Speaker shopping with $3000 budget - what have you heard? Opinions?

I've only had the LS50s for a day but my initial impression is that they're excellent speakers for the money. I think they easily compete with others I've heard under $5K. Resolution is on par with the Performa Revels, maybe even a bit better in terms of subtleties. I was surprised by their warmth and how similar they sounded to my Spendors. I was able to do back to back comparisons, using the switched A/B speaker terminals on my integrated. Their upper bass is just as potent as that of my Spendors which have 8" woofers, and that's in a 26' x 15.5' room! Where they differed most was scale, it was easy to tell the Spendors are a much larger speaker, but the LS50s were still great in that regard considering their size. After hearing the bass they can manage, I think you should definitely add them to your audition list.

I haven't listened to the Vandys 1Cis in a few days but plan to compare them later tonight.

 

Awesome, please share once you have compared!

 

I was up late comparing the LS50s and 1Cis. I think both are remarkably good speakers for the money, but for me, the LS50s have the edge.

I think for many, it would simply come down to whether they place greater value on clarity or bass. The Vandys have greater scale and bass depth, no real surprise there. What does surprise me is the LS50s are considerably warmer (fresh out of the box). The 1Cis have acquired just enough hours to be considered broke-in, and yet, I still had to keep their treble trim at -1.5 db to achieve my preferred balance (basically that of Spendor's Classic line). At that setting, the tone becomes very similar to the LS50s.

My only real qualm with the Vandys is a slight sibilance in the upper midrange. It hasn't mellowed out at all with break-in. This is nitpicking for a $1350 speaker. Aside from the LS50, it equals or bests everything I've heard in its price range and is completely at home with $3K company.

The midbass of each seems comparable in my rather large room, but the edge goes to the Vandys. The LS50s have the upper hand in terms of clarity, lack of distortion, well-defined imaging and overall tone. Both speakers have excellent decay and "musicality."

I bought both pairs with the intent of keeping just one and the LS50s are the keepers. My only concern is I've read some reports that they become brighter with break-in.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the 2Ce Sig IIs eliminate the sibilance issue and outperform the LS50s, given how well the 1Cis compete with the KEFs. The 2CEs inherited the dedicated midrange driver from the 3A, which is supposed to be excellent.

 

Yes check out the LS50. Very nice speakers.

 

kef ls50 equals everything youve heard under the 3k range Helon?

the kef ls50 is a good option at 1.5k. nothing more for me

id be curious how you find they compare to your Spendor SP2/3R2. I basically give up on the kef ls50, I much prefer the bbc options (P3's or bigger harbeth/graham and prob your spendors)

there are a lots of better speaker in the 2-3k range then kef ls50.


in the 3k price range, Id definitely try to audition the tekton DI, Amphion 3LS, Proac Dt8 or Proac sms100 and Harbeth c7

 

I've auditioned 8 of the speakers on the OP's list in addition to others, including the Harbeth C7s and Stirling LS3/6, with extensive listening to the latter two in my system. I much prefer the Spendor 2/3s to the C7s. To my ears, they're not in the same league. The Stirlings were superior to both in a couple respects but a little too analytical for my taste. I can't speak for the P3, or other Harbeths. I also have no experience with ProAc.

Anyway, I think you slightly misread my post. I said, "Aside from the LS50, it (the 1Cis) equals or bests everything I've heard in its price range and is completely at home with $3K company." This was intended to imply that the Vandersteens are not embarassed by many of the speakers I've heard under $3k.

Yes, aside from bass and scale, I find the LS50s competitive with everything I've auditioned in the $3k range. That's not to say I necessarily think they're the best speakers under $3K.

 

The thing is, that I have heard the LS50's some years ago, with SS equipment. While I didn't think that is was an inferior speaker, I noted that it was on the bright side. On this thought, I don't really like my audio store as much, any more, as I prefer the sound of my home system, to be better than the system in the audio store. This is why I keep rethinking my opinion's on older gear, that might not have been auditioned with better gear.

 

Wow I was just checking out the Spendor 2/3 online and they are over $1000 more than the Harbeth C7! I might be in the market next year and with no way to audition the Spendors it would be hard to justify paying that much more over the similar sized Harbeth. It almost makes the C7 look like a bargain!

 

I have no doubt that many share your thought process when considering these brands.

I happen to live near one of only a couple U.S. dealers who sell both. I initially brought the C7s home because of all the rave opinions floating around the net. Similar to KEF LS50s, one can't help but be intrigued by the all the good press C7s receive. I also liked their finish options and overall look better than the Spendors. The C7s have an appearance of what I would call, "industrial elegance," while the Spendors have a mid-woofer that almost looks like it's made of milk jug plastic. I really wanted to prefer the Harbeths because I think their eucalyptus finish is gorgeous. My Spendors have a nice, but somewhat boring dark walnut veneer.

