New cart for under 1K

Jjremnman:

The speakers I heard recently were the GoldenEar Aon 3 standmount speakers at $999/pair. They are a stone cold bargain. Their midrange and bass is as good as their treble, which is saying something. In fact, the Aon 3's bass quality, balance, and extension into the 30's is in the same league as a 41" floorstander with--say--a 10"x12" footprint like my Mirage OMD-15s or Monitor Audio Silver RX-6s.

GoldenEars are well distributed. I strongly recommend you audition their lineup. They hit way above their price points.

I've also heard their flagship Triton Two, but there are things about the Aon 3 that I like better. Sure, the Aon doesn't go as deep or play as loud as the Triton Two, but the smaller cabinet with no parallel surfaces is remarkably quiet and devoid of obvious cabinet colorations. I'm also keeping an eye out for the new Triton Seven, scheduled for June release. It's a passive floorstander with a D'Appolito array augmented by side-firing passive radiators; $1399/pair, no stands required.

One thing I have begun to notice in myself, is that metal dome tweeters are just too harsh for me. Soft dome or ribbon are more to my liking. I've not hear enough of the air motion types to form an opinion yet.

Johnnyb53,

A buddy of mine bought a pair of Martin-Logan Motion series on my recommendation and the retailer had them on sale for 50% off. When I listened to them, I was really impressed by the smooth quality of the highs. As a matter of fact I was a little pissed that my speakers retail for 6K and he spent 500 bucks and they sound better (at least in the highs). Anyway, I went online and discovered the method in which they are manufactured. It's very interesting how they layer and fold over the materials to create the tweeter. And it's logical that the sound produced is smoother than metal domes. When I was in my teens I remember Infinity speakers being very popular due to the ribbon tweeters. Back then they were one piece of ribbon that only handled approximately 2 watts. Hence, people that were turning up their rock were blowing the tweeters. Infinities response was to insert an array of multiple ribbons.

What about the Anthony Gallo 3.5's? Has anyone listened yet? I saw them at the NYC show this past April but didn't give them a run since the room was too crowded.

Davidlillis: Those Infinity tweeters were from their EMIT series of drivers, correct? I sold stereos in SoCal in the mid-'70s including ESS. Their Heil AMT tweeter (the basis of this current crop of folded tweeters) were incredibly fast and clear. They could also handle a fair amount of power. The current ones take up much less space; the old ESS AMTs had a huge magnet structure.

I'm really glad to see air motion transformer tweeters come back. I'm really thinking about getting some GoldenEar Aon 3s or Triton Sevens for the living room.

Also, for a computer desktop or small home studio, the Emotiva Airmotiv line of powered monitors with folded ribbon tweeters should provide some great bang for the buck. The entry-level Airmotiv 4 is only $349/pair.