I'd like to thank everyone for their kind responses; this is very helpful since I am new to higher end audio.
When I started looking, I figured right off that my space would be a problem. What I didn't bargain for, is that speakers good with classical might not handle pop/rock/electronic well. I figured nothing would be more difficult to reproduce than classical so any speaker that could do symphony vaguely right would be fantastic with "easier" music. Live and learn...
Back to my accoustic problems, I live in a loft, so the space would better be described as a living/working/listening space. While its seems improbable to me that any set up within my budget would fill the whole space, its my hope that with some good choices, a corner of it could be made to sound right
.
I don't know for sure if that is indeed possible or if the laws of physics rule even that out. If it is possible, I wonder whether it would necessitate partitioning off a section with acoustic barriers as Plato suggests or if I could possibly get away without it.
In answer to Drubin's question, I have not come to any conclustions yet. I can say that I've enjoyed one thing or another about all the speakers I've auditioned, (except for a pair of planars that I didn't mention in my post and that seemed to really suffer in the bass and excitement departments). I am still very much at a stage where I am educating myself on how to listen and what to listen for- thanks for the l.i.a.r. advice, Duke.
I have auditioned the Vandy 2cesig, and while they seem to have an interesting sound in many ways, they seemed to choke a little when the orchestra goes nuts, as in the last movement of Symphonie Fantastique. Also,they were disapointing to me with pop music. Even something relatively mellow like Tricky's Maximquay lacked the fun and dynamic excietement that I know is in there somewhere. I briefly listened to the 3Asigs, and they seemed to have a bit more of the fun factor, with better bass, but I'm not convinced yet and need to listen again.
I also plan to have a second listen to the Snell XA60's, and just out of curiosity I'd like to listen to the
XA75's, but I have yet to find a dealer that stocks them.
But in both cases, I'm a bit hesitant, in part because of the almost complete radio silence about the Snells.
Has anyone seen a review or heard these? I'm curious to know what specific problems Rtn1 felt they had with classical music.
I'm probably going to have a second listen to the Dynaudios,
(I think the model was Audience S80 or s82 ?).
I have auditioned a pair of Thiels, (the model escapes me and I don't have my notes in front of me), but I remember one of my concerns being that they may have been slightly bright. (I think they were also a little out of my price range at about 4000.00/pair.)
In all of these cases, I'm considering the need for subwoofer(s) to get really full range, but I'm concerned about what kind of complications subs cause in set-up as far as coherence goes.
As for Revel, Onix, and Aci speakers, I have yet to see a dealer that stocks those brands in my area, (Los Angeles), but I'll keep looking- thanks for the suggestions. And one of the reasons that I'd like to steer away from used equipment is that even in the face of an apparant bargain, I dont feel comfortable purchasing something I havn't heard first.
Thanks again for the help everyone, and if anyone has any other thoughts, they would be much appreciated.
When I started looking, I figured right off that my space would be a problem. What I didn't bargain for, is that speakers good with classical might not handle pop/rock/electronic well. I figured nothing would be more difficult to reproduce than classical so any speaker that could do symphony vaguely right would be fantastic with "easier" music. Live and learn...
Back to my accoustic problems, I live in a loft, so the space would better be described as a living/working/listening space. While its seems improbable to me that any set up within my budget would fill the whole space, its my hope that with some good choices, a corner of it could be made to sound right
.
I don't know for sure if that is indeed possible or if the laws of physics rule even that out. If it is possible, I wonder whether it would necessitate partitioning off a section with acoustic barriers as Plato suggests or if I could possibly get away without it.
In answer to Drubin's question, I have not come to any conclustions yet. I can say that I've enjoyed one thing or another about all the speakers I've auditioned, (except for a pair of planars that I didn't mention in my post and that seemed to really suffer in the bass and excitement departments). I am still very much at a stage where I am educating myself on how to listen and what to listen for- thanks for the l.i.a.r. advice, Duke.
I have auditioned the Vandy 2cesig, and while they seem to have an interesting sound in many ways, they seemed to choke a little when the orchestra goes nuts, as in the last movement of Symphonie Fantastique. Also,they were disapointing to me with pop music. Even something relatively mellow like Tricky's Maximquay lacked the fun and dynamic excietement that I know is in there somewhere. I briefly listened to the 3Asigs, and they seemed to have a bit more of the fun factor, with better bass, but I'm not convinced yet and need to listen again.
I also plan to have a second listen to the Snell XA60's, and just out of curiosity I'd like to listen to the
XA75's, but I have yet to find a dealer that stocks them.
But in both cases, I'm a bit hesitant, in part because of the almost complete radio silence about the Snells.
Has anyone seen a review or heard these? I'm curious to know what specific problems Rtn1 felt they had with classical music.
I'm probably going to have a second listen to the Dynaudios,
(I think the model was Audience S80 or s82 ?).
I have auditioned a pair of Thiels, (the model escapes me and I don't have my notes in front of me), but I remember one of my concerns being that they may have been slightly bright. (I think they were also a little out of my price range at about 4000.00/pair.)
In all of these cases, I'm considering the need for subwoofer(s) to get really full range, but I'm concerned about what kind of complications subs cause in set-up as far as coherence goes.
As for Revel, Onix, and Aci speakers, I have yet to see a dealer that stocks those brands in my area, (Los Angeles), but I'll keep looking- thanks for the suggestions. And one of the reasons that I'd like to steer away from used equipment is that even in the face of an apparant bargain, I dont feel comfortable purchasing something I havn't heard first.
Thanks again for the help everyone, and if anyone has any other thoughts, they would be much appreciated.