In search of a damn good pair of tower speakers for under 2500.00

[SoundHarvest]

Greetings everyone! I am an old school kind of audiophile. One preamp, two monoblocks, one pair of speakers. I finished building my rig this January by putting together my budget rig which consist of...

Denon PRA 1500 preamp 300.00
Emotiva XPA-100 monoblock amps 450.00
Technics SL 1100/SME M2-9 tonarm/Denon DL 103r cart (dont ask)
Bellari V540 tube phono preamp/Denon stepup transformer (ditto)
Yamaha S-1000 CD-R 100.00
Panamax m5400-ex protector 53.00
B&W DM 640i tower speakers 400.00

For price I am very impressed with the sound of my old timers system, but I know it would sound so much better with better and newer speakers. I have been searching the web and reading everyone's opinion on every type of speaker. One speaker that caught my attention and that was the Ascend Acoustics Sierra towers. Only heard them on you tube, but every speaker sounds good on youtube (lol). The drivers look like the same drivers used by totem. The totem Sttafs speakers in my opinion image better than any speaker that i have ever heard. But I want THAT imaging AND more power. Is there anyone here in audiophile land that has listened to the S ierra towers, and If there are any owners of the speaker, is the 700.00 tweeter worth it?

 

[Ponzio]

demo a pair of Salk SongTowers. u'll thank me later.

 

[rojo]

Which are better, Philharmonic Slims or Salk SongTowers?

 

[Ponzio]

good question. Swerd has a pair of ST's and has probably heard the Slims too. he could probably answer ur question.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Which are better, Philharmonic Slims or Salk SongTowers?

I think more fair comparison would be Philharmonic Slims vs Salk's Song 3
http://www.salksound.com/song3-specifications.htm
http://philharmonicaudio.com/slims.html

btw: Both include very similar RAAL ribbon tweeter, which Ascend charges $700 extra for.

Both excellent speakers - hard to go wrong with ether. Slims would be just a bit harder to drive, but given OP's existing monoblocks - that shouldn't be a consideration.

 

[lovinthehd]

Perhaps these might fit the bill.

 

[Locoweed]

[QUOTE Is there anyone here in audiophile land that has listened to the S ierra towers, and If there are any owners of the speaker, is the 700.00 tweeter worth it?[/QUOTE]

No one else has your room, hearing or preferences & why do you care what someone else thinks? Order them, try them & make your decision on how they sound to you in your room.

 

[Swerd]

demo a pair of Salk SongTowers. u'll thank me later.

I certainly agree with that .

No one else has your room, hearing or preferences & why do you care what someone else thinks? Order them, try them & make your decision on how they sound to you in your room.

And I agree with that too.

good question. Swerd has a pair of ST's and has probably heard the Slims too. he could probably answer ur question.

Yes I've heard both, and it would be a difficult call to say which one is better. They are very close cousins, both "voiced" by the same speaker designer. They share more than they differ. It may come down to whether one thinks he prefers an MTM speaker to a 3-way. I realize that doesn't really help the OP.

However, I have heard some Totem tower speakers (Sttaf, Hawk, and Forest), and I find the Salks and the Philharmonic Audios are better sounding and better priced than the Totems in general. Their imaging is the best I know of.

Read my listeners impressions of the SongTowers. See the link in my signature line.

I haven't heard the Sierra towers, but I believe any of the speakers we have mentioned will sound better than the B&W towers the OP now has.

 

[SoundHarvest]

I certainly agree with that .
And I agree with that too.
Yes I've heard both, and it would be a difficult call to say which one is better. They are very close cousins, both "voiced" by the same speaker designer. They share more than they differ. It may come down to whether one thinks he prefers an MTM speaker to a 3-way. I realize that doesn't really help the OP.

However, I have heard some Totem tower speakers (Sttaf, Hawk, and Forest), and I find the Salks and the Philharmonic Audios are better sounding and better priced than the Totems in general. Their imaging is the best I know of.

Read my listeners impressions of the SongTowers. See the link in my signature line.

I haven't heard the Sierra towers, but I believe any of the speakers we have mentioned will sound better than the B&W towers the OP now has.

I will do that. Thank you kindly gents.

 

[Ponzio]

I will do that. Thank you kindly gents.

