The Paradigm Studio 100 Reference ($2400) is a strong contender.

Triangle Celius

You should be there with a street price.

Vandersteen 2Ce $1700, an excellent value. http://www.vandersteen.com/pages/Pdffiles/31978_eprint.pdf

Von Schweikert VR3 $2400 http://www.vonschweikert.com/reviews/HIFIMUSIKVR3.htm

NHT 2.9 $2500 http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/320/index.html

Paradigm Studio 100 $2500 http://www.paradigm.com/en/pdf/reviews/fronts/studio100_review_209.pdf

B&W 704 $2200 http://www.theabsolutesound.com/newsletter/147/bw_704.html

Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Piano $3500, more than you wanted to spend but worth it or find them for your price or under used. http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/269/

All of these have different qualities, so of course the pudding is in the listening.

New Triangle Celius with full warranty discounted:
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1184604642

Quote:
I'm looking to get some speakers to match some YBA gear -- 3 series pre, amp, and cd. I'd like to get some towers with decent extension (to avoid y-splitting the audio signal into a subwoofer) for under $2500. I listen mostly to blues, jazz, indie rock, classic rock and hip-hop. That said, tight bass has always been a requirement of mine; I'd rather have punch than boom. The room is typical bedroom size, about 9x12 with a 9 foot ceiling and is not used for home theater, only music.

dealer pricing on them. Anything I'm overlooking? Maybe B&W? Let me know what you like.

Thanks,

Cam

Some of the current Infinity lineup is evidently quite good, and far better than the prices would indicate.

In another direction entirely, I recently heard a pair of ESLs with subwoofer that were very interesting. They were the 400i model from Final Sound with one of their powered subwoofers. Other than some Quads, I have never really liked ESLs, but I rather liked these. (I also really liked the stacked KLH 9s I heard at the same show, but I don't have room for them even if I could get a pair.)

How about something from PSB? He has plenty of models within your price range, and he's a very well-respected designer. I've heard a couple of his models and liked them.

Paradigm or Pinnacle might be worth a shot.

Audio Concepts (ACI) has their Sapphire which is excellent. It would need one of their subs, but in your size room a sub you can move around for best bass would be a good idea IMO.

Jim Salk of Salk Sound has some excellent speakers too, plus his woodworking makes them fine furniture. The HT2s are a bit more than $2500, but he's been talking about a new design that will be available soon that will be about $1500 and it looks to be a mighty impressive design. It will also evidently play a 38 Hz tone loud enough to rattle loose stuff in your room.

Last night I was at dinner party of a recent faculty hire at the local university. After dinner some of us went into his music room where we listened to his system consisting of a Rega P5 with a Goldring 1042 MM, Rega Saturn CD, McIntosh C220 preamp, McIntosh MC252 power amp, and Human 88-41 speakers (His wife sold real estate in upstate NY). I was quite impressed with the overall quality of the components he had put together. The system was right up there with the best I have heard. Later I asked him why he had $2200 speakers where the rest of the system cost almost $10000. His reply was that they had listened to many speakers, some which cost $10000 a pair, and kept coming back to the Humans. They are admittedly old technology, but they sure sound good, especially with some exquisiteness behind them. For $620, I think I may buy a K8841 kit and build a pair.

What about the JM Lab Chorus 836V? Yes, it's $3000, but it has to be a strong contender.

You can get the Focal JM Lab Chorus 836V online for under $2600.

Quote:
You can get the Focal JM Lab Chorus 836V online for under $2600.

Where on line? Thanks.

http://www.surroundcity.com/FOCAL-JM-LAB-CHORUS-836V-P2032C228.aspx

Yes, please do. Do you have a web site for these speakers?
Thanks.

I, and I suspect several others here, look forward to your review of your new James speakers. Very few would dispute that the listening room with its sonic characteristics is the make-or-break component in all systems. Many would agree with Coombs' (is that the correct spelling?) notion that some better approach than room treatments would be welcome. Whether your experience with his tunable crossovers convinces you that he has found the best answer will be interesting to hear.

I don't know enough about his approach to understand how it may differ from simply putting some Eq in the signal path, but I'm curious to hear your evaluation of how well it works.

My suggestion is (along with others) the Paradigm Studio 100. It is a very good speaker from a very good company. Considering the euro-dollar exchange rate, any european made product is overpriced at the US.

Cam,

Either you get one heck of a discount or the James dealer, here, jacks up the price quite a bit. I went there yesterday and had a listen to the S-103. These speakers were impressive and the AFDC had a good range but for nearly $5,000 a pair they were WAY over priced.

For <$2500 (pair), yes they are a great buy but certainly not worth $5k. If you come across any other B grades let me know.