What about these speakers?

Joey_V

Zero was telling me about looking at other speakers...

So, I would like to hold a poll (again)...

Which of the following (in my price budget) would you choose if you had my budget of $4500 max?

Lets do this for fun and not for serious sakes.

Martin Logan Vantage $4995 new ($3900 discounted):


Dali Euphonia MS4 $9000 new ($4150 from Chicago via Audiogon):


Von Schweikert VR4JR $4000 new ($2900 used on audiogon):


BW 804N $3500 new ($2600 used on audiogon):


BW 703 $2999 new ($2600 discounted at local dealer, new):


JM Labs Electra 927Be 25th Anniversary edition $6000 new ($3100 on audiogon, used):


JM Labs Profile 918Be $3999 new at Tweeter:


I was looking at the Wilson WATT/Puppy system and those are crazy expensive. So are Avantgarde Acoustics... yikes!

Anyway... this is all in good fun, nothing serious.

Vote vote!

Joey_V

Great.... I just realized I forgot to add AV123's Onix Reference 3 and the Paradigm S8.... great...

Anyway, here they are:

Onix Reference 3 $3999 for Bird's Eye Maple new:


Paradigm S8 $5500 new (none on audiogon at the moment):


So, if you want to vote for these... just put "other" and specify it in your post... thanks!

Joey_V

My take on all of this.

I have heard more than half of the speakers I posted with the exception of the Onix Reference 3, VR4jr, JMLabs Electra 927, and the Dali MS4 Euphonia... with proper amplification and good upstream electronics.

From what I heard, I preferred them in this order:
ML Vantage
BW804N
JMLabs Profile 918
BW703
Paradigm S8

I would love to hear the rest of the speakers on my list... especially the Dali MS4 and the VR4jr (based on its SOLID reviews all over the internet and forums).

Also, any opinions and speakers you guys have in mind (ones which are attainable at around the <$5000 mark) are all very much welcome! I would love to go to a dealer and listen to them.

I dont really have much free time to truly listen and do an appropriate A/B/C comparison, so I may have to trust my ears and my gut with this particular speaker adventure.

However, lets treat this as a fun adventure... lets not get too nitpicky. Just pick your favorite.

F1nut

Used Sonus Faber Cremona.

Joey_V

F1nut wrote:

Used Sonus Faber Cremona.

Believe me, I've looked and the closest price to my budget is $5999... too much.

F1nut

I know I've seen them for @ 5k used on the Gon. Keep your eyes open.

Rich64

The Martin Logan Vantage......wide open.. seamless...not good for hard rock,, more for vocals and strings. You really have to have top notch gear here, including the sweetest sounding tube pre-amp you can find ....Mmmm...good

Early B.

If I had a $4,500 budget for speakers, I'd buy "custom made" speakers like the ones built by Tyler Acoustics (sold on audiogon). They are built with the highest quality drivers and premium crossover components. (Surprisingly, lots of high end speakers use cheap crossover parts.) Plus, you can choose from 100 different types of veneer, whether you want internal or external crossovers, etc. Thay way, you're paying only for the speakers and not an upcharge for the brand name. They have great resell values, too.

Joey -- what other audio components will comprise your system?

In developing a budget for your speakers, you should also consider your entire system. To use an absurd example, $5,000 speakers whose source is a $500 DVD player ain't cool. IMO, I'd spend at least as much money on my amp/pre than my speakers.

One more thing -- Generally speaking, the difference in SQ between $2,000 speakers and $4,000 speakers may be insignificant. I dunno, but worth considering.

Ricardo

My experience is probably extremely short to be considered, but if I had $5,000 to spend on speakers I would get:

1.-The best Polk SDA I can get ; probably a 1.2TL, let's say at $2,000.

2.-The best non-SDA speaker I can buy for $3,000.

For me, this would be the best of both worlds

wingnut4772

Used Sonus Faber Cremona.

Here, Here! If I were going to upgrade my speakers for anything it would be Sonus Faber ( no I am not ...don't worry ) BUT..if I were...(Ok maybe someday) that would be my choice.

aaharvel

prob. the PSB Platinum T6. It's the nicest NEW speaker i've ever heard, which isn't saying much. With this being the exception, I have no experience in anything beyond $2,000.
But I like it.

2nd would be their M2 monitor version.
3rd would be the LSI9 on a properly amplified.

http://www.psbspeakers.com/product.php?pId=2&sId=1?PHPSESSID=dd55c0bfd04ea9bddba7766f0a98c27d

keith allen

Never heard these,but man do they look goooood!

Schris22

I just heard the S8's 2 days ago. My friend is a dealer and does paradigm, BG, Jmlabs and some non speaker stuff.

though I would love these s8's I loved the jmlabs for music a tad bit more. Which is what i'm figuring if you do spend the money.

I haven't heard any of the others except the 700 series b and w and ML.

I heard the 800 series giant **** diamond tweeter ones but they didn't look like that much bigger. The ML was really nice but I didn't have the right room to hear them in =(

But so far I love the JMlabs sound! and the new style ones my dealer friend has but they weren't hooked up at the moment.

