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Have a listen to Dali Ikon 6's which have a great midrange though could be a little light in the Bass region.
Another speaker is the Monitor Audio RS 8 which although $1400 sounds a lot more
Steve
Well, I was going to recommend auditioning PSB speakers (the PSB Stratus line was/is pretty nice), but their website is pretty useless and they make finding price points friggin' impossible...so screw 'em.
I was gonna say a pair of Meadowlark Ospreys but they aren't made anymore. Maybe you could find a fool who would part with theirs.
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0204/meadowlarkosprey.htm
Maybe these guys have some left http://www.unitedhomeproducts.com/id103.htm
OR how about the Anthony Gallo Reference 3.1?
http://www.roundsound.com/reference-speaker-reviews.htm
I went speaker hunting in about that price range maybe a year and a half ago. For monitors -- which admittedly would all benefit from a subwoofer -- the finalists were the B&W 805S, which I bought, and the Revel and Dynaudio models in that range. I run the B&W's with the port plugs in, and a sub handling the 25-50 Hz octave; with the plugs out, you might not miss the sub. Wonderful clarity, dead honest on transients and midrange tone quality. Without a midbass bump (i.e. with the port plugs in) they're a tad reticent at low volume levels. The Revels were a bit on the brutally-honest side, but I believe both Revel and Dynaudio have revised their lineups since I looked.
WOW! You're so lucky to have such a nice big room for music. I use to have a room a little bit smaller than that, but my ceilings were only 8' high. Your room is much better.
I had a pair of Klipschorns in mine for 17 years. They need a very big room to breath. I wanted a speaker that was as dynamic as live music, it came closer than any other I had heard. We all have different wants from equipment, for me it was dynamic range, a nice finish (they were in the living room)and a big sound. Today I have a room that's smaller than some people's closets (9x12)so I listen in the nearfield now. I don't know what speaker would be best for you, but with a room that size, you have a lot of choices. I think you're much more limited when you have a smaller room. I think finding just the right speaker is like finding just the right instrument, after you've tried it for a while, it will just feel/sound right, compared to the others. Good luck!
Bermuda Bob makes some great observations.
Look on Ebay for a pair of used Klipsch La Scala speakers.
I've got a pair that I've played with and they may really satisfy you.
They are easy on the amplifier and have good speed and dynamics.
To my mind, they need a subwoofer to really light things up, but a used pair can be had for maybe 1100 dollars or so, leaving lots of budget room for woofing it up!
Bermuda Bob was spot on.
There are some Meadowlark Ospreys on AudiogoN right now for $1575. Too bad you have not heard them, but maybe you could take a chance?
Just in case this helps: I've heard them, too, and they were amazingly good!
They were so good, I can't believe they don't make them any more.
Very musical, easy to listen to, good speed - really a fine all arounder.
Anybody know what became of the company and its designers?
There was this.
I saw those meadowlarks and was tempted, but a little risk averse since I couldn't listen to them at a dealer locally.
Anyway - I logged on last night local craigslist (seattle), and found a pair of Martin Logan Aeon's for $1200. SInce it was local, there was no shipping fee. To cut a long story short - I rushed over there, they were in perfect condition, the guy had just upgraded to some newer model speakers, and had the Aeon's in a room 1/4 of the size of where I'm planning to have them, and they just sounded wrong - insufficient room to breathe. ALso, one of the LEDs was out.
I offered him $1k and he accepted - feel like I got the deal of the century. I brought these home and they literally sing with all the open space I have. The bass is much better than I expected, and I figure for $1k I can buy a velodyne sms-1 and an outlaw lfm-1 to round at the bass (if I need to do so later).
I think I'm going to have fun this weekend rediscovering my music collection.
thanks everyone for their advice. I wound up going with the ML's because I just got so sucked into the clarity and beauty of the soundstage....
that said - I was very tempted by the Paradigm 100's - but the local deal on craigslist for those was $800 more...
btw - thanks for the advice on the IKON6 - I did drop by a store locally and have a listen, but not quite what I was looking for.
What a great ending!
That's a steal of a deal on a beautiful sounding speaker.
Congrats!
Stick around and keep us posted!
Excellent!
Not to suggest that you need it nor to encourage running out immediately to get one, but the Velodyne sms-1 is truely wonderful. If you conclude you need bass management it is an excellent tool. I love mine.
Hi
This might be a stupid post and ive asked similar questions elsewhere but never really satisfied my curiosity.
I constantly seek a more powerful sounding two channel system while maintaining the clarity of midrange i like. ie im sure you have all had similar feelings where it would be great to have the musicality of say a quad 22 with the rock slam of some big box definitive technolgies or klipsch RF 83's etc. Its always a trade off between the subtle and the powerful. Of course if you can afford some of mega equipment out there you can have both but im limited to spending maybe $1-2K per peice of kit not $10-20k to really get what im looking for.
Reading these posts about electrostatics being reinforced with a sub is effectively what im talking about. Has anybody done this successfully and got the utopia of excellent midrange/treble yet got good integrated tight bass ? its not bass extension of course that is the issue its the integration of bass and bass slam in that 40-120 Hz range that gives rock drums and bass guitars that driving rhytmical quality that a good live performance has.
So bottom line does the SMS - 1 let you fully integrate a sub into a two channel system in the manner Ive tried to explain ?
Looking forward to a positive answer !!!
Steve
You need to go audution a pair of Martin Logan "Vantage". With built in 250 watt amps driving the woofers you can forget the sub if what you are after is the SLAM and not the extension.
The SMS-1 will let you equalize the sub only, which should only be operating in the below 80hz range.
My lowly bi-amp'd Martin Logan Aeon i's with a EQ'd SVS sub operating below 60hz gets it done for me! Slam & extension!
RG
The sms-1 will handle the integration of such a setup as well as anything else out there, but mating a sub to a electrostatic or similar is always going to be a challenge.
Many like the sound of Maggies partnered with a Carver sub. The ML's with built in subs also sound very nice.
The Newform 645 is an excellent speaker in your price range. You can get the version 2 used for about $1250 to $1500. The newest iteration, version 3 will run you about $2800. The speakers are very dynamic, transparent and efficient (91db). I used to own a pair of Apogee Duetta Signatures (a fine speaker also), but I sold them to find a better match with my tube amp. The Newforms answer the mail. I'm very pleased. The link is to their website.
Mike
http://www.newformresearch.com/r645v3.htm