To my ears, the C7s were quite a bit brighter, and had a much cooler tone. I think this difference is apparent in the videos posted by this guy :



I found that the Spendors dig deeper in the lower octaves. Their modest anechoic specs might lead some to assume otherwise, but they (and Stirling Broadcasts) taught me to pay no mind to those figures. I also found they reveal more micro-detail and micro-dynamics over the C7s. The C7s did have a more open sound, with a bit wider sound stage, but suffered from bloated midbass in my room. This made the cabinets easy to localize and I had a hard time forgetting I was listening to boxes. Overall, the C7s have what I consider a more "modern" sound. That's not to say they reveal more detail, because they don't. When it comes to the SP2/3s, I feel the What Hi-Fi review is quite accurate.

The newest Spendor 2/3s retail for $1k more than the Harbs, and unless they've significantly altered the sound, IMO, they're worth the premium.

It's not my intent to step on the toes of Harbeth fans. This was just my completely honest take on these models. I don't want to turn the thread into a brand shootout. If anyone would like to discuss it further, send me a PM.

 

I find LS50s have comparable warmth to my Spendors (both driven by my Yamaha), but I am concerned they might get brighter with break-in. So far, I detect only a slight metallic overtone, as I do with every metal coned speaker, but it's not distracting. I hope it will remain that way.

 

I believe I may have a winner Rogers LS 5/9 BBC Studio Monitors | eBay
still the best box speaker I have heard and owned for 20 years

 

until >>>> BBC LS5/9 - Graham Audio - British manufacturers of high quality loudspeaker systems

 

No no, no. I believe I have a winner.... (with respect) and I've owned them for nearly 25 years. I've upgraded in all other areas of my system and always heard improvements within my system. So, no need as yet to fiddle with my speaker choice. Spendor S-100 Floorstanding Speakers reviews - Audioreview.com
btw, they are stand mounts, not floor standers. I have mine mounted on taylor made four column steel stands. Which weigh in heavier than the speakers (36kgs).

 

The best system I've heard used SP100s. Ubfortunately, the new version clocks in at about $12K.

 

I have a room with nearly identical measurements with room treatments as well. You've listed a number of fine speakers. I, whole-heartily disagree with the notion that a floor stander is too big for the space. My current reference speaker is the Paradigm Performa 75F, which is quite petite at 36"H x 7"W, which I consider a perfect size. Paradigm's top end will be nicely mellowed a bit by your Cronus Magnum integrated.

I've previously owned the Harbeth Compact 7es3's that I loved, but found a bit limited by the space. One other speaker if you can find it and audition is the Triangle Antal EZ (I recently reviewed $3000pr)or the slightly smaller Gaia model (which I am hoping to hear). The tweeter is incredible, and the imaging is the best I've heard in the room, including Totem.

 

Someone has a pair of Harbeth Monitor 30s for $3K in the classified section. A great speaker if you like the Harbeth sound. What does that sound like? The sound of music.

 

Can't possibly go wrong with the "Canadian Sound" - so spend the $3k USD on as much Paradigm, psb, or Energy (in that order) that it will buy.

And yes I've listened to most of what they've produced over the years, in a variety of listening environments, and own and still use two different pairs of Paradigm speakers (Titans and Studio 20s - both far less costly than $3k USD).

The thing about them, and the whole Canadian Sound experience, is that it pretty much just scales up from lowest to highest ends of each company's product line. "Detail, clarity, soundstage" all check off on the positive side of the ledger, along with a whole host of other positive attributes.

Full disclose: I'm Canadian and did participate in Dr. Floyd Toole's listening panel-based research while he was at the National Research Council of Canada doing his groundbreaking work.

Jeff Mackwood

 

Gene Rubin has a fresh pair of Harbeth C7es3 on sale currently for 2500 US.

 

My personal experience: if you are looking for upper mid-range - high freq. clarity you may try the Newformresearch ribbon speakers like these ones maybe prev.models R645v3 .
Check local Craigslist, etc. I purchased mine for $2700 about 12 years ago and since then didn't hear anything with better clarity

 

Ok, my curiosity has gotten the better of me.
I broke down and ordered a set of Spatial Hologram M4 Turbo S.

Fresh out of the box impressions....
Really open sound-stage, quite efficient, very clear.
Surprising bass even without break-in, but my sub crossed at 40 Hz really fills out the bottom.
So far so good! Will be putting the burn-in tracks on a loop for a few days.

Stay tuned!

 

I was looking at those on-line because of the very positive vibes on Audio Circle. Staying tuned.

 

IMO
Vandersteen 2ce sig II

better yet

Harbeth 7ES3 with a REL sub

 

Eagerly awaiting further impressions.

 

From your list PSB. Excellent speakers.
Obviously Harbeth should be heard.
Keeping it under 3k.
For a bit more Stirling LS3/6 would be a wrap!

 

Certainly the best current DEAL in speakers on your list would have to be the Polk LSiM705s for $1399 at Adorama.

And check it out, you get a pair of the well-regarded LSiM703 bookshelf speakers from the same line, and also a LSiM704 center channel, for FREE.

I paid $1499 for just a pair of 705s recently, and thought that was a very fair price. I'm really enjoying them so far, but haven't compared them to many others, aside from the Totem Acoustic Sttafs they replaced.