[dogdog49]

I have a pair of Harbeth Compact 7 ES2's on the way to my house right now that i bought on audiogon to compare to my Gallo Nuc. Ref's. Since i saw them mentioned here as a possible contender i'll post some impressions after they arrive.

[nature boy]

drunkenjack,

IMHO speakers are the most difficult component to recommend and very sensitve to personal preference.  Musical listening preferences, room response, and speaker positioning option are a big part of the equation.

When I consult with friends in putting together their first system, I always start out by visiting their rooms.  A really great sound speaker can sound awful in the wrong room.

You have a great list recommended by fellow AC'ers.  The best advice I can offer you is to find a local dealer(s) that will let you listen to a variety of speakers in your home system.  Your ears are absolutely the best judge of what you like.  You might start out by comparing a pair of high quality monitors and a pair of full-range speakers.  

Speakers are the most often system component that get upgraded or changed out.  Taking time to listen to a variety of speakers now, will save you the hassle of another quest a year from now.

Good luck with your search.

NB

[Captain Humble]

Hope I'm not too late with my endorsement of the Loreleis.

I went home to New Orleans for the Holidays.  Got a chance to catch Dr. John at the House of Blues   and witness my two favorite teams deliver one of the most lack luster displays of football I've ever seen    (Saints vs. Cowboys).

Marbles wrote:

The Lorelies are very engaging speakers..they suck you into the music.

I think you will be very happy with them based on what you are looking for.

Marbles gave me similar advice prior to my purchase of a pair of Loreleis and I'm sooooo happy I listened.

His observation above have been confirmed by several of my friends and family.  Prior to leaving for New Orleans, I put on a CD by Dead Can Dance for a friend that had just set up a brand new system.  He said he had never heard a system in any sound room in Dallas that pulled him into the music as mine does.  He came back the next night with several of his favorite CDs and confirmed his opinion of the previous night.

I'm not saying you can't spend more and do better, but IMHO at your price point these guys are a great value.

Best of luck in your search.

[Anton K.]

Has anyone of you heard Audes Blues? http://www.audes.com/
Very, very nice!

[seti]

The blues are quite nice. I generally preferred them over the Proac 2.5's I owned at the same time, though the Proacs do some things better. Considering the blues are more than half the price it's a pretty good value. Build quality was very good, aesthetics while not my preference were definitely interesting. I think the blues are the standout speaker in audes's line up, rather than the jazz stereophile reviewed.

That being said all the speakers mentioned here are all very good and probably of similar quality. If I were in the market for floorstanders, the loreleis would be on my list. I am curious about the chinese made speakers by usher and aurum cantus. They seem like they could be a great value. I currently have the aliante ones and I think they are some of the best I've heard, but not all that popular in the US which means they are great value used. The Piegas are great as well, but also more obscure. Don't see that many models at your price range.

[byteme]

I voted with my money last week and went with Odyssey Lorelei and a Nemesis center.  Now I just can't wait for them to get here!!

[Fathom7]

Tough to input on.   First you have sufficient power to handle stats which are almost always a first choice.  Second you do not specify listening type music, floorstand preference etc so that compounds the issue further.

All that said, the original request was for recommendations of things already heard -- here's two with the appropriate qualifications:

JMR Trentes (new at $2500) or Offrandes (used at this pricepoint).

IME these are musical to the nth degree (just be certain to use JMR cable for them)   and create a soundstage that is expansive without directionality being a limiting presence in the system.

That recommendation having been made here are the criteria that went along with my experience:

Music -- typically vocals mostly female -- not a lot of heavy rock or metal but also not a lot of classical or baroque

Set-up -- lower powered tubes (did NOT ever audition with SS gear so there is no comparo here)

Nearfield as well as full room listening (Offrandes for the larger room over the Trentes).  

There are lots of great recommendations out there but the magic I get from the Trentes in my setup is where I am happy right now.

Best of it.

[jackman]

I have a couple suggestions:

Veracity QW's from Salksound.com or salksounds.com (can't remember).  They are quarter wave (kind've transmission line-like) floorstanding design designed by Dennis Murphy that use the GS ribbon tweeter, Seas woofer and beautifuly cabinetry by Jim Salk.  Salk is a master cabinet maker (I don't know if he's officially a master but his cabinets are the best I have seen).  These speakers have some of the best, most articulate bass I have heard, beautiful midrange and ultra detailed and musical highs.  I would not hesitate to put them up against any of the speakers mentioned in this thread (even though there are some very good speakers in the thread).

