Quality Speaker for <$2k

[TjMV3]

Fred et al.

I also dropped the Dali Ikon 6. I heard them in the best possible conditions and it was good but didn't feel a strong emotional connection to the music and soundstaging was average.

Emotional connection?

Try the Jamo C607, I suggested.

Sweet, very musical and the emotional connection is awesome.

Any speaker I have, has to be good with musicality and emotional connection. That's why I stay with my Wharfedale Opus 2 in my main system and the Jamo speakers in every other system in the house.

If you're in the UK, audition the Jamo C807 and C809 floorstanders. A step up from the C60 (C607) Series, a bit more expensive, too. But equally sweet, melodic/musical and well-balanced. Just a bit better than the C60 Series.

 

[jostenmeat]

Fred et al.

Thank you for all the advice.

The Dynaudio Focus look great but I;m not willing to spend that money yet on a system.

I also dropped the Dali Ikon 6. I heard them in the best possible conditions and it was good but didn't feel a strong emotional connection to the music and soundstaging was average.

From the feedback and additional reading, I'm narrowing down my search to:

I've seen Dynaudio Contour towers sell on the gon for 2k before.

Another +1 to Ascend Acoustics, with money in the pocket, unless you add subs, and still be within budget.

Another +1 to BG.

I personally own both PSB and Martin Logan, and I'd be pretty happy with the above lines. Never heard Paradigm, Dali, Jamo, Energy, SVS, Salk (which has got really great press recently).

Just keep doing what you're doing. I took half a year myself.

 

[jsholland70]

I have to throw my hat in the ring for the Revel F32s. They sound extremely good for $2000 a pair and have bested many other speakers in double blind listening tests.

 

[mizuno]

Hi jsholland70,

whenever I search for the revel F32, I get quoted $3000/pair. Where could i get your price?

 

[mizuno]

receiver question

Forgive my ignorance, but when speakers seem to be a little off frequency-response wise e.g., too much bass, not enough high end, energy dip,...how much can a good receiver (e.g. Integra NR906 or Marantz 5003) equalize this out during the autoEq calibration?

 

[Matt34]

Hi jsholland70,

whenever I search for the revel F32, I get quoted $3000/pair. Where could i get your price?

The pair I linked to was for a used set ($1800) on Audiogon. I take it you live overseas so I guess that won't do you any good.

 

[jsholland70]

I applogize you are correct. I was thinking they were 2000 but that was per speaker. You might want to try the Monitor Audio RS6s. They have a very even frequency response and are very dynamic so they work very well with both music and movies. With speakers, the bass frequencies are generally more effected from the room acoustics than even the speaker and most EQs are only effective up to about 350hz. Above that even the good ones get sketchy.

 

[fredk]

3. I will definitely do more research on the Axiom 80. Impressive reviews. Any owners of the Axiom please chip in. The EPIC -80 set sounds good. Are the add-ons to the L/R of similar quality as the 80's?

The QS8 surrounds are excellent and the center is quite good. The EP500 and 600 are very good, but you can do better for your money now with subs like the SVS pb13, or the new HSU sub. The advantage of the latter is that they go deeper and so have more impact on sound for movies.

 

[Kpt_Krunch]

Wow - hi Mizuno. Don't post here much, but boy am I glad I stumbled on this thread.

Lot of talk here, lot of advice from some knowledgeable people, but as the second poster stated, it's all opinion, not fact. You heard the RC-70's for instance, and liked them. Then someone mentions the Axiom 80's.... not the same speaker (not saying one is better than the other, I'm saying they're not the same type of speaker).

I also see you thought of the Totem Hawk, another very nice choice that is more inline with the the RC-70. However, the RC-70's is not as detailed as that of the Hawk. If room size is an issue (the RC-70's are quite a bit larger than the Hawks) then I'd go with the Hawk. Another choice you may like is the Energy Veritas. The 2.2i's have a tighter bass than the RC-70 (they don't go as deep though), and IMO are sweeter than the Studio's (but that was Version 3 I heard in the Studio line so keep that in mind).

The Ascends I've heard are not in the same league. Nor should they be as they are not in the price category of these speakers (you get what you pay for).

