$9000 speaker Orangutan or speaker + amplifier

Good and interesting impressions of various speakers. I'd suggest Coincident speakers as another easy to drive and very balanced and honest sounding speaker.Zu seems to be very polarizing brand, there doesn't appear to be a middle ground. There are people who's judgements I respect that say the new Druid V and the Definition IV models are excellent, I've heard neither.

Tonian Labs and Ocellia are two other considerations to mate with lower powered amplifiers. I agree wholeheartedly with Kiddman regarding listening to live acoustic instruments, there's no substitute for hearing the real thing. Live jazz (and also my own trumpet and our piano) are unbeatable templates. There's more full body and warmth of tone with live instruments that many speakers/components tend to thin out and sound artificially lean and colorless. Live is very vibrant with harmonics, tonal and timbral color
Good Luck,
Charles,

10-02-13: Essrand
Dover, Do you really think an upgrade on TT will be better than an upgrade on the speakers (going from VA Haydn to Harbeth) or an upgrade in amplifier (Aleph 3 to Coincident Dragon). Also I am new to Vinyl and this is my first serious TT.

Hi Essrand - you have some nice gear in your present system. If you spend $9-12k on speakers the potential of the speakers will outstrip that of your turntable. The question of where to spend your money depends on how much are you going to use the vinyl front end. If you are going to invest heavily in more vinyl records, then I would suggest you would be better off spending $5k on your TT, and the balance on some speakers that work with your existing gear. On the other hand, sometimes it is more economical to buy the best components you can each time that you buy to reduce the changeovers and the inherent cost of changing gear more often, so if you find some speakers that you really like go for it. Whichever way you go - good luck with your upgrade. My best advice would be to listen before buying whenever possible.

Thanks Charles. We agree. Two to three hours a day I hear myself play, as well as record myself and play it through my system. You need to keep the ears/brain educated. One can improve pitch through practice. A player can improve musical phrase recognition through practice. Likewise, a listener can improve the skills of listening through practice, but not by listening to stereos, but rather real music.

And yes, we agree about Coincident. I don't know if he's brilliant, smart, average, if he has taken technical courses, but he just has to be a good listener. His exhibits sound much more like music than the vast majority. I know of two current HOT brands that could only dream about lower levels of distortion like Coincident achieves.

Sorry Charles, about the typo of lower case "C" on our name.

I think Harbeth versus the Devores will lead down two significantly different paths to get best results. One is high efficiency, one is not. THat alone makes a huge difference regarding what might be needed for best results for a highly discerning listener.

Not all listeners are equally discerning. Those that are not have it easier and are not as hard to please.

If op has not heard many speakers/systems, I agree it would be desirable to get more mileage under his belt with various types and what to expect from each before deciding. Or, just pick one and focus on getting which ever choice it is set up and performing as best it can based on whats best for that kind of speaker. Its all good stuff, but apples and oranges from a pure technical perspective and what will go along with each in order to make shine.