Good speakers for Gaincard under $1500?


Hello,

I have the Silverline SR11 and borrowed a friend's ProAc Tab 50 Sig.

To make a long story short, I am listening to my old NHT SuperOne. SR11 sounds too recessed, and Tab50 sounds too hyper to me. I find the SuperOne more natural sounding than both ProAc and Silverline. Sad day for me indeed...

So, what are some good speakers around $1000 give or take a few Gs to match with the Gaincard? A few speakers that I got my eyes on and can afford and haven't listend to are:

Audio Physics Spark-avaialable used on Agon
Von Schweikert VR-1
Audio Physics Yara
Dunlavy SC1/AV or SC2/AV
HorneShoppe's The Horn
Moth Cicada
NHT 1.5, ST-4 or SB-3

Some speakers I'd love to hear but can't afford:

Rethm entire line
Konus Essence
Silverline Sonatina
Audio Physics Virgo
Dunlavy SC-iii
Von Schweikert VR-4 SE
*crying*

Rest of my system:
Meridian 500
Channel Island VDA-1 and VAC-1
Gaincard
All Bogdan cables except a Virtual Dynamic Audition Power on the transport

Please share your opinions with me. Thanks.
viggen
Your post led me to a conversation with Ronnie. I was very impressed with his knowledge and experience.

Based on what I've heard about both the Konus and Ronnie's Carolina's. I would in know way call the Carolina's a poor mans version by any stretch. In fact I would say that they are just two variations on a similar design using the same great driver. The price difference I think has a lot more to do with the fact the Carolina's are built stateside and sold factory direct whereas the Konus are a dealer sold product built very far away.

Both products make refinements on the original design providing better bass and dynamics... wouldn't it be great to here them side by side....

I may have a chance to here the Konus at a dealer in the near future and I am seriously considering giving the Carolina's an audition at home, they are the ones in my budget anyway. and also give them a comparison to the Kestrel 2's that I'll have at home. Fun stuff....
Hey Chellingworth,

You are right. I am not giving the Carolina's justice by calling it the poorman's Konus. I meant it in a tongue and cheek way. Like you said, they do use the same drivers. I am not sure if the Konus is really different from the design on Ted Jordan's website since Sead co-designed it, and Sead is the maker/exporter of Konus speakers in Bosnia. So, if anything, the Carolinas are an improvement over the Konus if you believe Ronnie is capable of improving on the Konus. And, I do believe he is.

Yah, the Konus are hand built using "Bosnian pine wood" and finished with a rather stylish 6-layer lacquer. The Carolinas use MDF with black satin paint. So, there are some of your cost differences there too. None of which I believe would have an effect on the sound.

You can also order the Carolinas without any finish and do it yourself or hire someone to do it for you. I am contemplating on the latter since I like the Konus look on this thread. But, most my friends like the black better. Art students don't like the wood look I guess.

Oh, and please update us on your experience with the Konus after you hear them.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1202/konusessence.htm
Well, I just placed an order for the JTM speakers. Now I just have to wait 3 weeks for it to be built and shipped to me. I ordered it with extra long speaker cables directly connected to the driver, so there will be no connection issues to deal with.

Also, I ordered the black finish. Carolina speakers only comes in black, white or no finish. And, since Carolina speakers are made with MDF, staining the speakers to look similar to Konus like the one in the enjoythemusic.com link would be difficult.

Dekay, I did come across the Reynauds Twin, and they are actually very good looking. I got the Twin mixed up with the other Reynaud speaker with the top mounted tweeter.
Viggen, and the top mounted tweeters were (let me guess:-) staring @ you? LOL!

I do not care for top mounted tweeters due to our free range cats (such a design is an accident waiting to happen in our household).

The drivers on the Gallo speakers (mentioned above) remind me of big nipples, but I can see how they would look like eyes to some.

If you find the new speakers to be good for the for the long haul you can always have them veneered @ some point.

I will be very interested in your feedback once the drivers have 200-300 hours on them (baby them @ first).
Dekay,

I think we need to start a new thread. Speakers and Psychodynamics.

Perhaps I have insecurities unknown to me and want to be away from prying eyes thus I saw eyeballs.

You saw nipples because... lets not go there haha.

I will let you know how the pseudo-konus sounds and away with this pseudo psychoanalysis.

But seriously, what do you think of the magnet cables that Ronnie uses in his speakers. I think it is a CAT 5? Or, rather, should I send him my own cables? The Bogdans I am using are inexpensive and are the best speaker cables I've used so far.