Best speakers money can buy...within reason

[FrankinBerry]

I have a pretty enviable situation. I have been asked to help my boss pick out a killer home system. He has a good amount to invest and wants the best...within reason. I was looking at the Paradigm Monitor 90Ps or the McIntosh XRT28s. I was hoping to get opinions from you all on which one is the better, or are there others I should consider.

 

[russbutton]

Your best buy in a hi-end loudspeaker is the Linkwitz Orion

You don't say what your budget is. You only say "within reason", which is not terribly clear.

I will say that you cannot buy a better speaker system, at any price, that is going to be better than the Linkwitz Orion. Point your web browser at:

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/orion_us.htm

and

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/orion_reviews.htm

For about $6500 plus shipping, you get loudspeakers and amplification. This is an actively amplified system and requires 8 channels of amplification, so if you just want something to plug in and work, then just buy the package they offer.

You can spend considerably less if you build all or part of the system yourself. They offer plans and kits and such. You can read about it all at the web site.

You can spend $100,000 and more on a loudspeaker system and not improve on what the Linkwitz Orion can do. This is simply the very best sound you can get.

Russ

 

[jaxvon]

Really, what is your budget? You can spend over a million dollars on a pair of speakers alone, so giving an overall budget will REALLY help us out... I understand you're not talking about something like that, or probably even anything in the Wilson Audio expensiveness range. Also, is this a straight-up HT, or combo for music and stuff? How big is the room? Anything else?

 

[Privateer]

You can go all Mcintosh like you said, electronics, amps, speakers, you won't find better.

 

[cbraver]

A lot of it depends on his sonic perferances.... if he wants true to the recording and absolutely nuetral than M&K is the route to go:

M&K S-250s in the front with 250 MKII Tripole surrounds. A pair of MX-350 MK II THX Ultra subs.

You could spend more, but you'd be throwing dollars away. M&Ks top of the line stuff is UN-BELIEVABLE (and even their near top of the line stuff). There is a reason a lot of material you'll be listening to was mixed with M&K gear anyways.

-Chad

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

how about seven RBH T3's for his home theater? (fed with 7 McIntosh 500 watt monoblocks).

Or a HSU Research Ventriloquist system.... really, how much money is there to burn?

 

[nibhaz]

With out a definition of reason I would suggest:

7-B&W Nautilus

of course you'll need 4 mono blocks or 2 stereo amplfiers per speaker
for this so I would suggest:

28-Krell FPB450Mcx mono amps

of course you need a pre/pro and something to feed it a signal so I'd suggest:

1-Integra Research RDC7.1 and
1-Integra Research RDV1.1

you could save some money and use a denon 3805 as pre/pro feed by a denon 2910

 

[warnerwh]

Your boss is the best person to do this but here goes. How about the winner of Best of High End at CES a couple of years ago not to mention rave reviews: VMPS RM 40's, or the RM/x which were in the room where first place was the next year and received 2nd. Magneplanars are also highly regarded but need breathing room and lots of amp power. Von Schweikert may also be a good pick. Joseph Audio is another exceptional speaker company. Out of these someone should be able to find a sound they really like. Your boss needs to listen to speakers himself as there's such a difference between two speakers that sound great for around the same price it's impossible for anybody else to pick. Cheers

 

[mazersteven]

Frankinberry, I don't know what kind of money your boss wants to spend, or what size room he has, but here is my 2 cents.

Definitive Technology Bipolar SuperTowers

Each BP7000SC combines a new built-in 14" SuperCube® subwoofer driven by an 1800-watt class D amplifier, two pressure-driven 14" infrasonic radiators and bipolar dual D’Appolito front and rear mounted driver arrays each consisting of two high-definition cast-basket 6-1/2" 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 for totally homogeneous sonic output as if radiating from a full-range pulsating sphere. The low-frequency performance sets new standards for speakers priced under $50,000 a pair, with extension below 11 Hz, extremely low distortion and fantastic transient response. A pair of BP7000SCs goes lower than and has the bass impact and output level capability of seven SuperCube® I subwoofers combined. Plus the dual built-in powered subwoofers achieve dramatically better blending, integration and timbral accuracy than could ever be achieved with separate subs.

This extraordinary speaker sets a new reference standard for ultra-dynamic high-accuracy loudspeakers and achieves equally superb performance with both music and movies. They will reproduce a silky smooth, incredibly detailed wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling sonic image with superb dimensionality at lifelike volume levels (and beyond) with a sense of ease which is truly remarkable. As with all Definitive’s bipolar speakers, they have an almost magical ability to recreate a stunningly realistic holographic sound field. The elegant styling features beautiful sculptural refinements to Definitive’s signature look with a choice of our classic piano-gloss black or new piano-gloss golden cherry finish.

