Best tower speakers in the 2-3k range?

How were the CM9's?

 

I think integrating a sub properly into your system is more work. Location, cross over, etc etc.

 

Just to clarify these were the first series not the s2's. I just listened to these, golden ear triton 3's and some martin logans. The cm9's were definitely the best. I would try to demo some other speakers but ive been buying from this dealer for a while and he's giving me 750 off the list price which originally is 3k. So in short, i think i found my new speakers

 

Yea if i ever did this it would be way down the road if i had money to blow

 

If it were me, I would buy the most expensive PMC's I could afford. When I auditioned for new speakers in about 2005 or so, these were the best I heard. The JMR's I have are excellent, but the PMC's were a class or 2 above. Darn expensive, though!

I also like Vienna Acoustics and QUAD.

 

Agreed! But I think the ones in that photo are Seas Pendragons, aren't they?

 

Pretty cool! Hope they sound as good at home as at the dealer. Environment and associated gear certainly make a difference. Let us know how you like them after a couple days. If they're not demos (i.e., brand new) they likely will change in sonics over the first few days or even weeks. May sound bass-deficient until the woofers 'loosen up' (at least that's been my experience with my latest (10 year old) Titus monitors). I don't remember about my only B&W speakers, the original DM601s. I still use those, as L/R in my surround system.

The CM9s use the 'surroundless' midrange, correct? interesting, and wondering about 'breakin' with that driver.

 

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Good catch! Yes they're the Seas driver version. I have the original Pendgragon myself. I bet those are pretty sweet too. Both versions are the same price btw.

Reading the responses here I see some excellent speakers being suggested. I still think the Pendragons are in a whole other class. More like a 20k speaker than one under 5k. Yes, they're that good.

Here's a pic of a Pendragon next to the Tekton LoreS. The Pens are pretty large speakers.

 

not sure about the surroundless midrange, but yea these will definitely take some time to break in as the dealer said they have only been demoed a few times. I'm sure I'll be happy with it, im gonna be switching things around my room to make them sound as best as possible.

 

I love using subwoofers in my setup, but IMO you need to run two of them and in stereo for the best results with music.

 

I just dropped a REL sub into my Rega system and I can't imagine a future of music without it. And it is mono but the cut off is low (less than 45Hz).

 

You will want one (preferably two smaller ones) with the CM9s. The CM9 has a very good midrange but are a bit bright and can be thin on bass, so a sub really helps to round them out. They will make for a nice upgrade.
-Bill

 

Definitely keeping the x-over frequency as low as possible makes the transition most seamless.
-Bill

 

How much more would a set of ex-dem B&W 804 be? I know it is easy to get on the slippery slope, but you could ask your dealer to let you compare CM-9 to 804.

 

Thanks for the validation Bill! -Rick

P.S. Two would be sick...

 

I've always been curious ...

1. Why the 3 tweeters? (he does that on the Enzo's as well?)
2. And if you know, what is being patented on the Enzo design?

Thanks!

 

Tweets are less efficient?

 

There are a bunch of good speakers in that price range.

What do you value the most? You say that you listen to a lot of R&R so I assume you want pretty good bass output. Do you prefer a more "forward" sound? Do want more neutral or even "warm"? How important is soundstage and imaging? Do you want something that has pretty good L/R imaging w/o being in the sweet spot? How loud do you want them to be able to play w/o overdriving them?

 

If you could make it to $3500 (and I'd bet you could get your price to that point by asking nicely) I'd throw in the Totem Forest towers, Nola Contenders (I got mine for $3500), the latest version of the Triangle Antal's, and the Spendor A5's.

 

I would love to have the opportunity to take a pair of Zu(s) through the audition process...

 

you're asking the wrong person, i think they might have had the 804's at my dealer, but they're out of my price range

 

thanks for the input. now why two smaller ones than just one? im assuming two would cost more, no?

 

just fyi, from what i heard the golden ear triton 3's were really not good at all imo. my dealer agreed with me but he says they sell so....

 

But you can configure them in stereo and 2 smaller subs will likely produce the same level of bass as a larger sub but be acoustically faster, as in no lag from more massive mechanical systems...

 

I tried the seven and left wondering about the folded ribbon tweeter. Michael Murray sounded a bit thin as well...