[Carl V]

Owner of SP Tech 'stand mount' AV2
MTM wave guide with 8" peerless midwoofer.
about 91dB 4 ohm. They still impress listeners.
Owner of Selah speakers. Different style but nicely
voiced.  Agree that often the front end has a significant
contribution. Gain & Current is needed to translate voltage
swings on the recording to the amps drive & control of the
drivers.

Good Luck. Listen to as many (demo) as you can.

[witchdoctor]

As for actives, I am very much 'on the bus'.  Thanks to input from JLM and others, I use a pair of KH120s in our basement A/V system and love them in a small space.  I have a pair of JBL LSR305's (which for the $119 I paid for them are INCREDIBLY good) in my desktop work-from-home rig.  However, the aesthetic issue might be huge with the larger JBLs in a living room setting.  In addition, as much as I like the 305s in a nearfield setup, I wonder if the larger JBLs would serve well as my main listening outlet.  I heard the ENORMOUS JBLs at AXPONA (are they the M2s?) both this year and last, and I don't think they are my cup-of-tea, even if I could handle the space constraints and cost.  I will definitely have to seek out a demo of the 708p to see if they'd work for me.  Where would one even find these?  At something like a Guitar Center or similar pro outlet?

-dB

Guitar Center carries them but they may not be in stock for a demo. Good luck with your search.

[JLM]

The Guitar Centers around me carry very ordinary, low cost monitors. 

But lots of other professional gear outlets around.

Call ahead.


I've seen coincidental 2-ways, 3-ways, front/rear ported, transmission line, active/passive, even egg shaped professional monitors.

[Maceo23]

The Devore 3xl's are fantastic.

[bluemeanies]

Tekton Impact Monitors

[Bob Stark]

The Selah's are VERY conservatively rated.  I owned a Edge M6 at 120/watts per channel and it drove the Tempestas with ease.  My brother now owns them and drives them with a Japanese home theater amp at 100 watts per ch.  He says no problem getting great volume at reasonable levels on the volume control.

[JoshK]

This.

+3  If I had....I mean really HAD to downsize, this would likely be my only consideration.  P.S. I use the 708i's (non powered) as sides in my HT.

[dburna]

Tekton Impact Monitors

Bluemeanies, have you heard these yet?  Are they around anywhere that one could listen to these?  It looks interesting, but I am unsure of the reasoning for 7(!) tweeters arranged in a honeycomb pattern.  Doesn't that detract from the point-source concept?  Wouldn't the drivers have to be extremely well-matched?

-dB

[dburna]

The JBL 705p or 708p could be in the mix.  Hit most of your criteria except for perhaps the asthetic part.

Active, powered monitors, neutral, clarity and extension.  Find somewhere which you can purchase with a trial period.

Soooooo, has anyone heard the 708p's in action?  American Musical Supply lists that these are coming out 6/26/17.  Care to comment how they sound and whether they might have any drawbacks in a home living space (as opposed to a recording studio)?

Also, I notice these have two 250w Class D amplifiers for the high-/low-end.  Does JBL make its own Class D amplification?  Or do they outsource their amps to someone we might associate more closely with Class D amps?


-dB

[jonbee]

The Selah's are VERY conservatively rated.  I owned a Edge M6 at 120/watts per channel and it drove the Tempestas with ease.  My brother now owns them and drives them with a Japanese home theater amp at 100 watts per ch.  He says no problem getting great volume at reasonable levels on the volume control.

True. Compared to my Revel M20s, rated at 87db but measured at 84.5 by Stereophile, they are notably louder across the board, easily 3 db. louder, and not due to impedance differences. I think a good 30watt tube amp would be plenty for most users.

[JoshK]

Soooooo, has anyone heard the 708p's in action?  American Musical Supply lists that these are coming out 6/26/17.  Care to comment how they sound and whether they might have any drawbacks in a home living space (as opposed to a recording studio)?

Also, I notice these have two 250w Class D amplifiers for the high-/low-end.  Does JBL make its own Class D amplification?  Or do they outsource their amps to someone we might associate more closely with Class D amps?


-dB

Crown is their sister company under the same umbrella company of WAS harmon NOW samsung.   Their technology is mostly switching, aka class d, but they have smart power supplies for the power needed for high power in a pro setting.

[JoshK]

Tekton Impact Monitors

Personally I don't get it.   They are doing a very crude version of a waveguide plus CD but with purposeful comb filtering at HF...not even a very intelligent dispersion matching if evenly distributed amongst tweeters

[dburna]

Personally I don't get it.   They are doing a very crude version of a waveguide plus CD but with purposeful comb filtering at HF...not even a very intelligent dispersion matching if evenly distributed amongst tweeters

But it shur looks purty......     

[charmerci]

But it shur looks purty......     

Spiders everywhere love 'em! 

[opnly bafld]

deleted

[Wind Chaser]

+3  If I had....I mean really HAD to downsize, this would likely be my only consideration.

Seriously? Are you saying they are that good - or merely good enough?

