Help me Choose my Next Speakers

Time for a new experiment. I don't have any qualms with my Spendors or Heresys but apparently I suffer from "the disease."

I recently acquired a pair of Revel F36s, and while they're very good speakers overall, the bass is simply too much for the original intended room. I also find the top end just a bit fatiguing with some music, but that's my typical response to metal cones. PM me of you want a great deal on some F36s.

My ideal budget is ~$1500 but I may be willing to stretch that to $2K.

Unfortunately, the room is approximately 15x15', but with vaulted ceilings. For whatever reason, it always appeared larger and before getting the tape out I would've swore it was rectangular. Flooring is the typical suspended OSB with carpeting. I'd like to place the speakers no more than 1.5' from the wall.

Normally I'm a standmount advocate but I'd like to stick with small floorstanders for this system. Spendor A4s would be a no-brainer based on my auditions, but I don't want to shell out $3K.

I tend to prefer warmish speakers with soft-dome tweeters. I like good imaging and a "5th row" presentation. I don't enjoy speakers that place most vocalists within arm's length. Driving amps will be a Yamaha A-S500 or Cayin A88T, depending on the time of year. Volume level will rarely exceed 80db from 12' away. Metal domes, Ribbons, and AMTs are a no-go.

I've narrowed it down to the list above. Please vote and leave a short explanation for your choice, and maybe a description of the speakers sound in relation to some popular models (I've heard at least one speaker from all the big makes) Other recommendations are welcome but please keep my noted preferences and budget in mind. The Salks are probably the maximum size I'm willing to entertain.

 

Check out Vienna Acoustics small floorstanders too. They are warmish with a soft dome tweeter and sound very good with a Yamaha A-S801.

 

Tannoy XT6F. Not perfect but no speaker you are looking at will be. Extremely lively and punchy smooth bass that sounds musical and never strained or hardened. Good midrange and sweet treble. Bass and dynamics are the stars here but never overbearing. Soundstage is deep and way above average at this price point.
I would mention that the material of the dome is not what causes fatigue- but rather the application and especially the crossover design. There are many excellent metal dome designs that are not fatiguing and many more textile domes that are- but your past posts tell me you are ultra sensitive to treble fatigue.
I personally would love to try the Salks some day because of their Hiquophon world class tweeters- which are extremely detailed but can be fatiguing.
Peace and good luck.

 

Agree 100% with your first sentence. Years ago I was one of those "won't own a metal dome tweeter" audiophiles. After having owned a few properly executed metal tweeters, I no longer discount them without a listen.

As for your list, I voted other as I haven't heard any of the listed speakers. I did a quick audition of a previous model Rega 3 speakers and liked them. Good luck with search.

 

I'm not one of those audiophiles as a whole (I liked the LS50 tweeters) but I'm trying to play it safe with this purchase because I won't be buying locally. It's just that I've encountered very few metal domes and cones that I can live with long term.

 

I choose Salk simply because, if I had the money, I would pay just to have them as decorations, lol. Beautiful speakers from what I've seen. I haven't heard any of the speakers listed, so I can't make an informed choice, but I did read a thread recently where pretty much everyone had good things to say about the brand.

 

Interesting, since that was our impression hearing them at Brooks Berdan (the NICEST folks by the way).

Have you considered the Monitor Audio Silver 300s? They are within your (stretch) budget and are on the compact side of powerful towers. I played with these for maybe 3 hours at Upscale Audio playing everything from Steely Dan and such to Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind and on to Motorhead's No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith. Despite the ceramic coated dome, NO harshness evident at all. That is quite an amazing thing, since something like live Motorhead turns a lot of speakers into a screaming, hashy mess. I was absolutely shocked how clean that sounded. A lot of recent listening has bent me more towards design with a midrange, instead of trying to mate woofers direct to tweeters. Different inaccuracies and problems ha ha!

