Jcbach,
Having seen your musical choices makes it somewhat easier to suggest several speakers within your price range since, like you, my music repertoire leans heavily toward classical & opera (60%) with the remainder shared among jazz vocal, jazz instrumental, blues, big band, folk, rock, world and miscellaneous electronica in this particular order.
The names that came readily to mind are:
1. JM Reynaud (Offrande): known for palpability, expressiveness, immediacy, clarity & warmth. Great for Classical and Jazz, although the specs don’t look outstanding. 4 Ohms, 89dB/W/m, 30-20000 Hz. There are a few currently available on A’goN for under $4K.
2. Totem Acoustic (Forest): same as above. The specs don’t tell the whole story but let your ears do the judging. 4 Ohms, 87dB/W/m, 33 Hz to 20 kHz +2. Again, very versatile but the least efficient speakers of the 4 choices.
3. Chesky C-1: I heard these at the HE2003 and thought they were so refined! There were a few of us in the room who were classical & jazz fans. We were so taken by the speakers that we ended up staying about 1 hour and a half playing Mozart, Mahler, Dvorak and various Jazz tracks. The C-1’s were driven by a pair of Atmasphere monoblocks. 6 Ohms, 89dB/W/m, 40Hz - 25 kHz (+/- 2 dB). The only let down is with Renaissance Baroque music where I felt they could be livelier.
4. Meadowlark Audio (Heron-i, old model): Same as above. A tad laid-back. Blossoms with tubes though. Great on classical and Jazz. I currently own these and most likely will go with the JM Reynaud Concorde or Totem Wind in the future.
These a are revealing speakers and should be complimenting the quality of your new amp. Again, some may not agree with me. But c’est la vie.
Having seen your musical choices makes it somewhat easier to suggest several speakers within your price range since, like you, my music repertoire leans heavily toward classical & opera (60%) with the remainder shared among jazz vocal, jazz instrumental, blues, big band, folk, rock, world and miscellaneous electronica in this particular order.
The names that came readily to mind are:
1. JM Reynaud (Offrande): known for palpability, expressiveness, immediacy, clarity & warmth. Great for Classical and Jazz, although the specs don’t look outstanding. 4 Ohms, 89dB/W/m, 30-20000 Hz. There are a few currently available on A’goN for under $4K.
2. Totem Acoustic (Forest): same as above. The specs don’t tell the whole story but let your ears do the judging. 4 Ohms, 87dB/W/m, 33 Hz to 20 kHz +2. Again, very versatile but the least efficient speakers of the 4 choices.
3. Chesky C-1: I heard these at the HE2003 and thought they were so refined! There were a few of us in the room who were classical & jazz fans. We were so taken by the speakers that we ended up staying about 1 hour and a half playing Mozart, Mahler, Dvorak and various Jazz tracks. The C-1’s were driven by a pair of Atmasphere monoblocks. 6 Ohms, 89dB/W/m, 40Hz - 25 kHz (+/- 2 dB). The only let down is with Renaissance Baroque music where I felt they could be livelier.
4. Meadowlark Audio (Heron-i, old model): Same as above. A tad laid-back. Blossoms with tubes though. Great on classical and Jazz. I currently own these and most likely will go with the JM Reynaud Concorde or Totem Wind in the future.
These a are revealing speakers and should be complimenting the quality of your new amp. Again, some may not agree with me. But c’est la vie.