Other speakers I should hear

[little wing]

Hello all,

It's time to replace my beloved speakers. Had them since 1995 (longest I have had any piece of gear.) I am not an audiophile, nor do I have the budget to be one. But I love music. I am looking for a floor standing speaker in the 3k range. I know it's not a big budget, but it's what I got.

So far I have heard a pair of def techs, with built in subs. Nice rich full sound, but they didn't seem to have the treble I was looking for. Just didn't have the detail to my ear. Next I tried a pair of Martin Logan speakers (forgot the model) But they had a small sweet spot. (In the magnolia room anyway) And something seemed to be missing from the sound. Maybe you have to spend a lot more to get really good ML's? I dunno. Then I heard the B&W CM9. Very nice. All were demoed with a Marantz 7008 (Fine receiver, on my short list for my amp upgrade) And I did take my own music to the store.

Then I came across Salk and Ascend. I got a chance to listen to the Ascend towers with the raal, last weekend, and they simply blew me away. Extremely detailed highs, but the overall sound was still smooth. Bass sounded really good, midrange, excellent. Just a really nice balanced speaker IMO. And built like a tank. The fellow that was kind enough to invite me to his home was pushing these with a denon x4000, and an oppo 105. I did call Ascend and place an order just to get in line. (They are back ordered by 2 months or more) I have not been able to find anyone to demo the Salks

Do you guys know of anything else I should listen to, before I decide to just stay in line and wait for the Ascends to be made? Thanks for any recommendations and advice.

 

[alphaiii]

Philharmonic Audio perhaps...

 

[Lewis Sheppard]

3K isn't a lot? I've got £100 haha

 

[ImcLoud]

PSB Imagine T2's would be my pick with the ascend sierra towers, and maybe the phils {havent heard them yet}

 

[little wing]

3K isn't a lot? I've got £100 haha

Yeah it's a lot of money for sure. i have been saving it for 2 years. I don't have a bunch of money, I was just thinking in the context of what some people spend on speakers..

 

[ImcLoud]

IMO $3K gets you to the top of the bottom in speakers, but its also the point where you need to spend much much more to get a little more.... The PSB T2's floored me when I first heard them, the bass, the clarity of the highs, and over all balance is hard to find better for their price.. the ascends while the lows are nice I like the T2's better, but the mids and highs sound very real, the voice of these guys is amazing...

At this price you have to really shop around, I have a pair of jade 5's which are very nice too, also you can get jade opus 2.1 and 2.3 for under $3000 {a local dealer has some and will ship, pm me for contact info if interested} which also sound amazing {they had an insane msrp like $5k}...

Did you consider 2.2?, IMO a pair of bookshelfs and a pair of subs for $3000 will out do most $3000 towers in all fields..

for example a pair of ascend sierra 2's and a pair of svs sb2000's will be under $3000 and be hard to beat by any towers I can think of, plus you can get more output with less main power, less cabinet resonance, tighter mids, ect...

 

[little wing]

Philharmonic Audio perhaps...

I didn't think of those.... i know they are great speakers though. I will look into, thanks.

 

[little wing]

IMO $3K gets you to the top of the bottom in speakers, but its also the point where you need to spend much much more to get a little more.... The PSB T2's floored me when I first heard them, the bass, the clarity of the highs, and over all balance is hard to find better for their price.. the ascends while the lows are nice I like the T2's better, but the mids and highs sound very real, the voice of these guys is amazing...

At this price you have to really shop around, I have a pair of jade 5's which are very nice too, also you can get jade opus 2.1 and 2.3 for under $3000 {a local dealer has some and will ship, pm me for contact info if interested} which also sound amazing {they had an insane msrp like $5k}...

Did you consider 2.2?, IMO a pair of bookshelfs and a pair of subs for $3000 will out do most $3000 towers in all fields..

for example a pair of ascend sierra 2's and a pair of svs sb2000's will be under $3000 and be hard to beat by any towers I can think of, plus you can get more output with less main power, less cabinet resonance, tighter mids, ect...

Interesting.......I was wondering if I might look at a bookshelf sub system. I was thinking an SVS sb2000 for the towers. I hear it's a great sub. I am not a shake the house kind of dude, I just want to hear what the mains can't reproduce. The ascend towers blow me away though.. I will try and listen to the T2, but at 4k, it's outta my range..

 

[ImcLoud]

here are the t2's for under $3000 PSB Imagine T2

I am sold on bookshelf and dual drive sub systems... I love the sierra towers, but the sierra 2 bookshelfs, honestly out do them in every field except the lows!!! You will be amazed by them if you liked the towers... a pair of sierra 2s with a pair of sb2000's would cost around $2800 shipped and be one heck of a system, I would imagine you would cross them around 60-70... It seems when you aren't asking your mains to dig low they can concentrate their powers on the mids and highs....

for $3000 you will get much more for your money with bookshelfs and subs... I have a pair of sb12 nsd's with a pair of carnegie csb1's and I will put that against any towers at twice their price...

 

[charmerci]

I didn't think of those.... i know they are great speakers though. I will look into, thanks.

Where are you in PA? Dennis (Phil Audio) lives in MD just outside of DC if you want to visit him. It might not be that far for you.

 

[little wing]

Where are you in PA? Dennis (Phil Audio) lives in MD just outside of DC if you want to visit him. It might not be that far for you.

I am near Philadelphia. yeah that would be a nice drive. That's a possibility..

 

[zieglj01]

here are the t2's for under $3000 PSB Imagine T2

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[ImcLoud]

My brother bought a parasound preamp from them a while back all was well... I was going to buy a set of b ones from them and talked to the PSB rep, he said they would warranty them if anything were to happen, it was just his word, BUT, I would feel comfortable buying speakers from them..... Plus they have been around for almost 15 years....