As someone already mentioned, I prefer the Hawks for Jazz and classical music. I prefer the Veritas 2.2i's for Rock and Blues (which is supplemented by an SVS PB13-U subwoofer). The RC-70's are probably just a notch below each of those (but not much) and are closer to the Hawks then they are the Veritas in terms of how they sound (not as forward as the Veritas but great imaging and sound stage).

Now, a pic is worth a thousand words as they say, so here is a pic of my family for reference (in case you or anyone else thinks I'm not speaking from experience )

So, from left to right, you'll find the Polk RT800i, the Energy RC-10 (my surrounds), the Ascend 340, the RC-70, the Energy Veritas 2.2i, the Totem Hawk (with a beak) and the Ascend 170. Believe it or not, I use all of them (I put them all together for a family photo) in different areas of the house. The Ascends are the least musical but fine for h/t and I have them in my family room. The RC line is in my 'h/t' room and they do double duty as my multi-channel music system (with my SVS PB13-U filling in the good stuff - I have a PW-2200 (Paradigm) for a sub in the family room).

The Hawks and Veritas I switch out in my two channel tube amp system. The Hawks are harder to drive than the Veritas, and I kind of already gave you my synopsis of them. If you're a Jazz/Classical man, the Hawk is a good choice but you'll be happy with the RC-70 as well. Bear in mind the bass is bloated on the RC-70, and the highs are a bit recessed, but in a properly setup room and with the right amplification they sound terrific. The Veritas will do everything really well, but are a bit more forward (more in line with the Paradigms) and do have more detail then both the RC's and the Hawks (the detail is there too but you have to listen harder for it, it just comes out of the Veritas).

The RT800i's I use with another Tube amp in my basement when I'm grooming my Airedale. They're my least favourite as they lack detail of all of them but they still sound OK (good full range sound).

Hope this helps you out some. Best of luck with your search and feel free to ask me any questions on any of my speakers. I have enough of them

 

[TjMV3]

All I'm saying here is give the Jamo models I mentioned an audition.

Let your ears decide what you get, for what you pay.

Just seems to me if you're looking to spend that kind of money, you may want to look/audition a speaker that may offer one hell of a bang for your buck; and you may not need to spend that much. The C607 punch way above their price point. I know it's a cliche, but when it comes to these Jamo models, it's also a fact.

Between the C607, C807 and C809 ..........you have three excellent speaker models that simply deliver the goods and do it in a manner so musical, nicely detailed and wonderfully listenable for long music listeing sessions; orm for long movie marathons. You really have to sit down and listen to these models and not go by "price point designations and alleged generalizations established by god know who.

All I'm saying, is give them a listen. Let your ears decide.

I can tell you that many a hard-to-please "audiophiles" and finicky music lovers have come to my home to listen to my Jamo's. All of them spent a lot of time trying to pick their jaws off the top of their shoes and then grinning ear-to-ear; while they sat back and listened to the music.

And kept requesting more and more music. The last guy who was here figured he'd be here listening for maybe 30 minutes and then would get bored of them. He ended up sitting on the couch for a little over three hours, as we went through disc after disc of all kinds of music.

As he fianlly was leaving, he kept shaking his head in disbelief at how good these speakers sound.

Jamo doesn't have a so-called " prestigious " attachment to their name. They don't get a whole lot of hype and press, here.

But they sure know how to build high quality musical speakers. Speakers made for listening. Not for hype and exaggeration.

 

[Midcow2]

I vote for choice 6!

6. Pair of Defintive Technology BP7002 Bipoplar Super towers.

BP7002 Bipolar SuperTower

Each BP7002 Bipolar SuperTower combines a new 12" SuperCube® technology subwoofer driven by a 300-watt digital amplifier, two pressure driven 12" infrasonic radiators and bipolar dual D’Appolito front and rear mounted driver arrays each consisting of two high definition cast-basket 5-1/4" Definitive bass/midrange drivers surrounding a 1" annealed pure aluminum dome Definitive tweeter. Newly designed Linkwitz-Riley crossover networks do a superlative job of seamlessly blending the drivers so that the sonic output is totally homogeneous as if radiated from a full-range pulsating sphere. This extraordinary speaker comes very close to the reference standards set by the BP7000SC and BP7001SC for ultra-dynamic high-accuracy reproduction and achieves equally superb performance with both music and home theater program material. They will reproduce a silky smooth, incredibly detailed wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling sonic image with extraordinary depth at lifelike volume levels (and beyond) with a sense of ease that is truly remarkable. The elegant styling features the latest beautiful sculptural refinements to Definitive’s signature look with a choice of piano gloss black finish.