[JLM]

How about some recommendations from the Stereophile 2017 class A list:

Aerial Acoustics 5T: $3795/pair

2-way monitor, stylish reinforced curved side wall rosewood veneered cabinet, front port, 7" woofer, designed and built in the U.S., recommended to be placed 2 - 24" from front wall, highs a bit laid back, not for headbangers but image superbly, rated down to 48 Hz, 87 dB/w/m at 4 ohms

ATC SCM19 v.2: $3999/pair

2-way monitor, company is well respected, elegant cabinet, traditional design, uses in-house drivers, highly resolving/coherent even at low levels, neutral/yet processing some mid-bass warmth, not dry/clinical, live/direct, good tonality/dynamics, highs a bit shrouded, power hungry at 85 dB/w/m and 8 ohms, rated down to 54 Hz

DeVore Fidelity Gibbon 3XL: $3700/pair

2-way monitor, U.S. built, caramelized bamboo cabinets (matching stands available), all about focus/transparency, coherent/fast, excellent low level resolution/dynamics, pin-point imaging/huge soundstage, not forgiving, good tonal balance/not bright, not a rich/full sound, rated down to 45 Hz, 90 dB/w/m at 8 ohms

[bluemeanies]

Bluemeanies, have you heard these yet?  Are they around anywhere that one could listen to these?  It looks interesting, but I am unsure of the reasoning for 7(!) tweeters arranged in a honeycomb pattern.  Doesn't that detract from the point-source concept?  Wouldn't the drivers have to be extremely well-matched?

-dB

No, I have not heard these or any other TEKTON speaker, however I know people who own the Tekton Pendragons and the Lores. Both speakers received high ratings professionally and by customers.
I think that Tekton gives you a 30 day trial...FREE!
They are only available on-line.
IMO the speaker by design interests me and if I were in the market for monitors I would give these speakers a test drive.
Second runner up is SALK,however I am considering your budget. They are another company worth looking into even if you may have to pay a little more.

[bluemeanies]

Tekton Impact Monitors - Proprietary 3-way loudspeaker design. 

Not saying it works, not saying it doesn't.   

If someone is in the market for any kind of speaker be it floorstanding or monitor which are unavailable in a B&M store and it does not cost that person anything to take ownership for 30 days of exploring what that speaker can produce in sound reproduction that's a good deal.
Tekton is a well respected company in the audio market.
The new B&W D3's series have nearly a thousand NEW design parts in their speakers but do we analyze what parts and why those changes were made or do we listen to the D3's with an open mind to make a rational decision as to whether the speakers are worth over 1/3 more in price.

[bluemeanies]

Another good speaker which I have heard and is amazing for the price.
Well made interior design.

Philharmonic Audio is pleased to announce the BMR Philharmonitor.  The newest member of the Philharmonic family provides a level of performance previously available only in a premium tower speaker, but at substantially lower price.  The BMR Philharmonitor is a 3-way design using the same RAAL ribbon tweeter found in the Slims tower, an innovative Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) midrange driver, and the latest version of the highly respected Scan Speak 8545 7-inch woofer.

Useable bass response extends to 30 Hz in a bass reflex cabinet optimized by Paul Kittinger.  The BMR midrange and RAAL tweeter provide exceptional lateral dispersion and an expansive sound stage.  The 17-element crossover uses the same high quality parts found in our more expensive speakers and blends the three drivers seamlessly.  Pricing starts at only $1,600/pr plus shipping, not to exceed $100.

The most unique feature of the new design is the Balanced Mode Radiator midrange driver.  Conventional drivers function in simple pistonic fashion across their frequency range.  Eventually the response becomes chaotic as severe breakup modes develop from the applied mass of the voice coil interacting with the driver mass, which greatly restricts the useable range of operation.  The BMR is a flat-diaphragm speaker that uses strategically placed weights in the diaphragm to counteract the mass of the voice coil at higher frequencies.

The driver operates as a piston at lower frequencies, but shifts to a bending wave motion mode in the lower treble, and to a second bending mode in the upper treble.  The result is greatly reduced breakup and extremely broad dispersion above 2,000 Hz.  This driver is used as both a midrange and tweeter in several commercial applications.  Although the BMR can function acceptably in this fashion, its true strength is upper midrange performance.  The highest frequencies are much better served by the RAAL ribbon tweeter.

Bass frequencies are handled by a recently improved version of the classic Scan Speak 8545 7-inch woofer.  This driver has long been noted for its superior bass reach and low harmonic distortion.  The large volume of the BMR cabinet and expert port tuning by Paul Kittinger allow the Scan Speaker woofer to provide useful bass response to 30 Hz.  This means you can experience the power of a pipe organ or bass drum without the expense of a tower speaker or the complexity of a subwoofer.

The BMR Philharmonitor is available in a wide variety of standard veneers with either a black satin front baffle or a veneered baffle with dyed edges.  All cabinets are built to furniture-grade standards by Jim Salk of Salk Sound, and come with magnetic front grills.  The pictured monitor features dyed curly walnut veneer, and carries the standard price of $,1600.

The following graphs illustrate the frequency response performance of the BMR Philharmonitor.  The first plot shows the very smooth on-axis response, which is free of any fatiguing peaks.  The second graph combines the on-axis curve (red) with the response at 30 degrees off axis (dark blue) and the response a full 80 degrees off axis (green).  The extremely broad radiation pattern at even the highest frequencies provides a very wide listening position and excellent sound staging.  Further, because the dispersion characteristics of the drivers are so well matched at their crossover points, there is no need for wave guides that can color the sound and narrow the listening window.

Frequency Response

 


Specifications
Cabinet   Cherry, maple, piano black, or custom veneers by Jim Salk
Tweeter   RAAL 64-10 OEM
Midrange   Tectonic Balanced Mode Radiator 2.5"
Woofer   Scan Speak 8545-01 7"
Frequency Response   30 Hz - 20kHz (+ / - 2db) Anechoic
Sensitivity   84.5 dB (dB/2.83v/1M)
Box Alignment   Bass Reflex
Dimensions   22" H x 9" W x 13.5" D
Weight   38 lbs each
Impedance   6 Ohms