Chris

Joey_V

I heard the JM Labs 918 powered by the same 10,000 worth of electronics (Krell amp, preamp, cdp) as the Vantage and to my ears, as good as I thought the JM Labs were (I auditioned them before the Vantage came out and I was stunned), the Vantage were on another level IMHO. There was no congestion at all. Plus, the Vantage was a lot less picky with regards to vertical seating height... which means it's a lot more flexible when it comes to a chair.

As far as my electronics, these will adapt to the new speaker. As time passes, I'll move up to a better source and outboard DAC... probably when I graduate med. I should be able to upgrade my Rotel RB1070 amp to a 1080 or 1090 sometime towards the end of this year - if all goes well.

Like, lets say I do real good on my board exam this June, then on July... I'll buy the RB1090 as a reward!

Joey_V

keith allen wrote:

Never heard these,but man do they look goooood!

You should see them in person when they're veneered in Bird's Eyed Maple!

halo

Since you're in Chicago you may want to visit some of these hi-fi shops (courtesy of F1nut):

Symphony Sound

Decibel Audio

High Fidelity Systems

Saturday Audio

Audio Consultants

Quintessence Audio

I popped in to Decibel Audio and I was able to audition the VR4jr's and they were very impressive. Nice guys too - they didn't bother me once - no sales pitches - no pressure :cool:

Joey_V

Peersol,

Man... I've been to saturday audio and am going to Glenn Poor this week sometime. Some of those you listed are REALLY high end, I'd feel out of place going in.

Joey

Joey_V

Ooh.. the guy with the Dali just extended me an invite to come over his place and listen to the Dali MS4... interesting.

Schris22

i'm curious about those dali's...I've heard a lot about them but haven't heard them

what size are those in the picture?

The pictures plays with my eyes I see them as small towers...but i'm guessing their towers?

Chris

Joey_V

The Dali are 84 pound towers... which are about 42" tall and almost 18" deep. They are pretty formidable. The drivers are 6.5" with a tweeter and a ribbon supertweeter on top.

Here is the link.. they are VERY nice looking especially in the Alpi finish.

http://dali-usa.com/us/page245.aspx?sub=213&prod=568

Schris22

pretty....

Chris

shack

I voted other as the only one of your list I have heard that I like is the ML. I'm not a B&W fan. I've heard the JM Labs but not enough to give a good opinion. I've lever listened to the VS or Dali. Here are two considerations at opposite ends of the listening spectrum. One is considered to be very detailed and accurate and the other is considered to be more lush.

Thiel CS2.4



Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Concert Grand



I have heard both...and would not hesitate to purchase either if I was spending $4,500±. (notice both are in Maple ) I say they are different but this is mainly due to the tweeter/driver composition....metal/metal for the Thiels and silk/composite for the VAs. Both are excellent and if I had to pick it would be a very hard choice.

halo

You can see / hear the Vienna Acoustics Shack mentioned at the Magnolia Home Theater located inside the Golf Mill Best Buy in Niles. Some pretty cool stuff in there to audition Joey

Joey_V

peersool wrote:

You can see / hear the Vienna Acoustics Shack mentioned at the Magnolia Home Theater located inside the Golf Mill Best Buy in Niles. Some pretty cool stuff in there to audition Joey

Golf Mill eh?

I wonder what electronics they use to run that beast. I'll mapquest it and see how far Niles is from me. Thanks peersool!

F1nut

The first time I heard the Dali's I thought they sounded ok, the second time they sounded vailed and congested. Both times were on the same gear in the same place, but I had Mike and Troy with me. Maybe it was them.....LOL. Seriously, I had more time to listen the second time and that made me more aware of the short comings.

ninerbj

You need to ask Mr. Malldecker III about the Odyssey Lorilies

ninerbj

oops...That should be Walldecker

Gaara

ninerbj beat me to it. I was doing a search like this except it was below $3000, I wound up narrowing my list to the Von Schweikert VR4jr, Vandersteen 3A Signatures, Odyssey Audio Loreleis, Hyperion 938, and Gallo Reference 3s. I did tons reading, lots of reviews, tried to find people with similar systems and rooms to mine, and read what they had to say before making a choice.

Jared

Joey_V

Jared,

What did you end up getting?

TroyD

I think the Dali's sucked, basically.

Too many options at that pricepoint.

I've listened to the ML's several times I LIKE them but not to the extent that I wish I did. If I go ESL, Ima go Quad.

Beemers are VERY nice as are the Thiels. I'd also consider the Vandy 3-series.

BDT

RuSsMaN

B&W, Thiel, Dali, VS, Vandys, crap man, tough choices. Heard them all, love them all.

On the Beemers, go 800 series, or go home. The 7's are nice, until you hear the tweeter in the 8's - then you can't go back. Another thing I like about B&W, is they just re-designed the entire line, every driver, every component. When they redesign something, they do so to the degree that they feel it will remain competitive in the market for 6 - 10 years. That says a LOT.

I'm teetering between the the 804 and the 803 diamond myself.

Cheers,
Russ