BP7000SC Specifications:
Dimensions: 8-15/16" W x 16-5/8" D x 52-1/2" H
Freq. Response: 11 Hz — 30 kHz
Nominal Impedance: Compatible with 8 ohms
Rec. Assoc. Amp.: 20 — 1000 watts/channel
Driver Complement: Four 6-1/2" high definition cast-magnesium basket polymer upper bass/midrange drivers. Two 1" pure aluminum dome tweeters with silk surrounds. One 14" long-throw subwoofer coupled to two 14" infrasonic radiators
Efficiency: 92 dB
Finish: piano-gloss black or golden cherry
Retail: $2499 ea.

http://www.definitivetech.com/reviews/BP7000HT4C.pdf

Anyone can spend alot more, but I don't know how much better the experience would be.
Surround sound and center channel speakers are also available from Definitive Technology

Steve Mazer

 

[cownd]

Bang for buck

Paradigm Signature series - nuf said

 

[flyv65]

If you're looking in the $1500 range, I'd strongly suggest you give a listen to the Spendor S5e floorstanding speaker. They present an incredible soundstage and neutral sound-particularly given their diminutive size. Check out Stereophile's review of them online for Sept/2004.

Bryan...I think they won Stereophile's "budget Speaker" category this year, too...

 

[Privateer]

Run a pair of Mcintosh XRT28 as fronts and match it with a Mcintosh XR27 as a center. For the money you would be hard pressed to find better. There are only a couple speakers out there that would sound better and one would be high end B&W.

XRT28

XR27

If you wanted to save some money without sacrificing sound quality you can look at Martin Logan speakers. You can run there Ascent i as fronts and wait for the Stage to come out as the center.

Ascent i
Stage

 

[cbraver]

I have never heard the XRT28's before...but I will say that it would be CRIMINAL to leave the grill cloth on those things. That just plain looks cool.

 

[flyv65]

Aren't the Ascent speakers somewhere around $4,000 a pair? What about the McIntosh stuff-not much less, right? How does this mesh with the speakers listed in the first post? Possibly, if we're talking about used stuff I'd happily give the nod to B&W CDM9NT (around $1800/pr), but that's creeping up, too. P'raps we need to hear from the original poster with a hard number for dollars...maybe I should be shopping JMLabs and Avalon speakers instead.

Bryan...gonna be tough to beat the Spendors at that price for new speakers, though...

 

[Stone]

I own the RBH T2's and the rest of the SE series. If you check the "Reference Systems" they use to test on this site, you will see that they use, almost exclusively RBH. RBH is does not advertise all that much as they spend their money in R&D for the most part. Many people here are talking about McIntosh. Well, in fact, RBH used to be the OEM for McIntosh speakers!

I have a brand new set of the Signature Series along with the T2's available. Just email me or message me for details!

 

[sjdgpt]

Martin Logans.

Remember the model must be appropriate to the size of the room because these babies need to breath.

And for amplification, the great god in audio ..... Krell.


MMMMMM good.

Just let me know when the system is up and running and invite me over to spend a weekend.

Nope, strike that. Let me know when the system is up and running so I can move into that house.

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

Hahahahaha...
Yup, as you can see everyone agrees on one definitive "Best" speaker...

 

[Privateer]

Aren't the Ascent speakers somewhere around $4,000 a pair? What about the McIntosh stuff-not much less, right? How does this mesh with the speakers listed in the first post? Possibly, if we're talking about used stuff I'd happily give the nod to B&W CDM9NT (around $1800/pr), but that's creeping up, too. P'raps we need to hear from the original poster with a hard number for dollars...maybe I should be shopping JMLabs and Avalon speakers instead.

Used? Why the hell would anyone buy used? Buying used is like reusing toilet paper. Anyways the Mcintosh speakers that I put up are more then double the Martin Logan speakers. When I said high end B&W I meant high end and not the CDM 9NT, the Ascent i's would slaughter them without trying.

 

[Privateer]

I own the RBH T2's and the rest of the SE series. If you check the "Reference Systems" they use to test on this site, you will see that they use, almost exclusively RBH. RBH is does not advertise all that much as they spend their money in R&D for the most part.

I would chose Martin Logan over any RBH speakers.

Many people here are talking about McIntosh. Well, in fact, RBH used to be the OEM for McIntosh speakers!

OEM? What do you mean?

 

[fyrmedic01@hotm]

Dynaudio or sonus faber