speaker suggestions for modest arcam alpha system

Thanks everyone,

John z, i don't blame you for avoiding specific component speaker recommendations, but in this case, it's been super helpful...before this post, i was thinking about paradigm monitor 7v3's exclusively (which are significantly better then the v2s imho)...

but now i think i am sold on looking for some used proac tablettes or Hales monitors with a distant third place going to the soliloquy 5.0s (from reviews, it sounds like the 5.0s may not cater to my musical likeings as much as my top two choices)...

one other speaker group that kept coming up in negative reviews of both the proac tablettes and hales R1 were dynaudio audiance 50 (monitor) and 60 (small floorstander) (not exactly sure if i can get them in my pricepoint though)...any thoughts?

also any thoughts on how the proac tablette 50s compare with the tablette 2000s would be helpful....Mark

Mark - right on. I'll admit I'm sort of spoiled living in the S.F. Bay Area. I can pretty much go and "kick the tires" on any gear you could reasonably imagine within an hour's drive or less.. I would never have even heard of Hales had I not lived near their only northern Cal dealer here in Oakland (back when Hales was still in business). I'd probably have a pair of B&W's or Paradigms or similar in my system today if I hadn't come across the Hales. In fact, people who live in the midwest or southeast would have had to drive across two or three states in some cases to audition them at a dealer! I think there is a lot of really good yet lesser-known gear out there that people discover just by doing what you are doing - putting time into researching what's available that will work well for your particular needs/wants/budget, etc..

Anyway, I've never read an overall negative professional review of the Revelation series speakers. Some may nitpick here or there, but overall most agree this is very good speaker. I think they can easily hold their own and even surpass many newer speakers on the market today.

If you haven't seen it, check out the review of the Rev One at www.soundstage.com in their archives (reviewed in 1998). Very close to my experience with the speaker - not "the perfect" speaker, but very, very good. I don't detect the "slight mid-bass hump" to the presentation on music that the reviewer heard, however. That could easily be due to a difference in the reviewer's and my point(s) of reference! They do sound a tiny bit darkerer than the Hales Transcendence series (model Transcendance 1), but that probably has more to do with the poly woofer in the Revelation series vs/ the magnesium woofer in T1 (twice the price at $2k new in '98 vs. $995 for the R1). And the T1 is much harder to drive and requires more capable electronics to make them boogie. But hey, unless you play them side-by-side, fuggetaboutit. That's stiff competition, indeed. I think the Rev Ones are terrific. No two rooms sound alike and that may be more of a factor with this speaker at this pricepoint than any design flaw, as it probably is with many well-designed and executed speaker on the market. There is something about the tonality of the Hales that really lets me enjoy the music! I feel fortunate to own a pair...

Mark,
I ran across your post(I'm new to this list) but if you haven't listened to Totem's speakers I'd surely recommend them. My stereo guru friend and I went to the hi-fi show here in San Francisco a few years ago and we were absolutely blown away by these rather humble and smallish speakers. Perhaps you're already familiar with them. Good luck in your search. BTW, I have an Arcam Alpha 7 SE, as well. I'm very pleased with its sonics.
Martin Roberts

arthurchoice, you are running the N805 with the Arcam Alpha 8 amp and Alpha 7 cd? You'll better get better electronics for your speakers!

My first system was the Arcam Alpha 10 integrated and Alpha 8 cd player with B&W CDM 1SE speakers. That was about 6 years back and the Arcam electronics are all gone now. I've upgraded the Arcam to Classe CAP-100 midway through and it transformed my system to a much higher league. The Classe is definitely much better than the Arcam. Having said that, I've just upgraded to the Audio Research D130 earlier this year.

M_Laken. I suggest you go for brighter-sounding speakers as the Arcam itself is warm and laidback in nature. Although the B&W's are rather bright speakers but the Arcam-B&W combination was indeed too warm for my taste. Thiel and Proac could be good choices.

Ryder, thanks for the suggestion. In fact, just last week I was looking at upgrading to an Alpha 10 amp. What is the weakest part of my system? The CD or amp? Any suggestions on better electronics would be greatly appreciated.