getting a little obsessed with my first purchase

I browsed the full-range speakers for sale here, and found you an ABSOLUTELY KILLER DEAL on a superb pair of older speakers. This is the Snell Type A. This was one of the finest speakers of its day (which was, admittedly, 20 years or so ago). The Type A was a two-piece per side system with a downward-firing woofer in one wide box, then a midrange & tweeter in a large wide box that sat on top. This upper box was smoothly curved to minimize diffraction, and gave excellent soundstaging even up against the wall. Actually, these speakers were designed to be placed up against the wall. The voicing was very natural, and the bass quite deep and solid. It's been twenty years since I heard a pair, but they were the finest speakers I'd ever heard at the time. Omigod lovely rendition of vocals.

This speaker was sadly discontinued but remains (in my mind at least) one of the most intelligent designs of all time, taking into account so many aspects of sound propagation and psychoacoustics. I don't think anything like it has been built since, probably because it would be so expensive to build. To pick up a pair in fine working condition for six hundred bucks has got to be one of the best deals around.

Here's the link to the ad: http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?spkrfull&1016766537&class&3&4&

If you absolutely can't bring yourself to get a speaker this old, then consider a pair of Vandersteen 2CE Signatures (warm & rich sounding). http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?spkrfull&1018741034&class&3&4&

But frankly the Vandy 2CE's aren't in the same league as the Snell Type A.

I'd suggest a pair of Totem Rokk's, they come up for sale here every now and then ~$500. Go to Totem's website and take a look, they are really nice speakers (both visually and sonically). Jeff

i've heard the def tech's. they are very good speakers, but you also might want to look into b&w 601's and 602's (series 2, which unlike the s1's have the same tweeter as the much more expensive nautilus line). they go for about $250 (601's) - 400 (602's)used. you could probably get a pair of 602 s2's for your fronts, 601 s2's for the rears, and the matching center for right around $800 used. these are very, very good speakers. equally at home with music and theatre. for your size room, they should be perfect (you might even be okay with 4 601's + center).

i think it would be a little premature to drop $700-800 on two speakers given your current set up. if you're talking $700-800 used, your up in the $1200-1600 retail range for a (i'm guessing here) <$400 A/V receiver? i think it would be much more worthwhile to use that money for a full set-up of b&w's (or something comparable). to be honest, it might be worth it to buy a pair of used 602's and spend the rest of your allocated money on upgrading to a nice two channel integrated amp (there are some great ones out there for $400-500 used). however, given that the sony was a gift from a very thoughtful GF, i can see how that would be virtually impossible!

the 601's and 602's are speakers that will last you through quite a long chain of upgrades. they are that good. plus, since b&w just released the series 3 versions, used s2's are going for very reasonable prices. throw in a decent pair of stands, and you are looking at a fine entry level HT/2 channel rig.

happy listening,
EWHA

I had a VERY bad experience with the 2006tl. Read my review on audioreview.com for details. I would stay away from power towers if I were you. I went with B&W N804s instead - quite a jump in price, I know, but well worth it.

Can't really make any recommendations at this point. But, I'll reiterate that I didn't like the 2006tl AT ALL. Many others may disagree, but I think you can do better.

I would stay away from the Def. Tech's. They are not, in my mind, close to the best you could do for that price. You don't see TOO many used on this site because Def. Tech isn't considered (by many, not all) to be a true high performance loudspeaker. Hence, many people who own these speakers don't frequent this site.

My picks (used, of course) for you would be:

Triangle Zephyr
B&W Matrix 805's
ProAc Tablette 2000's
Meadowlark Kestral Hot Rods

I would lean toward monitors in your case, because of your smaller room. If you go with monitors, however, factor in at least another 100 for decent stands. Cheers!

Brian