The Search for New Speaks Has Started...help

miklorsmith · « **Reply #20 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 04:34 pm »

If you don't at least make an effort to hear the Zu Druids, you're cheating yourself a valuable experience. You may really like them. If not, you'll know why. If you do, hello SET compatibility and no going back.

Call Sean at Zu. He'll be happy to chat with you over the phone. He's candid and honest - one of the good guys.

toobluvr · « **Reply #21 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 04:39 pm »

I've never personally heard these, but I currently own the previous generation Heron "i", so I gotta believe these are a good deal:

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1168722572

Musical and easy to drive.
A lot of speaker for the $.

BTW, I used to own Coincident Super Eclipse...big brother to the Partial.
If musicality and ease is what you are after, the Meadowlark is the better choice.
If you wanna hear a bug fart, you might wanna turn to Coincidents.
But I would not go below the Super Eclipse model.

zapper7 · « **Reply #22 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 04:51 pm »

Try looking at or listening to a pair of Silverlines.

They are efficient and very musical.
I am quite happy with my Sonata II pair. I wanted an efficient and musical speaker as well, and these were the speakers I chose after listening to JMlab 936 (#2), VMPS RM30, James S10, Coincident Victory, Von Schweikert 4jr (#4), and Magnepan 1.6, Tyler Taylo Refs (#3), and the Silverline Sonatas (#1).
Should all be within your range new or used, depending on which one.

Brad · « **Reply #23 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 04:57 pm »

Now that the new model is out, I've seen some Quad 988/989's in this price range on Audiogon....

zybar · « **Reply #24 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 05:00 pm »

Quote from: zapper7 on 22 Nov 2006, 04:51 pm

Try looking at or listening to a pair of Silverlines.
They are efficient and very musical.
I am quite happy with my Sonata II pair. I wanted an efficient and musical speaker as well, and these were the speakers I chose after listening to JMlab 936 (#2), VMPS RM30, James S10, Coincident Victory, Von Schweikert 4jr (#4), and Magnepan 1.6, Tyler Taylo Refs (#3), and the Silverline Sonatas (#1).
Should all be within your range new or used, depending on which one.

You beat me to the punch!

I am guessing you are liking my old Sonata II's?

George

toobluvr · « **Reply #25 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 05:50 pm »

Quote from: zapper7 on 22 Nov 2006, 04:51 pm

Try looking at or listening to a pair of Silverlines.
They are efficient and very musical.
I am quite happy with my Sonata II pair. I wanted an efficient and musical speaker as well, and these were the speakers I chose after listening to JMlab 936 (#2), VMPS RM30, James S10, Coincident Victory, Von Schweikert 4jr (#4), and Magnepan 1.6, Tyler Taylo Refs (#3), and the Silverline Sonatas (#1).
Should all be within your range new or used, depending on which one.

I second the Sonatas!
Big full range sound that offers musicality and ease.
Killer used market deals are available on these.

zapper7 · « **Reply #26 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 06:01 pm »

Hey George!

It may be the hardwood in my room, but these Sonatas are so much better than the others I had in here, a speaker and room match at its finest

By the way, it looks like we are going to keep A-Clod for another year, anyway.

My friends and family back in NY are tired of him from last season.

Do you know where Alan and his Silverlines are going to be this year at CES, my brother and I are going for the first time in 5 years aa

toobluvr · « **Reply #27 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 06:01 pm »

Hyperion 938.

Never heard them, but great reputation.
I've seen them on AG in the low to mid $2k range.

Bring on those SETs baby!

rwolters · « **Reply #28 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 10:22 pm »

Yes, Hyperion HPS-938's are very good and supposed to be excellent with low powered SET's. I've got a terrific pair I'll be listing on Audiogon later tonight for $2350. I thought I'd recently sold them, but the buyer couldn't complete the deal.

F-100 · « **Reply #29 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 10:46 pm »

Quote from: KeithR on 21 Nov 2006, 10:08 pm

Alright gents, name your favorite speaker for $3k "cash" cost be it new or used and why.

You can buy a Mini Strata for $1595. Not only they look so good, they sound darn good too. Plus they give you a 30 days in-home Trial period.

Sonny · « **Reply #30 on:** 22 Nov 2006, 11:55 pm »

Quote from: KeithR on 21 Nov 2006, 10:08 pm

Alright gents, name your favorite speaker for $3k "cash" cost be it new or used and why.

As I am selling my house and probably moving soon....I decided to sell my Wilson Sophias and not deal with the hassle. Also time to try something new after almost 3 years.

Associated equipment is a Denon 3910 and Nuforce P-8/Ref 9. I have debated going to a Modwright preamp---or a Blue Circle or VAC integrated. I am thinking a more efficient speaker, thereby not limiting amplifier selection, is key in my decision.

Thanks in advance guys!

KeithR

Keith, where are you located? If you are in North California, I can offer you a visit to listen to a pair of speakers that I built using all scan speak drivers and well, it's truly amazing...when compared to the many other speakers I've owned and heard.

If you're interested, look at my gallery and also look up the GeerS eVe II speaker in the speaker DIY sites.

