[uphoto]

I've been typing away online talking about speakers for 20+ years now but haven't been too involved in the past 6-8 years.

About to sell a well-loved pair of Cornwalls that the wife disapproves of and wanting to get back into the market.  It's really tough making buying decisions in the age of COVID.

Just wanted to finally say hello, long time lurker first time poster.

[FullRangeMan]

Welcome 
This is bad news, its a important crossroad in your life,
think about your decision.
In 1988 for less than that I changed my wife.
Good luck.

[JLM]

Welcome!

Don't sell the wife, loudspeakers are easier to replace.   

Loudspeakers have changed since the Cornwall's heyday.  They've gotten smaller, less efficient, tighter bass, and the better ones far less colored.  Three trends to be aware of:  wave guide loaded tweeters that provide controlled directivity and lessen room impact; active design (low voltage input to sophisticated crossovers that feed one channel of amplification per driver) for superior performance; the use of multiple subwoofers to tame inherent in-room bass peaks/dips.

Yes CoVid has ruled out audio meetings/shows, but shops are still open and some vendors will allow for in-home trials.  Buchardt is one of them and they sell well respected passive and active loudspeakers.  Frankly meeting/shows are best to veto a product, not to make definitive buying decisions.

[timind]

Welcome!

Don't sell the wife, loudspeakers are easier to replace.   

Loudspeakers have changed since the Cornwall's heyday.  They've gotten smaller, less efficient, tighter bass, and the better ones far less colored.  Three trends to be aware of:  wave guide loaded tweeters that provide controlled directivity and lessen room impact; active design (low voltage input to sophisticated crossovers that feed one channel of amplification per driver) for superior performance; the use of multiple subwoofers to tame inherent in-room bass peaks/dips.

Yes CoVid has ruled out audio meetings/shows, but shops are still open and some vendors will allow for in-home trials.  Buchardt is one of them and they sell well respected passive and active loudspeakers.  Frankly meeting/shows are best to veto a product, not to make definitive buying decisions.

I don't agree with your first sentence. Best upgrade I ever made was ditching the first wife for a newer model.

As for your comment on speakers, I agree.

To the OP, a big welcome.

[uphoto]

Welcome!

Don't sell the wife, loudspeakers are easier to replace.   

Loudspeakers have changed since the Cornwall's heyday.  They've gotten smaller, less efficient, tighter bass, and the better ones far less colored.  Three trends to be aware of:  wave guide loaded tweeters that provide controlled directivity and lessen room impact; active design (low voltage input to sophisticated crossovers that feed one channel of amplification per driver) for superior performance; the use of multiple subwoofers to tame inherent in-room bass peaks/dips.

Yes CoVid has ruled out audio meetings/shows, but shops are still open and some vendors will allow for in-home trials.  Buchardt is one of them and they sell well respected passive and active loudspeakers.  Frankly meeting/shows are best to veto a product, not to make definitive buying decisions.

haha, thank you and everyone else for the warm welcome.

Buchardt is on my short list for sure, along with Tekton and Spatial Audio.

[Phil A]

Welcome!

[jjss49]

I don't agree with your first sentence. Best upgrade I ever made was ditching the first wife for a newer model.

As for your comment on speakers, I agree.

To the OP, a big welcome.

i must agree... wives are like equipment in that if they don't work well then a change must be made ... definitely effort and cost involved but when necessary it is best done without looking back  ....   

[RonN5]

As JLM has posted, there are many great options these days...new and preowned....painted and wood finish...."exotic" and conventional drivers...bookshelves and floor standers.

If you can say a few words about your room size, how the system will be set up in the room, the music you listen to, sound preferences and budget, you will get many tips to at least guide you in a direction (and hopefully not be too confusing).

[ArthurDent]

Greetings & Welcome to AC uphoto   

[twitch54]

Welcome to the fold, lots of folks here to help you spend your $$   

[uphoto]

As JLM has posted, there are many great options these days...new and preowned....painted and wood finish...."exotic" and conventional drivers...bookshelves and floor standers.

If you can say a few words about your room size, how the system will be set up in the room, the music you listen to, sound preferences and budget, you will get many tips to at least guide you in a direction (and hopefully not be too confusing).

Appreciate it.

Room is fairly large (18 x 14) and speakers right now are shared with a switch box between my Onkyo HT AVR and a china hifi Muzishare X7 with KT88 tubes (surprisingly awesome).  The Cornwalls were being used for 2 channel with the tube amp and 5.1 for HT use on the Onkyo.

Music is mostly classic folk, modern indie and classic indie, jazz, the usual audiophile stuff.

Budget though is only $2k for the new front speakers.  Was looking seriously at the Tekton speakers in the under $1,500 range but would really like to find some used Spatial Audio M3 or M4's.

But open to the suggestions but they need to be fairly efficient, say 92 db and above?

Past speakers I have owned are anything from high end Thiels to lots of Klipsch, the AV123 days with Rockets and their Reference speakers and then fell off the face of the audiophile world for a bit and now I'm back!