[revrob]

I been looking for some new speakers to replace my old ones and was looking at some bookshelves for under $3,000.00. It seems to me that there are so many good speakers out there. Some that I have been looking at are Lenehan, Pioneer S-2EX, Dali, Vapor, Selah, Salk and many others.

Question? Have speakers manufacturers really become much better at their craft. It doesn't seem as though you can go wrong picking speakers today once you hit a certain dollar threshold. IMO it appears it really comes down to personal taste and budget. There doesn't appear to be a clear winner but I may be wrong. Any really bad speakers out there in this price range?

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Steve

[pslate]

I thought I would share a shift in my thinking about speakers that I have found helpful. There are many good speakers, too many!! But consider your room. What type of speaker best solves the acoustical problems of your room? Maybe your room would be optimal for OB, and that sound really pulls you in, or perhaps you have a small room that is fairly well damped and a traditional 2 way monitor is the way to go. Anyhow I have found this way of thinking has helped me sort out good options. Not how the speakers may sound in some rooms, but how a certain design will perform in the constraints of your room. In full disclosure I use a controlled directivity approach now, however I definitely do not think that approach is the best by any means, it just works for me right now.
Happy hunting!!!

[Letitroll98]

When you put a cone speaker with tweeter crossed over above 2 kHz to a dome or ribbon tweeter in a .5 to 1 cu ft. box there's not a lot of room for distinctive sound.  Assuming competent designers using top quality components at that price point, you're gonna get different flavors of the same dish.  Nothing wrong with this as it's a popular design platform for a reason, it works well.  Only when you go far afield from that paradigm do you get something unique, the Soundfield SAM 2 or the Gedlee Abby for example.

So to your question, yes, with computer modeling and nearly infinite parts sourcing talented designers have a wealth of tools at their disposal and when given enough budget it's pretty hard to screw up.  When the price point drops you start to see the compromises that create a greater spread in SQ. 

[neekomax]

Some very interesting thoughts here.

(+1 for controlled directivity  )

[JLM]

Seriously consider a swarm of subwoofers (start at Audio Kinesis here at AC).  The physics say you can't get flat frequency response room wide without multiple subs.

Secondly at your budget you really should look (listen) into active designs (one amplification channel per driver that has the crossover in the signal path before the amps).  Years ago I auditioned Paradigm Studio 20 v2 ($800/pair 2-way passive stand mounts) against Paradigm Active 20 ($1600/pair, active version of the same speaker).  It was an epiphany.  The Actives were much more dynamic (no contest), rule flat frequency response (it just makes "sense" of what you're hearing without colorations), and unbelievably deep/full bass (passersby couldn't believe what was happening).  Of course much better imaging than the Paradigm bass comparable Studio 80 floor standers, and the required stands were much cheaper than a quality stereo power amp or mono blocks.

Of course 90% of what professionals use in the studio are active.  Check out these options:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may12/articles/spotlight-0512.htm

[revrob]

So given that designers and the parts they used contribute to the overall sound how do companies like Magico and Raidho and others charge $15K, $20K, and even $30k for small bookshelves speakers with stands. Can there be that much difference in the quality of sound versus a $5k speaker with similar components or am I missing something. Some charge almost $10k for stands.

Are there competent bookshelves at $3k to $5k that compete with the best? Or is that impossible? I know best is a relative term so please there is no best statements, I already know that part of the equation.

Thanks,
Steve

[JerryM]

Are there competent bookshelves at $3k to $5k that compete with the best? Or is that impossible? I know best is a relative term so please there is no best statements, I already know that part of the equation.

Do your level best to demo a pair of Fritz Speakers Carbon 7s. Ridiculously underpriced, they are one of the best. 

Have fun,

Jerry

[Letitroll98]

So given that designers and the parts they used contribute to the overall sound how do companies like Magico and Raidho and others charge $15K, $20K, and even $30k for small bookshelves speakers with stands. Can there be that much difference in the quality of sound versus a $5k speaker with similar components or am I missing something. Some charge almost $10k for stands.

Are there competent bookshelves at $3k to $5k that compete with the best? Or is that impossible? I know best is a relative term so please there is no best statements, I already know that part of the equation.

Thanks,
Steve

I previously stated as the price goes down we see compromises made to meet a price point and there's a greater separation of sound quality.  As the price goes stratospheric there's the opportunity to achieve brilliance, or have a very overpriced nice sounding speaker.  I could name a $125,000 two way that doesn't sound a lot better than a $2,000 speaker, but lets leave derision out of this.  I'll just say that most of the uber high priced systems I've heard were disappointing relative to their cost.  Which leads in to your question, if we assume diminishing returns as the price goes out of bounds, where is the sweet spot that you get the most for your money at?

Somewhere between the Lenehan ML-1 at $2,750 and the Joseph Audio Pulsar at $7,000.  That's a big range and I haven't heard every speaker by a long shot, and I could change my mind tomorrow.  But since you asked I haven't heard anything close to the price in two way monitors that sounded as complete as the JA Pulsars.  And everything below the the ML-1 had some sort of compromise.   

[revrob]

I just purchase the Lenehan S2r which were a demo pair from Rollo so I will see what they can do. I am going from a floor stander, Salk HT3 which I loved but I needed to downsize. The Salk were the best speakers I ever heard or owned. It will be interesting to see how these match up. Thanks for all the info.

Steve

[Letitroll98]

Best of luck, I really liked the Lenehan I heard in his room at Cap Fest last year.  A very different speaker from the Salks, yet achieves many of the same goals.  Both sound...expensive.  Smooth, low distortion, yet still dynamic, throwing a big soundstage.  Keep us updated.

[revrob]

I believe the pair I purchased are the same ones he used at the Cap Fest last year but I could be wrong. I will give my thoughts once I received them.

Thanks.

[stlrman]

Congrats !! how much did you pay? Did they come with stands?
Enjoy

[revrob]

I sent you a pm because I did not want to publicly post the price.

[rollo]

I believe the pair I purchased are the same ones he used at the Cap Fest last year but I could be wrong. I will give my thoughts once I received them.

Thanks.

  Yes same ones we used at the show. We were able to offer a special deal on these in accordance with Lenehan.  Recco the B&W stands at Best Buy if the Lenehan stands are a bit of a stretch. Not dealers for B&W. Shipping today.

charles