Speaker Help -- Not finding what I want, need suggestions

[mdrew]

IMO, Both Axiom and the Opus are more detailed than the 703's. More mid range punch, and more bass overall. They and Paridigm 100's are just the only main stream speaker that I can think of to compare them to. The Opus line is not carried by many dealers.

good luck.

 

[AMG_Roadster]

Here ya go, AMG. These fabulous (and non-traditional-looking for the WAF...especially if you like the Robbie-the-Robot look, lol) may be exactly what you're looking for. Act fast!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aerial-Acoustics-10T-Speakers-With-Stands_W0QQitemZ9710118399QQcategoryZ14993QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Might not be a bad choice depending on how they sound. I could probably get the wife to agree to the shape although she would not like the color.

 

[AMG_Roadster]

Went out again today to audition some new speakers. Really wanted to check out the KEF's but the place I planned on going no longer carried them.

Listened to the ML vantage -- no presence, poor mid range. Maybe be a great speaker if they used a traditional driver for the mid range.

Polk Audio LSi series -- listened to several. Not my taste, too many holes in the speakers.

Paradigm Reference -- seemed artificial and appeared to have holes at the crossover points.

Paradigm Signature -- seemed artificial and appeared to have holes at the crossover points.

Sonus Faber Grand Piano -- Was not thrilled with the speakers, not the best stage, cross over points, or presence.

Vienna Audio Metal series -- sounded artifical.

JM Labs focal 918's -- Very natural sounding speaker, good presence, good stage, nice detail, did not seem to have any holes. Can probably get the speakers past the wife but may be a bit touch and ago. I have read very mixed review on the Focal's but these speakers are sounded great and are up at the top of my list. I plan on checking out the line above the 918's, was told they sound even better.

Still want to check out the KEF's, Revels (not sure any of them are in my price range), Veina Audio (not sure which ones), and the Opus.

If I had to make a choice today I think the Focal's are ahead overall in sound quality the Gallo's are ahead in styling. These are my current top two choices.

There are several other speakers I would love to hear but there is either not a dealer in town or the stylng will not get past the wife.

 

[knobturner75]

I too am going through the process of looking for new speakers. Unfortunately, I don't have near the budget you do. I do wish I could though. My problem is like someone else has already stated, I live in a small Ky town with not many highend audio sources. So, I'm going to have to go by internet direct and word of mouth. In my search I have discovered EFE Technology speakers. I found them after looking up BIC America speakers. If you don't already know, Ed Frias, of Ed Frias Enterprises, does crossover modifications on the BIC's. He also designs his own speakers. His speakers receive awesome reviews on audioreview.com as well as other places. I thought his speakers could meet some, if not all of your requirements. Here is a link for some of the reviews.

http://www.audioreview.com/SearchResultscrx.aspx?forumchoice=&s=&query=&Index=&showposts=0&searchterm=efe&section=Products

Happy hunting and good luck.

 

[knobturner75]

Oh yeah, BTW, I forgot to mention. There is not a website for EFE Technology. The previous link I posted, has the first pictures that I have seen of the EFE speakers. You can contact Ed by email though. He is prompt and thorough with his response. I have read, that if you contact Ed, he can send you a brochure on his speaker line. Since his speakers seem to be out of my budget, I haven't done so yet. I may just have to, and save a while longer.

efespeakers@commspeed.net

 

[knobturner75]

Another option would be, a DIY speaker. On the home page of audioholics.com, there is an area under the "Get an A/V Education", called "Try a DIY Project". There is a geat article that Ken Stein wrote about some really nice looking pyramid speakers that he built. You have to click on "Main Speaker Design". I don't know if I would be able to build such a quality speaker, but with a large budget such as yours, a third party builder could build you any design you want.

Just another idea for a route to go, to help further confuse your decision.

 

[rollinrocker]

Anyone have any other suggestions? I am looking for something to wow me (may be tough in my price range). I don't Def Tech, Monitor Audio, etc. are going to cut it either.
QUOTE]


Just wondering, have you listened to def tech or monitor audio? Why are you ruling these two out? I think top line models from both companies are contenders sonically, unless you're eliminating them for visual reasons.

