[shahed]

I'm planning to purchase a new speaker with a budget around ~4k. I live in NYC apartment and monitors seems to work well but I'm open to floorstanders that doesn't take up large space and image well.

In my price range most speakers that having a good buzz are internet direct and hence can't audition. I currently have a pair of PMC AML-1, they are great - very detailed, revealing and dynamic, albeit little dry sounding because of their dead on neutrality I might say. I'm actually happy with them. My past speaker was NHT XD - another excellent speaker. I want to get a passive speaker for a change. =) I need a high value speaker with my budget to get more what the PMC AML-1 has to offer.

I'm hearing a lot about Selah Tempesta and Vapor Audio Cirrus speakers. They do look like a very high value speaker. The Salk HT-1/2 looks very promising too. I auditioned a Devore 3XL at Stereo Exchange in NYC  and loved them. But I do not think 3XLs are better than my PMC AML-1.

I would be spending around 2k for an amp. I do not require the speakers to go down very low but I do like  bass slam and body. I want a high resolution, detailed speaker but very musical. I can't place them more than 2 feet from the side and back wall. I listen to mostly indie rock and some classic rock. How good are RAAL tweeters for rock music? Any suggestion/recommendation will be much appreciated.

[kip_]

I have not heard the Vapor design, but both of my pairs of Selah monitors are neutral, natural-sounding and coherent. They both have huge sweetspots and the sound doesn't change at all when you move around the room. They are quite neutral, and if they have any character it would be just a tiny bit laid back. They sound very musical when paired with tube amps. The Tempestas should reach 35hz easily in room. My SA-2s have the fountek ribbon tweeter but it sounds well-defined without being bright. It sounds great on rock, electronica, and jazz.

[wilsynet]

Yesterday, I ordered the Selah Tempesta in gloss piano black.  Expect to take delivery in about 4 weeks.  A generous 45 day return policy makes the purchase very low risk.

If I were spending roughly $2K on an amplifier right now, I'd probably get this one:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=103404.0

[mr_bill]

I don't know that you are going to 'beat' the AML-1 active PMC, you may only go sideways.

the Vapor Cirrus, Selah Tempesta and Salk are greeat choices and the Devore 3XL is supposed to be outstanding too.

[cujobob]

Out of those I'd go vapor cirrus or something from Gedlee. The Cirrus has intrigued me for a while but I love my Abbeys.

[jonbee]

Those are all fine speakers, and it's tough to predict how any one would work in your world. I have the Tempesta, and like your PMC they are monitor-like in sound, that is, no euphonic coloration. Bass is deep for the size, and very tight. The use of the RAAL in combination with the 2" Accuton is what makes them special- the transparency, speed, and coherence of the mid to high range is pure magic- very rare for a conventional speaker- the type of sound I usually associate with 'stats or full range ribbons. I'm listening to Dire Straits now- the dynamics and power is all there, without any glare or hardness. I think the Tempestas are very high value indeed. The cheapest speaker I've heard that I MIGHT prefer is the $11000 Daedalus Athena that a friend owns. He has $20K Shindo amps up front, so I don't think the speakers are solely responsible for the great sound he gets. Good luck!

[jonbee]

Yesterday, I ordered the Selah Tempesta in gloss piano black. 

Congratulations. I hope you like them as much as I do.
In my experience, they sounded "tight" and  a bit polite, particularly in the mids, out of the box. Although more neutral than the planar mids in my VMPS RM30s, I was a bit disappointed in that aspect at first, but between 80-100 hours they really opened up, and I think they only got better for another 100 hours or more. (Accuton says their drivers take 300 hours to stabilize).
Have fun!

[shahed]

Yesterday, I ordered the Selah Tempesta in gloss piano black.  Expect to take delivery in about 4 weeks.  A generous 45 day return policy makes the purchase very low risk.

