Ultimate Speakers for $2000-$2500 Range

Lsi9

What brand gives more bang for the buck at this price point, I am thinking Paradigm?

ohskigod

new I take it?

zingo

This would not be a bad buy... These speakers would sounds awesome, and it is well within your price range. Oh ya, and it's Polks, and SDAs at that!

http://seattle.craigslist.org/ele/142905627.html

Lsi9

The SDAs are good suggestion but I want something new. I want the speakers to sound better than the lsi9s I have

amulford

too subjective....

Lsi9

...well then allow me to rephrase the topic, What would you get in this pricerange?

Joey_V

Coming from LSi9, I know exactly what you mean by wanting a better speaker. If it were up to me, I would go with a Martin Logan Vista (if it's close to the capabilities of the Vantage, not yet out though) because I'm an electrostat guy - hands down.

Or...

I would go with LSi15.

Or...

Sonus Faber Concerto Domus

Or...

Used 804N by BW.

Or...

Used Von Schweikert VR4jr.

Hard to say really.... too many choices.

mantis

I would get Dynaudio. In my opnion there is nothing better at there price points. Go up and down there lines and they all sound excellent.

I also Like Totem Speakers in that price point. Another fantastic speaker company.Very Versitle.

B&W N series are great but I don't really care for much else.

Dan

dkg999

I actually went through this last summer. Same price range and also asked for advice on this forum! Brands I listened to:

Totem - really nice, need good placement and equipment
Dynaudio - my runner up, Audience 72SE was very nice
Martin Logan - just wasn't ready to go this route
Spendor - good speakers, not so picky on equipment
Sonus Faber - these might of been really good, dealers equipment sucked!
Revel - not for my ears
B&W - should of listened at more dealers, when driven by the right equipment they do sound good
Magnepan - one of my early loves and I went back there. I don't regret it. 1.6's are an absolute bargain at their price point.

Good luck and have fun!

aaharvel

Lsi9 wrote:

I want the speakers to sound better than the lsi9s I have

well that's a first.

unc2701

Dynaudio- Holy f*ck their monitors rock... I've never heard the towers, but I can't imagine how they'd screw that up.

Gallo- Flat to 22 hz when biamped. Dead f---king sexy.

B&W- The standard. You should be able to swing some 804's used.

McLoki

Of the speakers I have never heard (but always wanted to) I would say

Dynaudio, or Gallo Acoustics.

Of the speakers I have heard (and always lusted after)

Magnepan (killer looks and sound)

Polk LSi (really nice, but it would be close competition at that price point - then again, you could do an entire HT for that price in LSi's )

SVS Ultra 2 - would be really nice (you never said it had to be a full range speaker)

Michael

jmierzur

Based on experience this past year, I might suggest that you first start addressing some other areas of your system. The LSi9 are capable speakers and will continue to improve with better gear behind them.

I would suggest starting with a two channel amp for the LSi9 and a two channel preamp with a HT passthrough feature. The existing Rotel amp can be left for surround duties and the Outlaw for HT duties. You may also want to consider getting a dedicated player for non HT playback...

EricT43

Another vote for the Nautilus 804.

Ferres

I would agree with jmierzur.

It's better to upgrade the electronics end first, see how much more sq you can squeeze out of the Lsi9's.

Besides, the higher you go up the speaker foodchain the more amplification you'll probably need.

tryrrthg

Dynaudio! of course!

Of the other speakers I've heard I would look at: Sonus Faber, ProAc, and Von Schweikert. Thiels were nice too but are a bit forward for my tastes so they might take some careful equipment matching.

But as a few people have stated the better speakers you have the more you should spend on the equipment that runs them. Which is what I'd be doing if I had the money.

ohskigod

seems liek everyone that hears dynaudio likes em, would love to hear a pair some day

Schris22

JM labs. elecktra? i forget the line, but there is one sweet look jmlabs in that range that I've heard and I love it.

Chris

steveinaz

Zero wrote:

Paradigm? Not even close.

Ultimate speakers in that price range? No such thing. You will be better off telling us what it is your looking for in speakers, frequency range, type of sound, footprint, et all...

I'll have to disagree on that one. Reference Studio 100's are a pretty formidable speaker in that price range.

Toxis

depends on your preferences, but the new Klipsch RF-83's are pretty damn impressive off a good setup. I love the new tweeter they're using.

venomclan

B&W 804
Gallo's
Spendor

Joey_V

Gallos are impressive looking and they sure extend quite low. However, what it never did right for me was that it sounds "short". The soundstage just never seemed right to me. This was a common complaint among my fellow audio-buddies who went and auditioned the Ref3.1.