 

[shokhead]

Wharfedale 9.6 towers @1K or the Wharfedale Evolution 30 @ $1300.

 

[AMG_Roadster]

Thanks Knob I will check out the speakers. I have heard of BIC but not EFE.

Not sure that I want to go down the route of building my own speakers. I had considered doing it with a subwoofer but not sure that when everything is said and done that I would not just rather purchase one. I have access to all the wood building unfortunatly it is not too close by. Speakers are going to be even more complicated and time consuming and I am not sure that I would be happy with my results after the time & effort I spent.

As far as DefTechs are concerned I have not listened to them. I might give them a shot now after hearing speakers with similar sized drivers. There newer large speakers won't work in my application, too tall, and the wrap around grill is just too prone to pulling and will attarct too much dog hair. I do like the look of the Mythos have heard repeadtly that they are not very musical speakers.

The Wharfedale's are on my list.

I think the Monitor Audio's are just not going to get past the wife looks wise. I have a friend with the Silver line I may check out but...

 

[AMG_Roadster]

Well looks like I have found another set of speakers I want to listen to. Although I have to admit up front they are goind to be a tough sell on the wife and my room may negatively impact their sound quality.

The PSB T6's are now on the list. Too tall, too much of an 'old school' tower, implication they have to sit too far off the wall, but the price range is right and the reviews I have read are outstanding. Found a dealer near the house so I will go check them out.

Only downside is I am starting to get confused about the speakers and their plusses and minuses.

Wife is complaining about the amount of time spent audtioning speakers. As this drags out she is going to be increasingly less happy. Of course if she is unhappy now just wait till I start dragging the top couple of speakers home to audtion in the house with my equipment LOL.

 

[Tomorrow]

Thanks Knob I will check out the speakers. I have heard of BIC but not EFE.

Not sure that I want to go down the route of building my own speakers. I had considered doing it with a subwoofer but not sure that when everything is said and done that I would not just rather purchase one. I have access to all the wood building unfortunatly it is not too close by. Speakers are going to be even more complicated and time consuming and I am not sure that I would be happy with my results after the time & effort I spent.

As far as DefTechs are concerned I have not listened to them. I might give them a shot now after hearing speakers with similar sized drivers. There newer large speakers won't work in my application, too tall, and the wrap around grill is just too prone to pulling and will attarct too much dog hair. I do like the look of the Mythos have heard repeadtly that they are not very musical speakers.

The Wharfedale's are on my list.

I think the Monitor Audio's are just not going to get past the wife looks wise. I have a friend with the Silver line I may check out but...

Hmmm. Too tall. Too traditional. Wrong color. Will attract dog hair. Haven't heard them. Too many "holes" in them. Too flat. Too open. Not musical enough. No time to build them (even though your search seems to be taken a bundle of time and you have building equipment access {"too far away"}.) Too much this. Too little that.

With all the new caveats you are coming up with after each of our suggestions, I'm getting the feeling we're getting our legs pulled, here. Good one, AMG.

You don't need our help. You need to do a reasonable internet search with your signficant other, as well as your B&M store auditions, narrow down the contenders, and go listen to them. Find reasons for and against and go with less than perfection (since the perfect speaker doesn't exist) while making that final choice (while maintaining good WAF, of course).

 

[AMG_Roadster]

Hmmm. Too tall. Too traditional. Wrong color. Will attract dog hair. Haven't heard them. Too many "holes" in them. Too flat. Too open. Not musical enough. No time to build them (even though your search seems to be taken a bundle of time and you have building equipment access {"too far away"}.) Too much this. Too little that.

With all the new caveats you are coming up with after each of our suggestions, I'm getting the feeling we're getting our legs pulled, here. Good one, AMG.

A majority of the complaints you list are ones that I have after listening to speakers and based on suggestions people have made.

Some of other complaints you list are on speakers that I excluded from the beginning based on a number of reasons such as sound quality, the fact that they are not truly a musical speaker, etc. I just happened to list a couple more when asked why I had excluded them.