If I were spending roughly $2K on an amplifier right now, I'd probably get this one:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=103404.0

Thank you for your suggestion. But LFD won't do it for me as I definitely need a remote. What amp you are planning to use with the Tempesta? Their sensitivity is listed as 84.5db - which is a concern for me. I've  Ming Da MD-75, Ekco EV55, EE M88 in my shortlist. Not sure if these tube integrated have the horsepower to drive the tempesta. How about W4S amps? Is SS class D amp is a good pairing with Tempesta?

Thanks everyone for their helpful replies so far. 

[kip_]

Thank you for your suggestion. But LFD won't do it for me as I definitely need a remote. What amp you are planning to use with the Tempesta? Their sensitivity is listed as 84.5db - which is a concern for me. I've  Ming Da MD-75, Ekco EV55, EE M88 in my shortlist. Not sure if these tube integrated have the horsepower to drive the tempesta. How about W4S amps? Is SS class D amp is a good pairing with Tempesta?

Thanks everyone for their helpful replies so far. 

How large is your room? If it's on the small side you can get buy with 75-100 watts per channel. I get by with 38wpc on my SA-2s but they are sealed and actively crossed to a subwoofer. Rick's sensitivity ratings are on the conservative side. I think IcePower would be a good match, pair it up with a tube preamp perhaps.

[Tyson]

I like small tower speakers because 1) they have their "stands" built in, 2), usually more/better bass, 3) more aestetically pleasing to look at in a room.

Having said that, the Salk's are awesome, just make sure to get the ones with the upgraded ribbons, like the ones I heard at RMAF last year:

[paul canady]

Yesterday, I ordered the Selah Tempesta in gloss piano black.  Expect to take delivery in about 4 weeks.  A generous 45 day return policy makes the purchase very low risk.

If I were spending roughly $2K on an amplifier right now, I'd probably get this one:

 
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=103404.0

  I thought you were going with Cirrus? What made you change your mind?

[jonbee]

What amp you are planning to use with the Tempesta? Their sensitivity is listed as 84.5db - which is a concern for me. How about W4S amps? Is SS class D amp is a good pairing with Tempesta?

I found Rick is VERY conservative in the sensitivity spec. The Tempestas are louder than my Volent VL-2s, which are rated 87db, and nearly as loud as my VMPS RM30s, which were 89db. Depending on room size and volume requirements, you should not need a huge amp. That said, I use a Cullen modded PS Audio GCC-500, a 1000 wpc Icepower amp, very similar to the big W4S amp. The sound is terrific. Whenever I get the urge to trade amps I listen again, and quickly lose the urge. 
They aren't that difficult to drive. I think most good, clean, neutral amps of at least moderate power should sound good with them.

[sharpsuxx]

Personally pinching my pennies towards the Vapor Audio Cirrus with custom stands and the upgraded crossover.  I think Vapor and Selah use the best drivers but without question Vapor really has the cabinet and crossover side of their speakers perfected.  Between the Tempesta and the Cirrus the Revelator vs the Audiotech is a push matchup to be sure, but implementation, (cabinet, crossover) I would have to give to vapor. 

I would stack the Cirrus up against every monitor I have ever heard and most towers.  Personally I couldn't see how a three way, (using great drivers mind you) thrown together in a PE cabinet could hold a candle to the engineering and voicing that went into the Cirrus and its bomb shelter of a cabinet. 

Plus to me a three way design kind of defeats the purpose of a monitor to me.  I want my monitor to have sweet uncomplicated sound with great resolution, imaging, and speed, I would have to let my ears completely rule them out but on paper they don't look close.

Thats just me though so as always, YMMV. 

[kip_]

thrown together in a PE cabinet could hold a candle to the engineering and voicing that went into the Cirrus and its bomb shelter of a cabinet. 

Thats just me though so as always, YMMV.

Have you ever even seen a PE cabinet? The curved ones are very very heavy and very well braced. Part of the reason selah is able to have such low prices is the prebuilt cabinets. If you don't like them, buy from Salk or Vapor and pay more.

[vettett15]

I think a Tempesta vs Cirrus audition in the same room would be awesome... I could only imagine Rick had good reasons to go with a 3 way and Ryan with a 2 way, both have been reviewed and compared with speakers that are much more expensive.  I suppose no one hear has heard both?

