2. speakers
  3. 1111733048

Best Speakers below $1000 for my needs

I currently have a sony STR-5000 ES fed by a Toshiba SD-9200 for DVD-A and a Denon 2910 for SACD. I'm looking to upgrade my speakers and I have $1000 to spend. I'd like to stick with monitor size, unless there happens to be a great deal on some towers. I'm looking at B&W's, M&K's, and Dynaudios. I have expereice with Dynaudios from my days as a recording engineer and I really love their sound, but I have heard very good things about B&W's and M&K's.

I listen to everything from jazz, to rock, to dance, etc. I still produce trance/jungle albums so I'd like to be able to monitor some of my board mixes in my living room after working on them in my project studio. So I'm really looking for a well balanced speaker. I'm looking for imaging and resolution more than strong bass.

What would you all suggest?
lupodwdm
mijknarf
266 posts
 
Sounds like a pair of Green Mountain Audio Europas. They image like crazy, are very neutral and while their following is not huge, they do deem respect from even the most demanding audiophile. Can be had new for a grand or used for $600-$700. Read the history here under "Europa". You may even be able to swing a home demo from them. http://www.greenmountainaudio.com
jdcrox
119 posts
 
Strong second on the Europas. Simply amazing speakers.
John
ehider
286 posts
 
The GR Research Criteron or Dilucio is one of the best bang for the bucks in monitor speakers that I have ever heard (and I've heard most). They use crossover components typically only found in $5,000+ speakers.

Creative Sound in Canada is currently selling both of them BELOW the $1,000 price point! Last year these speakers were selling for $1,200 and 1,500 respectively and I was recommending them without question. At these current prices they are an absolute steal.

http://www.creativesound.ca/index.html

BTW: I agree with the Green Mountain recommedations but these speakers are definately up another notch up in performance and value!
lupodwdm OP
1 posts
 
Thanks for the info guys. I really like the looks of both of those speakers. But, what are your opinions on the 3 I listed? M&K, B&W and Dynaudio? BTW...how do the europas and criteron's handle home theater use?
rysa4
266 posts
 
Out of your three in your original post, having sampled all three brands fairly intently, I'd go with the Dynaudio Contour 1.4s. ( They were at 1.3s last time I auditioned them.)

The Green Mountain Callistos I listened to at CES were awesome, although one poster described the midrange as muddy ( I disagree). The Europas are in the same family.

Looking more at your post, the word that pops into my mind is "Genelec" BTW. Not below 1 large though. I think they make some midfield products these days. NHT has some nice studio monitors as well that would serve your music listening needs too.
More to discover