There have been several suggestions made that I have noted down that I need to go listen to.

While I initially discounted the ACI speakers due to shape I may reconsider my decision for a couple of reasons.

I am looking for suggestions here instead of simply performing an internet search due to the fact that I could spend the rest of my days looking at speakers. There are so many choices these days. There are also tons of manufacturers I have not heard of.

My hope is that someone will see my feedback on speakers that I have listened to and have what they feel is a great suggesion. In fact it has been my conversations and feedback on other speakers that led me to check out B&W and Focal. I probably would have checked out the B&W's regardless but had not thought about the focal's.

 

[einsteinjb]

I absolutely agree with RJ. You guys are TOUGH. Between your ears and your wife's laundry list of limitations, well I wish you luck.

Let me make one strong recommendation to you, though it's going to be a tough one: Dali. Biggest problem is they have almost no dealers in the US. I think there's only 2, both on the West Coast (no idea where you are).

My engineering Partner Mike is a sick man (in a good way). He's had B&W 600 series for a couple years, liked them a lot but was always looking for more. Bought a set of Nautilus 802s (the aluminum tweeter, not the new D diamond ones). We both REALLY liked them... But we both felt the magic wasn't really there. They sounded amazing and we couldn't find anything wrong with them but he ended up selling them after about 2 months. His new plan was to just get a set of 803s, but somehow something kept driving him to research other brands anyway. Email after email he'd send me... Hey check out this brand! What about these? How do these look?

Finally he got hooked on the Dali Helicon 800s from reading about them online. Now Mike (an excellent and highly experienced audio engineer) is one guy who NEVER buys audio products without seeing and hearing them first, but he was so taken with the look and specs of the Dalis that he took the plunge and ordered a set from a dealer in California, off of Audiogon (probably your best bet for finding a set). I told him he's a dope, he'll probably hate them.

UPS destroyed them.

However, the drivers were undamaged (just the cabinets, bases and grills were messed up) so he hooked them up while waiting for the new set to arrive... and both of us fell utterly in love. I'm serious. These Helicon 800s are MAGIC. They utterly fill the room (the sweet spot is HUGE) with the most real, amazing sound you could want. I've heard a lot of speakers in my day and I have to say I haven't heard anything that moved me more than these. Plus the finish is extraordinary. You have to see them to believe how gorgeous they are.

Now the Helicon 800 is probably way too tall for you (they're really big) but you might look into the Helicon 400 which is a smaller box and according to the reviews they sound just as amazing as the 800s. If you can find a way to hear a set or order them with some kind of money-back guarantee (doubtful, sorry to say), I seriously recommend it. I can't say enough about these speakers. Someday I WILL own a set, o yes (need a house first ). One caveat with the Dalis, they want space, a big room. They're not meant to be placed too close to a wall or corner, or the bass might be overemphasized. Other than that, they don't seem to be very tichy about placement or toe-in. Put them in the room and they just sound wonderful.

I own a set of the new Swan 5.2 and love them. Wonderful speakers on a $1K budget. They look amazing too, though of course the finish pales in comparison to the Dalis. As for the sound, they are WELL worth the $1k and I like them better than the B&W DM604 S3. Again the Dalis KILL them, but that's to be expected for several thousand $ more. As they're ID with a money-back, you might give them a shot. The wife might like the look with the cool tweeter on top. However you've shot down many great speakers so as much as I like the sound, I can't of course say how you'd feel about them. The mids and highs are outstanding, very smooth yet detailed, utterly non-fatiguing (that silk dome TN28 tweeter is wonderful). The only somewhat negative comment I'll make is that I found the bass and mids to be just slightly boomy and less defined and punchy than I'd like. Crossed over to a sub it's a non-issue. They do sound nice in direct (full-range) mode with enough extension for 2-channel music, but again not the absolute best bass range I've ever heard.