 

I owned the previous generation (Silver 8s) They were decent but also fatiguing at times. There was also a fine line between too little bass and overpowering bass. I can't imagine them working well at only 18" from the wall. I also found them just a bit too slow for a lot of rock music (one reason I'm looking at paper cone speakers) They made stuff like Tesla sound rather sluggish. Still, they were better than many at their price.

 

If the Spendor A4s are really what you want, then that's what you should go for. Perhaps wait until a used pair turns up?

 

Looks like some great options all in all. I'll just go on record as noting that I for one am incredibly happy to see the return of walnut as an option for veneer choices!

 

Try Dentons and maybe save some money.

 

Audio Note AZ Two Hemp $1600 floorstanders 8 inch woofers - put them 5cm from the back wall or corners - under budget - no metal tweeters, inexpensive, need 7 watts to pelt, Horn/Transmission Line speakers. Easy peasy done that easy.



Or go for something like the spatial audio turbo S $1995

 

The ANs are intriguing. Didn't realize they sell anything that large for only $1600

 

Yes - get a cool finish too



There is also an AZ Three floorstander for around $2,000 which is bigger and uses the higher grade tweeter. It's not on their website which is never updated but it exists somewhere lol.



They offer a bunch of variations - I think the AZ Two starts at $1350 for the paper woofer and $1600ish for the Hemp woofer and there is a $3000+ version with suped up parts. Typical AN - why sell one version when you can offer 5?

Don't need much power - this is AZ Three

 

Used B&W 804.

 

I bet those audio note speakers would sound great with my fisher 500c....now only finding a dealer (somewhat) nearby...I'm in northern Michigan.

 

I have no experience with the speakers from your list other than the Rega so I cannot offer much of an advice.
I only heard the Rega in my local dealer for a short audition of 15 minutes but I did not like them that much. They sounded congested.

But if you got the "disease", why don't you experiment with something entirely different like the open baffle designs from Emerald Physics for instance?

 

Given your listening preferences, perhaps a speaker from Totem would be of interest to you. Their product line is pretty extensive these days.

Cheers
Mister Pig

 

Have auditioned both AN Z-two and three speakers. Tighter, less boomy delivery with the threes, despite their larger cabinets, but both have a (nice to me) emphasis on tone and body rather than anaemic accuracy. Great characteristic too, if desired, is that they work well close to walls or corners.

Would also add Proac and Kudos speakers as ones audition if possible, based on your preferences, but IME they need a bit more space.

 

Sorry to hear, hope you get over it!

 

interesting, thanks. My Snell J's are the speakers I keep coming back to. They're not perfect and there are a few things I wish they did better, but they are similar to what you describe here. I'll have to check them out...I haven't heard much about them...usually just the E's and J's.

 

Monitor Audio Silver 200 or 300. You don't need to spend more.

 

I’m running Odyssey amplification (3 wpc class A + 107 wpc A/B) would that be too much to drive the AZ Two Hemp?

 

I recently caught the same disease and Monitor Audio Silver 300s cured me.

I have them about 18 inches from the wall and have no problems with the bass situation -- in fact, they're very impressive to me. I have low ceilings since I'm in a basement, so your situation might be different.

 

I somewhat surprised by the suggestions for Monitor Audio given my Silver 8 anecdote earlier in this thread. Been there, done that. I heard the Silver 200s recently and they sounded much like the older Silver series, maybe a bit smoother on top. Unless the 300s are a landslide improvement over the Silver 8s, I'll have to pass. The Silver 8s I owned were sneaky in producing fatigue, as I've somewhat encountered with the Revels.
As for Totem, also not my cuppa tea for similar reasons.

As a side note, i do have to extend props to MA for having hands-down the best fit and finish I've encountered in entry-level floorstanders. It sort of baffles me as to how they can manage that for the price, even despite their Chinese production.

I'm pretty hell-bent on sticking with soft cone materials this time around. The only soft-dome tweeters that have bothered me in recent memory were those of Polk's RTI series.

Thanks for the suggestions anyway