During “the great hunt of 2012” I demoed quite a few speakers at my local B&M shops, including the Totem line of the times. I preferred the Sttaf’s out of the 3 mentioned by Swerd but I felt they were way overpriced, by at least 25% to 35%, to similarly sounding speakers by other speaker manufacturers (Dynaudio, Paradigm, PSB, Epos, Wharfdale, Sonus Farber, Revel, Usher, etc.). And to sow even more confusion and increase the cost, I was advised to purchase a pair of Totem “Beaks” ($125 each) to improve the soundstage, which they did, but I found it a bit disconcerting that they didn’t offer them as part of the speaker package.

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/totem-beaks.html

I ended up purchasing a pair of Focal 1027Be’s and a pair of KEF LS-50’s and their associated center channel speakers after the 8 month slog. Later on I added the Salk SongTower QWT’s, Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1’s and my favorite bookshelf, which the missus appropriated for the kitchen, a pair of Triangle Titus 202’s. Finding the “perfect” speaker is all subjective and depends on ur budget, which is why I always recommend that people hit the bricks and demo as many speakers as they can. Good luck with ur own “hunt”.

 

[SoundHarvest]

During “the great hunt of 2012” I demoed quite a few speakers at my local B&M shops, including the Totem line of the times. I preferred the Sttaf’s out of the 3 mentioned by Swerd but I felt they were way overpriced, by at least 25% to 35%, to similarly sounding speakers by other speaker manufacturers (Dynaudio, Paradigm, PSB, Epos, Wharfdale, Sonus Farber, Revel, Usher, etc.). And to sow even more confusion and increase the cost, I was advised to purchase a pair of Totem “Beaks” ($125 each) to improve the soundstage, which they did, but I found it a bit disconcerting that they didn’t offer them as part of the speaker package.

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/totem-beaks.html

I ended up purchasing a pair of Focal 1027Be’s and a pair of KEF LS-50’s and their associated center channel speakers after the 8 month slog. Later on I added the Salk SongTower QWT’s, Ascend Acoustics Sierra-1’s and my favorite bookshelf, which the missus appropriated for the kitchen, a pair of Triangle Titus 202’s. Finding the “perfect” speaker is all subjective and depends on ur budget, which is why I always recommend that people hit the bricks and demo as many speakers as they can. Good luck with ur own “hunt”.

My local hifi store can be kind of..... well lets be kind, snobbish. I will no be going back there. And I am sure Gramophone is tired of seeing my face. They got an idea of what im trying to do. Demo speakers then hunt for them on line. The Sttafs ARE over priced But I cant knock your taste. I just read up on the jbl studio 500 series and the reviews. I may have to demo them too, if i can find them. Thanks for your tips my friend

 

[Yankee Boy]

Yesterday I listened to: defTech 8060,$ 1000. on sale; and Martin Logan electrostat $3000. DT room filling but lacking detail, resolution; ML sounded tinny. At home: BW 602 s2 and Adcom 100 watt amp(both older), I am seeking full range with clarity. Should I get bigger BW, or what about Tekton, PSB? KEF?
Any guidance, references appreciated

 

[SoundHarvest]

Perhaps these might fit the bill.

Do you own these JBL's? Have you listened to them?

 

[everettT]

I think more fail comparison would be Philharmonic Slims vs Salk's Song 3
http://www.salksound.com/song3-specifications.htm
http://philharmonicaudio.com/slims.html

btw: Both include very similar RAAL ribbon tweeter, which Ascend charges $700 extra for.

Both excellent speakers - hard to go wrong with ether. Slims would be just a bit harder to drive, but given OP's existing monoblocks - that shouldn't be a consideration.

If the OP doesnt mind a demo pair Jim has the new ST3s up for sale @2900 plus shipping.

 

[KenM10759]

To anyone out shopping locally: I would hope that if you're in a shop listening to their speakers that they paid to stock, in their room that they paid to build, in the building that they pay for and are offering their assistance, advice and consult that you at least give them the opportunity to negotiate a sale. There is value to you in all that they offer, including after the sale support.