Just MO.

F1nut

I'm glad to see a few others took a look at the gear list before answering. It appears that you're using an Xbox as your source. Get a real source or you'll always have garbage coming out of the speakers. Next, consider upgrading your pre amp and amp, only then you can make a judgement about the speakers.

unc2701

Joey_V wrote:

Gallos are impressive looking and they sure extend quite low. However, what it never did right for me was that it sounds "short". The soundstage just never seemed right to me. This was a common complaint among my fellow audio-buddies who went and auditioned the Ref3.1.

Just MO.

I heard them on some aftermarket stands... I'd have to look them up- I don't remember who makes them, but listening with and without, I'd have to agree- they're much smaller than you'd expect and for a natural listening position, they need to be boosted a bit.

Anyhow, i just listened to a pair of Spendor S8e's on a Musical Fidelity A5 (that i am very close to pulling the trigger on) and you can add those to my list... Great imaging, not quite as detailed on the very top and the very bottom as the Gallo's, but VERY impressive.

amulford

IMHO, I would look to better gear, as F1Nut has said. LSi's pretty competent speakers, you may need to upgade your components to more fully appreciate what they are capable of.

Ricardo

Let me throw a new name here; Monitor Audio. These are wonderful speakers though not so popular. I've not heard the Gold series (top of the line), but the Silver is a great full range speaker; I had a Silver S8 for a while and during that time I heard them more than my 1.2 TL's. And, they are finished like no speaker I've ever seen (though I've not seen that many....).

Someone should give them a try; you'd be surprised.

Lsi9

I use A Pansonic Dvd player as my source...I am mainly into Ht
except when I roll a joint I'll throw some music on for some serious listening.
what I really want is sound stage and for the speakers to disappear, Lsi9s are great speakers for the money, but I always wanted to get into entry level high end...Polk Audio needs to accomplish this in their next line of speakers...I was under the impression that Paradigm is even better than B&ws at the same price, with B&W having an edge in build quality but not sound...Monitor is another great company, they make amazing bookshelfs and Im sure their full rangers are equally impresasive...I am actually happy with my components for now; I will upgrade to a preamp with HD Dolby Digital when thats available but until then I love the 950...the rotel will go as soon as I have the money for Monoblocks (perhaps Outlaw or Marantz)
But it is well known that the most substantial upgrade in audio is the speakers...for now I am buying time in hopes of Polk delivering a grand daddy of Polks, but I can't imagine holding out for long...
as far as the Gallo 3's they look great Im sure sound great but I want more midrange and treble clarity being that my HSU is unbeatable
Sonus is another honorable mention, but I thought maybe there would be a consenus on a certain speaker...the Dynaudio mk 1.3s look good too
Im more confused than ever, but thanks for the advice and keep it coming

Joey_V

I would say, if you can do without a sub, it's always better.... sometimes, even the best of subs have a hard time integrating into a solid 2 channel stereo setup. Perhaps something along the lines of a Velodyne DD15/18 with its servo and auto-eq may be a match for most super speakers out there...

Just my .02.

Also, I wouldnt discount BW compared to Paradigm... both are solid speakers and it isnt fair to generalize the sound of 1 vs the other.

I think you should look at these other brands:
Veracity Audio
Thiel
AV123's Mini Strata

F1nut

You didn't list the Panny, so it looked like the Xbox was your source. No matter, I still say the place to start your upgrade path is the source, that is the most important piece in any system. Garbage in, garbage out.

Now maybe it's just me, but for an HT set up, which is much less demanding than music, even an average speaker seems to work pretty well. Having said that, I've heard the LSi 9's on some high end gear, including a nice source, that made them disappear when playing music. I was impressed and I don't impress easily.

jmierzur

Lsi9 wrote:

what I really want is sound stage and for the speakers to disappear, Lsi9s are great speakers for the money, but I always wanted to get into entry level high end...Polk Audio needs to accomplish this in their next line of speakers...

After owning the LSi9 speakers for 3.5 years, I can assure you that they will create a great soundstage and will dissappear when properly setup within the room. If this is your only complaint and you enjoy the sonic characteristics of the LSi9, then I would suggest you start optimizing the speaker location. Post a picture so we can see where the speakers are located and offer suggestions.

wingnut4772

Lsi s are great speakers. I have never heard Dynaudio but I love Sonus Faber. I would definitely audition some.