BP7002 Specifications:
Dimensions: 7-1/4" W x 16" D x 46-1/4" H
Freq. Response: 15 Hz – 30 kHz
Nominal Impedance: Compatible with 8 ohms
Rec. Assoc. Amp.: 20 – 400 Watts/channel
Driver Complement:
– Four 5-1/4" high definition cast-magnesium basket polymer upper bass/midrange drivers.
– Two 1" pure aluminum dome tweeters with silk surrounds.
– One 12" long-throw subwoofer coupled to two 12" infrasonic radiators.Efficiency: 92 dB
Finish: Piano-Gloss Black
Retail: $1199 ea

++++++++++++++++++

The place to buy :
http://www.surroundcity.com/DEFINITIVE-TECHNOLOGY-BP-7002-CLR-2002-P1671C225.aspx

$2,224 with a matching CLR2002 Center speaker

C/L/R 2002 Specifications:
Dimensions: 21-11/16" W x 12" D x 6-3/4" H
Response: 30 – 30 kHz.
Nominal Imp.: 4 – 8 ohms.
Rec. amp: 20 – 250 watts.
Efficiency: 91 dB
Drivers:
– Two cast-basket 5-1/4" bass/midranges
– One 1" pure aluminum dome tweeter.
Finish: Piano-Gloss Black. Bi-wireable.
Retail: $529 ea.

 

[mazersteven]

BP7002 Bipolar SuperTower

These would be one of the last speakers I would consider for a primarily music system. Especially the music preference the OP stated. JMO

I like Definitive, but this wouldn't even make my audition list.

Along with the others mentioned in this thread. The OP should research and audition these

AV123 Strata Mini
http://av123.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,34/category_id,18/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,37/

 

[Kpt_Krunch]

I've heard the Jamo's and Tj has some valid points. Jamo is a big name in Europe and slowly gaining a following here (build in Denmark I believe). Unfortunately, when I listened to them, the MSRP was far too high for me and the dealer (being new to the line) was not budging.... neither was I. But they are a good speaker to be sure.

The Mini-Strata ..... I've heard that these speakers definitely need to be in the right kind of room and that the ribbon tweeter can be quite beaming/fatiguing in it. I don't think it would be a very good choice for Jazz or Classical. One person I knew who had them sold them immediately after getting his Swans D2.1 SE's. The person who bought them ended up putting them up for sale himself 5 weeks after he got them. Both were for two channel listening. This is something I'd want to hear for myself first before I bought, just based on that. Doesn't mean the speakers are not any good, just that they are not for everybody

 

[highfigh]

I've heard the Jamo's and Tj has some valid points. Jamo is a big name in Europe and slowly gaining a following here (build in Denmark I believe). Unfortunately, when I listened to them, the MSRP was far too high for me and the dealer (being new to the line) was not budging.... neither was I. But they are a good speaker to be sure.

Jamo has been in the US since about '80-'81 and just before Klipsch bought them, they were #3 worldwide in the number of speakers sold, behind Bose and The Harmon Group.

 

[Midcow2]

Mazer it is all in the ear of the beholder!

These would be one of the last speakers I would consider for a primarily music system. Especially the music preference the OP stated. JMO

I like Definitive, but this wouldn't even make my audition list.

Along with the others mentioned in this thread. The OP should research and audition these

AV123 Strata Mini
http://av123.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,34/category_id,18/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,37/

Mazer,

I respect you opinion but actually we seem to significanty differ on the sound of Definitive Technology speakers. I have found from my own experience that music and HT TV and Ht Movies does sound excellent on them. Maybe you didn't have the speakers placed optimum to take into account the bipolar nature of the speakers. or maybe the speaker gain levels were not adjusted correctly. Any poorly set-up speaker system will sound poor!