Tuan

zybar · « **Reply #31 on:** 23 Nov 2006, 01:04 pm »

Quote from: JoshK on 22 Nov 2006, 04:30 pm

Hey Keith,

Been a while. Those Coincident speakers friend linked to sound really interesting, especially since you mentioned sensitive speakers. That they are and I've heard good things about them. But if you are keeping the Nuforce you don't exactly need sensitivity.

You might seriously consider the Ronins for $2200 that someone is selling here. I just wrote a review of them since I had an audition pair. They are pretty damn good and hard to beat in this price range.

I might also consider the SP Tech speakers that someone mentioned.

Cheers,
Josh

Josh,

Where is the $2200 pair of Ronin's? I can't seem to find them.

George

tdangelo · « **Reply #32 on:** 23 Nov 2006, 02:19 pm »

I would recommend Raw Acoustics. Very smooth highs and mids, deep clean bass, small footprint, beautiful veneers and very good performance/price ratio. I'm biased of course

Tony

TomS · « **Reply #33 on:** 23 Nov 2006, 02:34 pm »

George,

I searched the Ronon for Sale thread and must have mispoken. They were $3200. For some reason I thought they had dropped to $2200 but I see no such post. They were the first pair out of the chute I believe. Probably still a lot of speaker for that kind of money.

Tom

Frihed91 · « **Reply #34 on:** 23 Nov 2006, 02:39 pm »

A bit about BC integrateds. The basic sound does not change, starting with the CS and working all the way up to the BMpH. As you move up, what you get is more music and less amplifier. BC has developed a nearly totally transparent power amp, but it costs as much as a double-wide, or close to it, and weighs more!

I have thought/felt that BC integrateds sound best with "realistic" or "natural" sounding speakers and sound worst with "muscle" speakers that are sharp-toned. Many people like the latter. It is closer to the surround sound ideal, whereas the former is associated with UK BBC-type speakers or the old Snells (now Audio Note).

For high, efficiency, Audio Note Speakers sound very very good to me on my CS. Less efficient, but also nice sounding are Harbeth C-7s and Monitor 30s, the latter requiring more power than the former). The Spendor floor standers also sound nice, as does the much cheaper Quad 23L dynamic speaker.

I think BC speakers would sound great with some electrostats, but be careful and talk with Gilbert about this.

I have also played my little CS through Dynaudio and Elac Monitor speakers and i thought they really distorted the sound coming out of my source (a NOS Dac by Audio Note). These speakers fall in the sharp, surround sound camp to me.

We all have different tastes in sound and music and our equipment choices should reflect that.

Frihed91 · « **Reply #35 on:** 23 Nov 2006, 02:41 pm »

The Harbeth M-30s will not play well on a CS but the C-7s will. Sorry if I created the wrong impression. The Harbeth M-30 is a very very nice sounding speaker if you like realistic sound.

duggie · « **Reply #36 on:** 23 Nov 2006, 07:44 pm »

i have a pair of coincident victory's, & i can tell you they are fantastic. you want to cross over to subs, tho, for true full-range sound. at 97db-efficient, 14 ohms, they can be mated to a plethora of amps, both low *and* high power. extremely dynamic, detailed, great soundstaging... you can find them in your price range used. there's a pair of victory ll's (upgraded from mine) presently f/s on a-gon...
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1169060312

a bit higher than your price range, but i suspect these can be had for less...

however, if i were in georgia, i would be really tempted to get these:
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1169438152

Quote from: JoshK on 22 Nov 2006, 04:30 pm

Hey Keith,

Been a while. Those Coincident speakers friend linked to sound really interesting, especially since you mentioned sensitive speakers. That they are and I've heard good things about them. But if you are keeping the Nuforce you don't exactly need sensitivity.

You might seriously consider the Ronins for $2200 that someone is selling here. I just wrote a review of them since I had an audition pair. They are pretty damn good and hard to beat in this price range.

I might also consider the SP Tech speakers that someone mentioned.

Cheers,
Josh

PhilNYC · « **Reply #37 on:** 23 Nov 2006, 08:06 pm »

Quote from: KeithR on 21 Nov 2006, 10:08 pm

I have debated going to a Modwright preamp---or a Blue Circle or VAC integrated. I am thinking a more efficient speaker, thereby not limiting amplifier selection, is key in my decision.

Keith,

FWIW, if you go the direction of the Blue Circle integrated, pretty much the only one that will have trouble with a low-efficiency speaker is the CS. I've been using an FtTH integrated (80wpc) with a pair of Focus Audio FS-78SE floorstanders (86db) with terrific results. (and fyi - the FS-78SE falls in your price range, too...!

).

And we've had the Modwright preamp paired with a couple of class D amps at a couple of our NY Raves, playing with the Focus stuff with great results, too...

chaz1 · « **Reply #38 on:** 24 Nov 2006, 01:09 am »

I'm in the market for speakers in this price range too and have contemplated spending upward to 5k. I'm looking at the Salk, SP Technology, Loreleis by Odyssey, Von Schwiekert VR4 II and have heard good things about AV123 and LSA. I'm sure all different sounds but matched to the right room and equipment these speakers play well above their price point.

Hope this helps.

Rocket_Ronny · « **Reply #39 on:** 24 Nov 2006, 03:01 am »

I just built these and couldn't be happier.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=31630.msg300773#msg300773

You could get Raw Acoustics to build them for you.

Rocket_Ronny