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September 16, 2013 - 11:42am
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Speakers for Classical (Orchestral) Music ($2k/pair)
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consider also Focal Profile 918, SVS Ultra Towers, and Vandersteen 2ce signature II. The last one is around $2400.
The Monitor Audio Silver RX6 would be my first.choice, by far.
If you subscribe to Stereophile, you will notice that they place them in Class B of Recommended Components, where many speakers cost 3 to 6 times as much. They are an incredible value for the price, only $1250 per pair.
The company also makes matching speakers if you want a 5-channel matching set.
My second choice would be the PSB Image T6, which i had for two years; they are very good.
I replaced them with a set of Vandersteen Treo speakers, which are incredibly good-sounding, but they are $5995.
The Vandersteen 2Ce is excellent, but the 16-inch width makes them problematical to place or fit in sometimes.
In the long run, however, IMO you will need to get a better amplifier to fully utilize the performance available from either of those sets of speakers.
There are several good integrated amplifiers from Musical Fidelity, Arcam, Creek, and others. If you want a 5-channel system, however, the only real high-quality sound available IMO is the Cambridge Audio AVRs. The sound quality of all the other AVRs is not in the same range.
I was able to audition these speakers in my home a few months back. The RX6 held its own against the Q900 in every respect except imaging and soundstage. If I do take the stereo route over multichannel, I would choose the Q900; but for multichannel I think I'd prefer the RX6 - because of its modest size, a five-identical-speaker setup would be quite doable with my room constraints.
I also heard the Magnepan 1.7 at a dealer and was quite intrigued with its clean boxless sound. It will probably be difficult to get an in-home audition with this model, however. Can anyone comment on its performance with classical music? I can imagine that smaller scale works sound wonderful on the Maggies, but what about larger scale orchestral music? Also, would they sound good at a close listening position (6-9ft)?
As an ex-Magnepan owner I can testify to their suitability for Classical, Jazz and acoustic music in general. If you have the room, they may be what you're looking (listening) for. One caveat: An AVR receiver may not have enough power to adequately push a pair of 1.7s. In general Magneplanars need some real 4 Ohm power.