This is my first post here, yoohoo!
I'm typing this from my iPad in the car, the wife wanted to go shopping today, so please forgive any typing errors.
I recently got into vinyl, my first foray into the format. I grew up with it, but I never really paid that much attention when I was a kid.
The turntable guys over on vinylengine.com steered me in the right direction and I ended up getting a Sony PS-X55S that was built in 1984 fully auto and had been newly serviced by the guys at oaktreevintage.com. I've finally settled on a Denon DL-110 HOMC cartridge for the 'table and it sounds amazing.
I picked up a Bellari VP130 tube phono preamp and after some rolling have a very nice Telefunken 12ax7 in it. I'm using decent quality AudioQuest RCAs and speaker cable throughout.
Let me fill you in on my current speaker situation since that's what I'm asking about. A little background. I've been around the head-if.org way and have and have had some pretty nice headphones and IEMs but I have known practically nothing about speakers and speaker amps. So wanting to listen to my new records as soon as possible I ordered a set of Audioengine A5+s from Amazon, they are powered so I didn't have to worry about the amp, pretty much plug and play. They have really great reviews and I don't absolutely hate them. However, the bass is way too heavy and things get really murky during complicated sections. I know I can get better sound from similarly size speakers without breaking the bank.
So I bought a Miniwatt N3 (3.5wpc @ 8 ohms) and a set of matched Telefunken EL84s and another Telefunken 12ax7 to use as amplification. I've been looking at some HE bookshelf speakers like the Zu Omen Bookshelf (impedance it too high @ 12 ohms) and the Decware DM946 (impedance it too low @ 4 ohms).
So all that's left in my price range (around $1000) at this point is the Tekton Mini Lore Monitors and the Omega Super 7 Monitor MK2s. Both have very similar stats that I'm looking for: high efficiency where both are 95db sensitivity and 8 ohms.
Of the single driver with whizzers on the Omegas I'm wondering can they produce sound better than a dedicated tweeter on the Tektons? The Tekton Lores get great reviews and most everyone speaks highly of the Omegas, but I can't find a review on the either of these exact models. Are the Super 7 Monitor MK2s REALLY $370 better than the Tektons?
A few necessities. My listening preferences span the gamut but it's really thin in the hip hop and modern country genres. It's mostly indie and classic rock with a dash of Norwegian electronica. That being said I am not a bass head, I like my IEMs with a flat response. I don't need the feel the bass in my chest or anything.
My listening location. I have my current set up on one of those IKEA Kallax shelves on it side with the TT in the middle and the speakers on the outside toed in a hair. I sit about 6 feet back from it where my normal listening decibels max out at about 87db. The speakers are currently about 48" apart and 8"-10" from the wall. This is where my new speakers would go at least initially, but I could be persuaded to get some stands if necessary. It's just so neat and compact the way it is set up currently. The room is about 20x20 and sports thick carpet and drop ceilings. It's a finished basement man cave I also happen to share with my daughter's large indoor toys.
I would prefer to stick with "bookshelf" sized "monitors" since I don't really want to take up the space or need the volume of floorstanding loudspeakers.
A note on auditioning. I live in SE Tennessee and the closest thing we have to a hi-fi audiophile store is the local Best Buy so if I absolutely positively had to listen to some speakers the best I could do would be 2 hours to Atlanta or 2.5 hours to Nashville. Not optimal.
I'm clearly leaning towards the Omegas (that's why I chose this circle) but I'm wondering if the Tektons aren't as good for less coin.
Some other input I almost forgot about before hitting the Post button. I'm not huge on the DIY stuff. I could do that, I have the tools and everything, but I can't lie to myself and say that I would happy with the appearance of the finished product. The speakers would, in short, look like crap, and no matter how great it sounded I couldn't bear to sit in from of them and have to look at them. That's not to say I'm overly concerned with aesthetics. I'm not looking for Avantgarde or Cain & Cain or anything.
Every time I set out to research some new HE speakers I saw mentioned somewhere I invariably come across at least a few suggestions for some model of Klipsch. I know their newer HE speakers aren't really as sensitive as claimed and their older HE stuff just doesn't interest me, at all, really.
Any input would be greatly appreciated. Maybe I over looked a brand or model, or maybe I'm about to waste a lot of money, or maybe I need to just shut up and order?