Ellis 1801's.  I just re-worked the resistors in the tweeters this weekend and could not believe the improvement to the high end of these speakers.  They aren't the most efficient speakers and won't play as loud as many, but they play loud enough for me.  The midrange reproduction is perhaps the best I have heard and they do that disappearing thing amazingly well.  They aren't floorstanding per se, but I believe you can get them in a floorstanding version.  I wish Dave would come up with a QW version because it really would fill out the bottom end without sacrificing bass detail. As it stands, the Ellis have strong bass to about 40Hz.  

Good luck!

J

[drunkonjack]

I'd like to thank all the great responses I've received. I received alot of speakers to choose from . I currently have Paradigm studio 100's v. 3 speakers and a Parasound HCA 3500 amp. I was looking to replace the 100's with one of these speakers and replace the 3500 with a Cary tube amp. I will be spinning cd's on a tjoeb 4000 tube cd player . If budget allows I will try the Lorelie speakers followed by VMPS 626r , Diluceo monitors or the Von Schweikert VR1. This should get me started into a good sounding 2 channle system with room to upgrade later.

[awm]

I've heard some of the speakers mentioned thus far and the Ellis 1801b's or the Veracity speakers would easily be my choice.  

I reworked my 1801 crossover into the b version and am really pleased with them.  Simply put, they're the best 2-way I've yet heard.  If you want a true disappearing act with fantastic imaging (two related characteristics IME), these are your choice.  The dispersion characteristics of the OW1 tweeter with the Excel woofer are tough to beat.  (Check out the off-axis response of the Hiq OW1 -- incredible!)  If you want inaccurate euphony, you probably want to look elsewhere.  Bear in mind that many famous, highly touted commercial speakers actually measure pretty poorly.  You ought to check out Dennis Murphy's site www.murphyblaster.com to see some of the victims.  Then, compare your findings to the Ellis 1801b's.  Fairly interesting info.

One more thing -- in room usable response in a room your size would likely extend lower than what Jackman mentioned above, which was closer to the anechoic response.  Expect low to mid 30's in the bass that will be very clean.

Good luck in your choice --

Andy

[seti]

The drivers on the ellis and veracity are top notch as are the cabinets on the veracity. Wow. Those are serious high value speakers, you'd have to pay much more for commercial designs. Good suggestions, though I think you could do better than the vr1's, which seems outclassed by most of the speakers mentioned here.

[JLM]

I know that the topic is "best pair" of speakers, but at this price range you could score a very good pair of standmounts with one or two subs such as the VR-1s.

[Jon L]

I have a couple suggestions:

Veracity QW's from Salksound.com or salksounds.com (can't remember).  They are quarter wave (kind've transmission line-like) floorstanding design designed by Dennis Murphy that use the GS ribbon tweeter, Seas woofer and beautifuly cabinetry by Jim Salk.  Salk is a master cabinet maker (I don't know if he's officially a master but his cabinets are the best I have seen).  These speakers have some of the best, most articulate bass I have heard, beautiful midrange and ultra detai ...

The veracity, both versions, look stunning and look to be great value.

I'm just a bit worried about the G2 ribbon tweeter.  I used to have the G2 ribbons in my speakers (semi-DIY), and I thought it was a bit on the soft side.  It also had to be crossed over kinda high; otherwise, one could hear ribbon distortions with higher volume level.  Still a great tweeter compared to most.

I switched to G3 ribbons, which are a bit larger but sounded much more detailed and could be pushed harder.  

Anyone know any X-over details (x-over frequency, slope, etc) of the Veracity?

[awm]

The info of the Veracity is proprietary.  

Also, while practically everyone who's heard the Veracity and 1801 raves about them, opinions are somewhat split as to which is preferred.  You might like the OW1 in the Ellis instead.  I've never heard the Veracity but would take it unheard over all of the other suggestions mentioned earlier in the thread, with the possible exception of the 1801's, based purely on the drivers, the designer, owning two of his speakers already, and the reviews they're received by some educated, critical ears.  Dennis really knows how to design a speaker.  

I took my 1801's into a local high-end retailer during during off hours.  We matched them against some ~$2k Dynaudios, whose model number escapes me at the moment.  The Dyn's were an excellent 2-way with a very refined sound.  But...the 1801 won easily in almost every department.  The retailer was quite intrigued and impressed.  By the end of the audition, almost all of the employees had been drawn into the listening room...