Need speaker recommendation

[highfigh]

Am I leaving out other pertinent information that is needed?

The room and listening habits (what do you listen to and how loud?) make a big difference. If the speakers are positioned close to reflective surfaces and you listen to music with a lot of percussive sounds in the mid and high frequencies, you don't want or need wide dispersion but you don't want anything that beams if the sound will pass you and reflect off of hard surfaces behind you.

Also, WRT your room layout and speaker/listening positions, not all speakers will work in the same spot, so you'll need to experiment once the new ones arrive. I know someone who is using different speakers and he plopped them in the same place as the old ones and when I listened, I heard nothing from the middle area between the speakers and I definitely should have- we were listening to my LPs, so I'm familiar with the mix. Keep an open mind about where the speakers will go and if you're married, ask for the same patience.

 

[Mr._Clark]

If, however, you're looking for a frightening level of output, then maybe some JTR speakers would be more what you're looking for.

Good lord, the Recommended Amplification for the JTRs is "up to 2000 watts RMS." I soiled myself just reading that.

 

[9397SVTs]

What's the distance between your intended speaker placement and your primary listening position? Are you interested in speakers with higher sensitivity?

Don't sweat the equipment you have. That equipment ought to be fine regardless of the speakers you choose. Good sound comes from good speakers. There's no need to overspend on electronics. And with your Parasound amp pushing out 275W@8Ω or 400W@4Ω, you will still be able to drive even low-sensitivity speakers to satisfactory levels with enough overhead to handle peaks without clipping.

Unless you're in an extreme environment or looking for dance club level output, the Phil 3 speakers @tyhjaarpa linked ought to be at the top of your list. If, however, you're looking for a frightening level of output, then maybe some JTR speakers would be more what you're looking for.

If you aren't crazy about the separate enclosures of the Phil 3s or the industrial finish of the JTRs, you might also consider the Salk Song3 or Veracity towers.

The B&W speakers you're considering have a rather disappointing dip at 5kHz. The Sonus Fabers could be a bit edgy with some tweeter misbehavior at 10kHz. They're both certainly pretty, though.

I hope it's ok to wake the dead.

Thanks for the replies/suggestions. Instead of spending most of the money on speakers, I compromised in order to upgrade and add to the whole system.

I got a pair of B&W CM10 S2's for a great price. I also added a Parasound 2100 Pre-amp and replaced the Yamaha CD player with a Marantz SA8005. For bass, I added two SVS SB4000's.

To me, the sound is incredible. What should I notice with regards to this dip at 5kHz?

 

[shadyJ]

The measurement that Rojo is likely referring to is this one. What I thin you might notice in that kind of dip vs a neutral response is the the upper harmonics of many instruments will be a bit muted, and also the sibilants in human speech with be a bit shaded as well. So, for example, the 'S' sound in speech might be a bit more recessed than a neutral speaker.

 

[9397SVTs]

I haven't noticed anything like that. I'll pay close attention and see if I can identify it.

 

[9397SVTs]

The measurement that Rojo is likely referring to is this one. What I thin you might notice in that kind of dip vs a neutral response is the the upper harmonics of many instruments will be a bit muted, and also the sibilants in human speech with be a bit shaded as well. So, for example, the 'S' sound in speech might be a bit more recessed than a neutral speaker.

After a lot of intent listening, I have not been able to notice anything.

Perhaps, on paper or in theory it could be a problem. Or, maybe someone with better/trained ears could detect it.