumes.
12. Forgiving of less-than-ideal recordings and sources.
13. Ruthlessly accurate and revealing.

Note that some of these qualities, like the last two, tend to be mutually exclusive.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any speaker that does all of these things well. I know of plenty that claim to. If you're up for arranging this list (or your own) in some kind of order so we can see your personal priorities, you'll be able to pick our brains a bit better. See, it's easy for me as an audiophile and a dealer to tell you what I like, but it would be much more valuable if I can tell you which speakers do the things YOU like!

One final note - your decision to defer your amp choice until after you make your speaker selection is brilliant. In my opinion, the matchup between speaker and amp is the most critical one in a system, especially if you go with an exotic speaker like the Quads or Avant Gardes.

Best wishes to you, Brian!

Audiokinesis:
You have really boil it down regarding the speaker compromise list. I'll keep it handy even for my tweaking since it's so complete!!!!!!!
Very good for all of us even novices!!

Here's my ranking of the categories listed by Audiokinesis, in descending order of importance:

Clarity
Timbre
Contrast
Single-listener soundstage
Accurate
Great at low volumes
Great at medium volumes
Natural sounding bass
Forgiving
Great at high volume
Extreme bass
Wide-listening area
Size
Thanks for the ranking system idea! very helpful

--Brian