Floor standing speaker recommendations <$1500

Hi all,

I'm back with another speaker recommendation request (this time, no height restrictions). I switched some furniture around in the living room, and have an excuse to replace my 20 year old NHT SuperOne bookshelf speakers, currently on stands.

I'd prefer to go with floor standers, mainly because I don't plan on using a sub, have small kids, who occasionally like to knock things over. I'll be powering the speakers in a 2.0/stereo arrangement with a Denon AVR-X4300H receiver. Yes, I realize this is designed for home theater, but it has video support/capabilities I need.

Here are my priorities, in order:

• High WAF, preferably with real wood veneer. Yes, sound is important, but these are not for my listening room, and are mainly for casual music listening and watching TV/movies.
• Smallish foot print. Don't need something giant, that distracts from the rest of the room.
• Not too tall! ^^ related to above. My couch and seating is low, so I don't want some giant tower speaker with 8 drivers each, that dominates the room.
• I like a rich, mellow sound. Doesn't need a ton of bass, or bright highs. These are going into an "open" living room with hard wood floors and a pitched ceiling.
• Around $1500. The lower the better, obviously. Might go a bit higher if there is a compelling case or higher WAF.
• Prefer new, I don't mind mail order.

Thanks in advance for all recommendations!

 

Here are a couple good deals from Upscale Audio.
KEF Q900 Floorstanding Loudspeaker Pair
Focal Chorus 716 Loudspeakers Pair
Vienna Acoustics Bach Grand Speakers Pair

 

Nice! All three are hitting the sweet spot. Anyone heard any of them?

 

+1 above SamS- i've had my eye on these as well
Tannoy
Tannoy - Revolution XT6F - Floor Standing Speaker (Single)

 

https://totemacoustic.com/en/arro

My cousin has had these for a while and really loves them. I have always been impressed with the presence, warmth and detail of the Totem line.

 

I assume the VAs also come with speaker grilles. A must with "have small kids" - until they're way past the driver-destroying age.

If not, strike it from the list.

Jeff

ps. First thing I did after buying a pair of Totem Sttaf a couple of months ago was to design and build grilles for them, due to two small grandchildren (and their friends) who visit quite often.

 

MA Silver 200 at $1498/pair. Great WAF, and good for music and HT.

Monitor Audio Silver 200 Floor standing Speaker-Audio Advisor

 

Vandersteens have amazing tone and the 1ci model falls right into your price range, looks great and isn’t a room hog:

Vandersteen - 1Ci Tower Speakers (Pr) | Shop Music Direct

 

+1. These won best in class in our What Hi Fi annual awards at the end of last year. They retail at £1000 over here so $1500 seems a good price given exchange rates and exporting from the UK.

 

They are actually made in and imported from China...
-Bill

 

I haven't heard these but lots of love on this forum, I'm considering them:

Omen Dirty Weekend [Mk.II]

 

Yes I have older Focal 716s and love them:

 

I have two for you:

Focal 726 Towers -I got mine on sale 999.99 for the pair. Check Music Direct, I believe they are on sale again. these normally sell for 2.2k They are the best speaker I have personally owned and I have gone through dozens of speakers. Excellent highs and bass, smooth midrange.

Sierra Towers NrT -these are a bit higher at 2k but they may be the last speaker you ever need to buy. I was saving for these but when the Focal's dropped from 2,200.00 down to 999.99 last Christmas I jumped on them. I'm still saving for these but slowly since I am really enjoying the 726. Now if you want to get crazy the Focal Aria 926 is on sale at Music Direct for 2,200 down from 3,200. Read the reviews on the 926.

Hope my 2 cents are helpful.

 

Your points #’s 1 and 4 are very personal and extremely subjective. I understand that the looks are very important but if the SQ isn’t really satisfying you’re not going to be happy for too long when they are playing. At least I think that would be the case.
If you’re familiar with a manufacturers “house sound” then I guess you can make an educated choice by specs alone. If not, maybe you really should hear them in person. I suppose if the $$ aren’t that important, you could just dump ‘em and buy another pair.
I remember back in the 70’s page long and highly pseudo technical adds promoting why you should by their speakers. Upon actual listening some lived up to the hype while others were truly bad.

 

Understood. But keeping in mind that this room is for very casual listening, and mainly TV. Of course I don't want to dump $$$ on a crap speaker, but unless they're complete garbage, I imagine my ears will "get used" to them after some time. And if they're really annoying, I could indeed sell and keep shopping

 

Focals are a safe bet in my opinion. My lowly 716s have had me answering the door to nobody there and pissed at loud kids that didn’t exist in the front yard

 

Sam, just as an aside as this isn’t what this thread is about, would you go with McIntosh again in your main system?

 

These are great prices.....but doing business with Kevin Deal is the real issue.

 

In that case, go with the Monitor Audio speakers recommended above. They are just beautiful to look at.

 

For amplification, absolutely! For A/V processors, disc-spinners, and others, I just don't think McIntosh offers the value that I'm after.

 

My thoughts exactly except they made some dynamite tuners.

Now back to the thread subject, speakers. I’ve noticed quite a few sites that concentrate on the aesthetics as well as sound. It might serve you well to check some of these out.

 

I’d get a nice pair of Polks and plow the savings into my listening room in the form of a desired upgrade or more music.

 

Which Polks?

 

What about Bowers & Wilkens 684 S2? 684 S2

I already have B&Ws in my media room, and have been delighted with them for 15+ (!) years now. Certainly the oldest piece of gear I have (that I bought new) in my main system, because man I really love them

 

RTi A7's are great all around speakers for the price