Regarding Ed Frias, you might give him a call. He's a GREAT guy and I would really love to hear his custom speakers. They look awesome too. He definitely knows what he's doing. Only thing about EFE, there's no returns. Once you buy, they're yours. Of course you can always sell them on audiogon and recoup your investment; he has enough of a following that that shouldn't be too much of a problem. He'll happily email you a list of customer testimonials with location and contact info so you can try to find someone in your area who will happily let you come audition them. Worth looking into, no doubt. His prices are very reasonable too.

Good luck. I think you'll need it.

 

[AMG_Roadster]

I will have to look into the Dali's. I have looked at their site before but ended up not spending very long there. They have a ton of speakers & lines. Got to be too much to check out. Although since you brought it up one of my concerns is the comment about a large room and not being placed too close to the wall. My room is probably small - average, 18x14x9 but with openings that can not be closed off into 4 other rooms. The other thing is that placement will probably have to be within 8"-1.5' of the rear wall.

I had forgotten about the swans and actually meant to check them out. Your comment about the lower frequencies being a bit muddy & boomy has me concerned. That is one of the things I really liked about the focals. No boominess, very clear detailed lows, although it sounds as if they are a bit warm for most of the reviewers.

 

[AndrewLyles]

AMG,
I can't remember what you're working budget was but you may want to give the new Mirage OMD line a listen if you get the chance. I don't believe that they are out yet, they should be sometime in April or early May but they look pretty sweet and from what I've read they are pretty promising. I posted the link to some pics below, I'm not sure if the prices listed there are realistic now, as the website is pretty old. There is some information listed in the boards over at the mirage site about the speakers being tri-amped with a usable frequency response from 18hz - 20Khz. Crazy talk I tell ya, crazy talk

http://www.shows.soundstagelive.com/shows/avtour2005/ced_showstoppers_1.shtml

~Andrew

 

[mdrew]

Have you looked at Tannoys yet? I haven’t heard them, but owners speak very highly of them. They have some unique lines worth a look. One line in particular is their EYRIS iDP line. Fully interactive digital control system where the user sets them up exactly how he/she wants. Looks overly complicated to me, but as picky as you seam to be, this may be your answer. YOU get to set up everything, including crossover points. I have no idea what Tannoys run, but they don’t look cheap.

 

[kgb540]

I briefly looked through this post and did not see these mentioned. I would suggest the USHER 6-Series, namely the CP-6381 or CP-6391. They are stunning to look at and perform better than a speaker in their price should. Cetainly worth a look at considering some of the other suggestions offered here. Good luck!

 

[AMG_Roadster]

AMG,
I can't remember what you're working budget was but you may want to give the new Mirage OMD line a listen if you get the chance. I don't believe that they are out yet, they should be sometime in April or early May but they look pretty sweet and from what I've read they are pretty promising. I posted the link to some pics below, I'm not sure if the prices listed there are realistic now, as the website is pretty old. There is some information listed in the boards over at the mirage site about the speakers being tri-amped with a usable frequency response from 18hz - 20Khz. Crazy talk I tell ya, crazy talk

http://www.shows.soundstagelive.com/shows/avtour2005/ced_showstoppers_1.shtml

~Andrew

Fantastic looking speakers. If they sound as good as the look they are winners.

Too bad that $3750 per speaker is a bit out of my price range. Not sure if that price will hold true or if apperciable discounts are possible.

 

[AMG_Roadster]

Have you looked at Tannoys yet? I haven’t heard them, but owners speak very highly of them. They have some unique lines worth a look. One line in particular is their EYRIS iDP line. Fully interactive digital control system where the user sets them up exactly how he/she wants. Looks overly complicated to me, but as picky as you seam to be, this may be your answer. YOU get to set up everything, including crossover points. I have no idea what Tannoys run, but they don’t look cheap.

Came accross the Tannoy's today online. I was trying to do some research to see what others had to say about them. Definately worth a look if I can find a dealer.

 

[mdrew]

Any new thoughts / review to share?

I'm anxious to see what you end up with. I don't think I've ever seen where someone has auditioned as much as you have and I'm interested to hear what you end up with, and why.