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Recommend a good Monitor for my existing system

Hello All,
I been reading many of your threads to gain insight into my next purchase. You guys have some great things to say about Audio gear and Music.
I'm looking for a Monitor for my dedicated 11.5 x 17 x 8 h sound room/getaway.
I want to add a speaker with increased midrange magic.
I want Refinement with Involment, Emotion and Comunicativeness.
If you have other speakers to recommend I would like to stay below $1300. new/used. Sounds pretty low but I know it can be done.
I listen to all kinds of music except for rap and country. My current system includes:
Wadia 830, Pass Labs Aleph 30, Audio Electronic Supply Super Amp Signature, Magnepan MMGs (w/mods), REL Storm III and various cables. I will NEVER sell the maggies. The MMG has got to be one of the best speaker values out there. With a couple of mods, good placement (5 feet from front wall) and a decent front end they are hard to beat. I'm on my sixth maggie (IIIa, IIc, SMGc, 3.3, 3.5) along with 20 others including dynamics, electrostats, ribbons, hybrids, horns-STOP...I've had 'enough'; I'm getting off the merry-go-round now. I sold audio equipment at one point, been thru many systems, and many speakers, downgraded my equipment from a high of nearly 50K down to currently(if you only count one amp running, which I do) less than 8K - AND IT SOUNDS MORE MUSICAL THAN ANYTHING I HAVE EVER OWNED IN THE PAST.
I am currently, strongly considering the Sonus Faber Concertinos, ProAC 1SC (used), Epos M12, Quad 11L/12L, Harbeth HL-P3ES, various Spendors and Green Mountain Continuums.
You see, here in Charlotte NC I am in an Audio Wasteland.
Any help from the knowledgable music lovers, audio enthusiasts, audiophiles or audio gurus would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
David
dh114307
greenman
53 posts
 
First of all I would add the ProAc Tablette Sigs, J M Reynaud Trente and Sonus Faber Signums to your list. I have not heard the Epos or the Quads from your list but I find the SF Concertinos to be quite veiled relative to some of the others you list. The caveat is that most monitors like to see more power than you have on tap. This doesn't mean that they won't work, just that you won't get the most out of them.
soix
9,456 posts
 
Don't know how far Raleigh is from Charlotte, but Soliloquy makes some nice speakers there, and their 5.0 monitors have tons of midrange magic and expressiveness if that's what you're after. They should be right in your price range too.
dh114307 OP
9 posts
 
Got an email from a guy about some horns, Loth-X Ion 4's
I have owned several types of speakers but no horns since the late seventies; just before my ADS L810 series II. I discounted them because of the memory I have of the sound- cupped hands, midrange emphasized. Do horns still sound that way? Maybe it was my ss gear at the time. Should this be a design I should keep in mind or does anyone have any recent experience with horns? No crossover, point source wave launch and single driver (instead of multiple drivers with different wave patterns and transient responses- speeds) sounds very tempting. Another route may even be Spendor 1/2e's- spoke to a guy about these. I noticed there are quite a few 1/2e's for sale right now though- does that mean something? The reason for considering the Spendors are the large front baffle wave launch. I remember my ADS L810's had a very desireble sound - just not as detailed as I would have preferred. Now most speakers are designed with a narrow front baffle for better dispersion and better imaging characteristics-but they seemed to have lost something in the process.
Later
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
I feel that the ProAc Response 1SCs and Tablette 50 Signatures I currently own have the qualities you're searching for. They're detailed but not analytical. Have a wonderful midrange and are very involving. And they soundstage very well. Wide, deep and with precision. I will say that I think they benefit by having tubes somewhere in the chain otherwise they can be bright. The tubes reveal their sweetness.

I did own Sonus Faber Concertinos which I liked, but just as a previous poster mentioned, I felt they were veiled and less involving than the ProAcs. Very musical and organic though.

I borrowed a friend's Pass Aleph 3 for a month and the ProAcs sounded beautiful with them. Guitars sounded better with this amp than with any other I've tried, and sound staging was very deep and layered. Narrower than my Blue Circle BC22 and BAT VK200 though. I think the Aleph 30 you own shares the same qualities of the Aleph 3 with one advantage. The Aleph 3 had a very low input impedance which made it a poor match with my preamp. Dynamics were a bit anemic, and bass wasn't well controlled. The 23K input impedance of the Aleph 3 was doubled to 47K in the Aleph 30 which should help it to mate with more preamps.

I have not had the chance to audition many of the other speakers you're considering, however I did hear the Spendor S3/5s at this past CES and liked them. They were smooth and musical, and you should know they make a more revealing version called the S3/5se. I heard both with Talk Electronics gear and preferred the standard S3/5.

Now, I'll have to go out and listen to the Green Mountain Audio Europas!
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