I may be alone, but I think it is in poor taste (if not outright rude) to shop in a store with the sole intent to ONLY buy via the internet. If everyone does that, there will soon be no more stocking dealers. I am not suggesting it isn't good to shop the internet for pricing, just print out the page showing a remarkable price and give the local dealer a fighting chance to earn your business and get as close as they can.

 

[Ponzio]

My local hifi store can be kind of..... well lets be kind, snobbish.

Shocking! not

 

[lovinthehd]

Do you own these JBL's? Have you listened to them?

Yep, picked up a pair in this sale myself. Been listening to them for a bit over a week now....really like them.

 

[Swerd]

To anyone out shopping locally: I would hope that if you're in a shop listening to their speakers that they paid to stock, in their room that they paid to build, in the building that they pay for and are offering their assistance, advice and consult that you at least give them the opportunity to negotiate a sale. There is value to you in all that they offer, including after the sale support.

I may be alone, but I think it is in poor taste (if not outright rude) to shop in a store with the sole intent to ONLY buy via the internet. If everyone does that, there will soon be no more stocking dealers. I am not suggesting it isn't good to shop the internet for pricing, just print out the page showing a remarkable price and give the local dealer a fighting chance to earn your business and get as close as they can.

Although the few remaining audio hifi shops that remain have indeed spent money on all the things you listed, there is a major reason why they cannot compete with speakers sold directly over the internet (ID) by the manufacturers themselves. I'm not talking about internet re-sellers, such as Amazon. I mean the speaker makers. Examples of this are Salk, Philharmonic Audio, Ascend Acoustics, NHT, among others.

The wholesale or distribution network that exists between manufacturers and the retail stores adds significantly to the cost of speakers. Typically, a retailer charges a customer twice the cost he paid to buy the product from the distributor. That's a 100% mark up over the wholesale cost. Some retailers do go lower than that as they realistically react to the competition they face. But they have a lot of added cost to overcome before they really compete with an ID manufacturer who bypasses the entire wholesale distribution system. Speakers such as Totem or B&W are overpriced when compared to other brands sold by the same distributor-retailer business model, but are extremely overpriced compared to speakers sold by the ID business model.

Yes, a good retailer provides the ability to listen and can provide valued customer service. But at what cost? Other retailers persist in treating customers snobbishly. They don't deserve our business or our loyalty.

 

[markw]

You've got the power. If you've got the space these are worth a go.

They actually encourage you to try 'em at home.

http://www.magnepan.com/model_17

 

[Swerd]

… And to sow even more confusion and increase the cost, I was advised to purchase a pair of Totem “Beaks” ($125 each) to improve the soundstage, which they did, but I found it a bit disconcerting that they didn’t offer them as part of the speaker package.

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/totem-beaks.html

I read that review of the Totem Beaks. I was not only repelled by the audio non-sense of the writer, but I was left wondering what it was that gave you the impression of improved soundstage.

The review was too full of non-sense to quote details and attempt to refute them point by point. One example will have to do.

Having heard a difference, I went in search of scientific proof that would back up the basic principles of conical sound absorbtion/ transmission. I did find one such article backing up the principal of Beaks. However, while creating more space on my hard drive, I managed to trash the download. Since then, I have failed in my attempts to locate the research. Publishers note: I did find several sites with the same paragraph quotation below.​

Stop right there. He's going to quote an article that he can't cite, and therefore may not exist ? He goes on anyway.

“The high frequency difference when using the ‘Beak’ is measurable and quite apparent. The tweeter generally has better linearity in the 15K Hz to 20K Hz range (by as much as 1.5dB). Therefore better staging and imaging occurs in the crucial crossover point, the 1 to 2.5 dB. Dip can be alleviated by as much as 1.5 dB. The outcome, better harmony between woofer and tweeter, resulting in enhanced speed, impact and transients.”​

Focus on the part I bolded. How does better linearity in the 15-20 kHz range result in better staging and imagining at the crucial crossover point? The crossover is likely to be in the 2-3 kHz range, nearly 10 times lower in frequency than the upper treble range mentioned.

I could go on, but I'll stop with that one example. Most of what that reviewer said sounds like complete rubbish to me. If Totem has learned something that actually improves the performance of their speakers, why not build it into all their cabinets?

Sorry for derailing this thread. It's Sunday morning and I have time to rant & rave. Now back to the OP's original question.