[wilsynet]

I thought you were going with Cirrus? What made you change your mind?

Both speakers are very well regarded and considered bargains but I went with Selah because:

1. Selah has been around longer.  Many happy customers over the long term.
2. Only 4-5 weeks wait for a standard finish speaker, and most important of all, an incredible 45 day return policy.

The Selah isn't a custom cabinet, and it doesn't have options for premium parts in the crossover, but I've decided I'm okay with something well designed and a bit more oriented toward higher volume production.

[paul canady]

I'm planning to purchase a new speaker with a budget around ~4k. I live in NYC apartment and monitors seems to work well but I'm open to floorstanders that doesn't take up large space and image well.

In my price range most speakers that having a good buzz are internet direct and hence can't audition. I currently have a pair of PMC AML-1, they are great - very detailed, revealing and dynamic, albeit little dry sounding because of their dead on neutrality I might say. I'm actually happy with them. My past speaker was NHT XD - another excellent speaker. I want to get a passive speaker for a change. =) I need a high value speaker with my budget to get more what the PMC AML-1 has to offer.

I'm hearing a lot about Selah Tempesta and Vapor Audio Cirrus speakers. They do look like a very high value speaker. The Salk HT-1/2 looks very promising too. I auditioned a Devore 3XL at Stereo Exchange in NYC  and loved them. But I do not think 3XLs are better than my PMC AML-1.

I would be spending around 2k for an amp. I do not require the speakers to go down very low but I do like  bass slam and body. I want a high resolution, detailed speaker but very musical. I can't place them more than 2 feet from the side and back wall. I listen to mostly indie rock and some classic rock. How good are RAAL tweeters for rock music? Any suggestion/recommendation will be much appreciated.

 I will let know what I think of the Cirrus once I get it in my system. The Ming you have should be a giant killer and better nos tubes would just add to the enjoyment. I have done some serious tube rolling with a top of the line Ming pre and the results were awesome. Very hard to beat for the money.

[kip_]

The Selah isn't a custom cabinet, and it doesn't have options for premium parts in the crossover, but I've decided I'm okay with something well designed and a bit more oriented toward higher volume production.

Rick will substitute any caps you like. He can even modify the voicing of the speaker to suit your tastes.

[OzarkTom]

Also, check out the new Gallo Classico IV's at $3495 a pair. These have great bass slam, a tiny footprint(35"x7"x14"), and will totally disappear in any room placed. They are great for rock and classic rock if the recording is great. These are revealing, so bad recordings will sound bad.

With no crossovers, these are quick like ESL's, and vocals are as good as it gets. These are very easy to drive, efficiency is 92db/1 watt. I have played them very loud with the 25 watt Ampino, 32 watt TBI class D amp, and the 40 watt Jolida 202RC integrated. All of these amps are less than 1K and they all sound fantastic with these Classico speakers.

Watch for a lot of upcoming rave reviews on these loudspeakers. 6moons already have one, giving the Classico III's a Blue Moon Award.

http://www.roundsound.com/classico-cl-4.php

[groovybassist]

The only experience I've had with any of the speakers you mention is hearing them at shows, which I'd consider to be little or no experience.  I do however have experience with Wyred4Sound amps.  Prior to the LFD (and now Aaron), I had an STI-500 and ran it with Lenehan Audio ML1s and Harbeth Compact 7ES-3s.  While it is feature laden and decent sound for the money, to my ears, in my room, with my gear, it wasn't even close to the LFD in terms of transparency, texture, PRaT or overall musicality.  It's at a lower pricepoint, so that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.  I'd recommend settling on the speaker based on your room and tastes, then focus on the right partner amp.  You can probably get something very good on the used market at $2K if you're patient.  I'm selling the LFD for the same reason you're not interested in it - no remote.  Being patient allowed me to score the Aaron No.1.a for a great price - it has all of the great elements of the LFD and builds on them, with a remote - a great amp.

Good luck in your search - it can be daunting.