[sts9fan]

So I am looking to upgrade my speakers this year and would appreciate some suggestions. 3k new or used is pretty much my limit for now. So I guess I you had 3k for a set of floor standers what would you buy?

[Fiji5555]

What's wrong with the ones you have now? I'd just listen to different speakers and buy what I liked and not worry about spending a certain amount.

[sts9fan]

well I said my max is 3k not i must spend 3k. Thanks for the suggestion.

[R_burke]

You might start with the manufacturer's sites on AC, GR-Research, RAW, Salk, etc.

[macrojack]

I would - and did - buy Zu Druids. They sell factory direct for $2800/pair and there is a 60 day in-home trial period. If this interests you, send me an email for more info.
I am presently affiliated with Zu but I wasn't when I bought my Druids.

[Bob Reynolds]

So I am looking to upgrade my speakers this year and would appreciate some suggestions. 3k new or used is pretty much my limit for now. So I guess I you had 3k for a set of floor standers what would you buy?

I wouldn't buy floorstanders. Been that route a couple of times (Meadowlark Kestrel, Spendor S8e). Sat/sub systems have an inherent advantage over floorstanders, which is being able to place the bass source independently of the mid/treble source.

[mca]

How about the Odyssey Lorelei to mate with that amp? A much more musical set of speakers than the Paradigm, IMHO.

[Carlman]

I wouldn't buy floorstanders. Been that route a couple of times (Meadowlark Kestrel, Spendor S8e). Sat/sub systems have an inherent advantage over floorstanders, which is being able to place the bass source independently of the mid/treble source.

I have found the complete opposite to be true in my quest for great sound.  The Sub/Sat combo was a nightmare to blend and added another component to match synergistically.  Monitors made so much sense for a small room but in the end I chose a 3-way floorstander.

The best find I've heard is used Piega gear.  You could get a really nice pair of small floorstanders for 3,k.  PM me if you want more info on them. 

-C

[warnerwh]

If I were looking for new speakers the above poster has the right idea. The manufacturers here have no large advertising or dealer money put into the price of their speakers and therefore offer more for your money.

What I'd do however is add that I live in XXX and ask everyone within driving distance to audition whatever speaker they had that I may be interested in. Speakers vary so much in their sonic signatures that two or three speakers in the same price category could all be excellent yet only you could say which speaker you like the best.

[James Romeyn]

Probably your listening experience will be more shaped by the room & it's need for acoustic upgrades than any component including the speakers.

Any speakers in the room not being auditioned must have their inputs shorted; removing them is ideal.  If you have a good system w/ no other speakers in the room, & someone simply walks in w/ a speaker w/ open inputs, you'll be surprised how much the performance is negatively impacted. 

At best it's misleading auditioning in most stores.

My 2c.

[warnerwh]

I just read an article where they listened to two different speakers in a room. Both speakers very different in price and design. Then they did room correction with dsp.

The testers said the difference the room correction made had been more than changing the speakers.

I'm just adding this to make sure you realize how important the room acoustics you're listening in is. A bad room can make any speaker sound much different and worse than it is capable of. So please make note of it when auditioning speakers. Here in Portland I've not been to a dealer that has better acoustics than I do in my home.

[JLM]

Need more information:

How loud do you listen.
How big is the room.
What kinds of music do you listen to.
What sorts of musical attributes do you prefer.


Agree with the room comments.  I'd try to budget 1/3 treatments and 2/3 speakers.


If you don't need lots of deep bass (bass gets expensive), I'd also budget something for modding the SB to get the best overall result.  Wayne at Boulder Cable (see circle below) can do a variety of partial or complete mods.


Can you DIY?  That could save a ton of money and allow for full SB mods and room treatments. 


If you haven't already, get very familar with what you want to hear.  Go to live concerts and buy high quality recordings of the kinds of music you prefer.  Use a sound pressure meter and test tones to find out how loud you listen and at what frequencies.


When you go out, don't seriously listen to more than 3 or 4 speakers per day.  Don't be rushed.


Yes, spend lots of time auditioning.  This could also be an audio "soul searching" experience, was for me 30 years ago when I was in pretty much the same position and went shopping for my first serious speakers.  Started out thinking I wanted home version of big PA speakers and "got converted" to BBC sound with beefy transmission line bass.


Get a high quality midrange driver.  Midrange (say 100 - 1,000 Hz) is the heart of music and where the ear is most sensitive to problems.  No amount of cabinet or cross-over design, number of woofers, fancy tweeter, etc. will cover up a crummy midrange driver.


Here's my quick guide to speaker selection basics, (YMMV, etc.).  Remember that cabinets primarily only effect 200 Hz and below:

Horns (front or rear loaded) - efficient, dynamic, colored, usually "forward" sounding, lack deep bass due to the extremely large dimensions required

Sealed - inefficient, not dynamic, rear wave comes back out through the cone to smear the sound, lack deep bass but roll-off matches room lift and integrates with subs better

Ported - rear wave comes back out through the cone to smear the sound, often have a 60 Hz bass emphasis, roll-off does not match room lift, more difficult to integrate with subs

TWQP - lack deep bass, fussy to properly tune, rather large

Transmission Line - until Martin King's work were difficult to design, deep/musical bass, rather large

[sts9fan]

thanks for all the tips. These are all things I have been thinking about. I may just get the SB moddified first and see how that goes. I am not unhappy with my speakers just got an itch. I am sure you guys know how that is. I am planning on checking out the Zu Driuds for sure.

[Bob Reynolds]

I wouldn't buy floorstanders. Been that route a couple of times (Meadowlark Kestrel, Spendor S8e). Sat/sub systems have an inherent advantage over floorstanders, which is being able to place the bass source independently of the mid/treble source.

I have found the complete opposite to be true in my quest for great sound.  The Sub/Sat combo was a nightmare to blend and added another component to match synergistically.  Monitors made so much sense for a small room but in the end I chose a 3-way floorstander.

Sat/sub "systems" (note the quotes) are typically not a problem to blend because they are designed together. M&K does this very well. NHT would be another option. I'm sure there's others. There's no way around the problem that full range floorstanders bring to the room other than separating the bass.

Too many people buy monitors for a small room and don't consider the bass (sub) until much later. Then it's more difficult to get a good blend. That's how my my first experience went -- Rotel electronics, B&W 601s and Velodyne sub. It was a disaster.

I have found that using an external bass management controller solves this pretty well. My experience with adding an M&K sub to my Spendor S8e was pure simplicity based upon the LFE-4 bass management controller and M&K's setup CD.

I'm not sure what it'd take for me to ever consider floorstander speakers again.

[robert1325]

Wow, I auditioned these studio60's before getting my B&W dm603s3 floorstanders,  and I really liked them,  very musical and detailed...       Sorry, this comment is of not much help

[totoro]

Have you listened to the Triangle celius? They're similar to the druids in one respect: they both have a very wide range driver covering the midrange (the celius has woofers covering the lower range, though). Actually, they're both very efficient speakers, as well ....

I've had a pair for a few years, and have loved them. They don't put out a ton of bass, so they don't have quite the room integration problems you'd think for speakers of their size.