Anyway, To Mazer OP and other, I would not discount Def Tech speakers until you have heard them setup properly. Again the best sound is in the ear of the beholder, not the opinions of audioholics who like me are fan boys of their own speaker brand. And yes, becuase I own Def Techs , I am somewhat of Def Tech fan boy and have a bias toward them. However, I would and will continue to look at other speaker vendors objectively. I would also suggest that the the OP at the $2000 level at least audition a variety of speakers which may or may not include the Def Techs and may or may not include more than the original 5 you had listed.

Peace,

MidCow2

 

[mazersteven]

The Mini-Strata ..... I've heard that these speakers definitely need to be in the right kind of room and that the ribbon tweeter can be quite beaming/fatiguing in it. I don't think it would be a very good choice for Jazz or Classical.

See, and I thought the complete opposite. Female vocals, jazz, outstanding IMO. That is why speakers are so individual.

Plus the OP can ask for a demonstration over on the AV123 forum. Some will be glad to have him over for a listen.

 

[bandphan]

See, and I thought the complete opposite. Female vocals, jazz, outstanding IMO. That is why speakers are so individual.

Plus the OP can ask for a demonstration over on the AV123 forum. Some will be glad to have him over for a listen.

I agree, i do not find them fatiging at all. If the room has plaster walls and other hard surfaces, I can see where that may have caused problems.

 

[TjMV3]

Hey, I apologize if I'm coming off like some giddy fanboy. But I truely am just trying to help. It's coming from an honest place. If I can make a suggestion which helps this guy audition and find a speaker that he is truely happy with and maybe even saves him some money; then, I think I've helped in a positive manner.

I have only over the last several months discovered these Jamo speakers, bought them and listened to them. So yeah, I absolutely love these speakers!! I am rather excited about them.

My main priorities in speakers is always musicality, the ability to convey and connect emotion, passion, timbre, melody and the ability for long, pleasantly satisfying listening. And my speakers have to be good with all kinds of music, because I run the spectrum of all kinds of music.

And these Jamo speakers definitely deliver on every point, here.

They do have a slight warmth (but never too warm), a nice touch of sweetness, beautiful smoothness and very nice detail; without ever sounding harsh, irritating, fatiguing or tiresome. The music just flows and they are so poised, so coherent and so stable. These drivers are really something else.

I'm a guy who has auditioned many higher-priced speakers and I was truely ready to dive into a pair of VA Mozert Grands (and even seriously considered a pair of Bethoveen Baby Grands). But I stepped back and decided to truely give my C607 an honest listen and chance; rather than regulating them to family room duty. They shocked me, in a very good way.

After going back for more VA listening and then returning home for the Jamo's; I found these babies left me nothing to desire and that the VA speakers simply did not sound better to me ears. Other than the beautiful real wood venners on the VA; they have nothing over the Jamo's. And the Jamo kept their composure (and did it in a mightly convincing fashion) through material that destroyed the Mozarts.

So I asked myself. Why would I pay so much more money, for a speaker that simply looks prettier? I had no good or rational answers for that question.

Besides, I think the Jamo C607's Dark Apple finish looks rather nice, for what is.


Right now I'm listening to the Gene Harris Quartet's Funky Gene CD, on my Jamo C603, while I'm working and I'm grinning ear-to-ear at the beautiful musicality of the piano, guitar and music as a whole. Sweeeeeeeeeet!!!!

I'm way above just being a happy camper. I'm in musical joy.

And I didn't spend an extra $2,000.00.

 

[highfigh]

Other than the beautiful real wood veneers on the VA...

When they started, Jamo offered everything in Walnut, Rosewood and Black and nothing in vinyl. It's too bad they can't use veneer at/near the same price point- most of the old Jamo speakers I saw/sold were bookmatched.

 

[TjMV3]

Yeah, that's a shame, highfigh.

But I'll take their wonderful sound over stunning aesthecis, any day

And in my opinion the Dark Apple laminate finish looks nice enough to pass. Several people were a bit unsure whether it is a wood venner or laminate. It is rather convincing.