What speakers work best for concert music (i.e. what most people call classical)?

suppiluliumas

I Have the RTi6 in mind. Any others from Polk. Any other brands? Are there any classical people out there?

Early B.

You'll want a huge soundstage and some decent bass for classical music. Consider a set of floorstanders.

suppiluliumas

What is the minimum quality? What is recommended quality? How many channels? What size room?

I'm not looking for perfect scenarios, just general guidelines.

treitz3

2 channel, Carver Amazings Plat's MKIV, Lot's O' clean power, big room, keg next to the listening chair.

You'll be set for life.

fatchowmein

I have a pair of RTi6. The highs are a bit bright and the lows are cut off for classical music. I have the 6's connected to an old stereo for now. I love my LSi15's and they do a fine job with classical but I would love to hear Eine Kleine Nachtmusik on a large SDA driven with 1000W.

hearingimpared

I have 1.2 TLs and they sound wonderful with classical. I've heard 1Cs and 2.3 TLs and I do believe they could support the huge soundstage and bass response that classical music demands.

Airplay355

Lsi15s would be nice... or Lsi9's with a sub.

john22614

Hard to beat LSi's for music.....the tweeters make classical sing.....can listen all day, and I do!

[Deleted User]

john22614, how do you like the outlaw preamp? how is the imaging on it? been lookin into outlaw lately, dont know how it compares to the likes of rotel..

john22614

I like it a lot....but, I haven't compared it to rotel or others. The 990 has a great sound stage, excellent clarity, LFE and trasparency. I noticed a big improvement when I replaced my older Yamaha RXV 630 ( about a $500 unit) that I was using as a pre with the Anthem. The Yamaha sounded kind of dull and tiny by comparison. I'm very pleased with the 990 for both stereo music and multil channel HT. But, keep in mind, it's big and you need a good amount of space for it, and, it does not have HDMI inputs. But, I think there are HDMI adapters for the DVI inputs, and if you go blueray, you can use the analogue inputs for HD sound.

Jim Shearer

I listen to a lot of classical music and have a pair of RTi6 in a secondary system (along w/ a PSW10 sub.) For the money, they are simply amazing. I don't find them overly bright, as others here seem to. (The again, I'm probably significantly older than they are.) I have also listened to LSi9 and LSi15. Something must have been wrong w/ the 9's I heard, because I don't know why anyone would buy the pair I auditioned. The 15's were OK, but didn't knock my socks off--better than the 6's for sure, but then they cost much more, and I think they would still need a sub to fill out the bottom end.

The bottom line is still that YOU have to listen them and decide what you like & how much you are willing to spend.

Cheers, Jim

Airplay355

If you didn't like the Lsi's you heard, i'd blame it on the amp powering them first, and the pre second.

Without some high gear to back them up, the lsi's can fall short. The bass gets muddied and the highs aren't as clear or distinct. Atleast that's what I found when I had them.

john22614

me too....I noticed the same thing with my '9s before i got my amp...in fact, they sounded kind of veiled and flat at 75wpc from the Yamaha AVR....actually, i think the RTi 6's may sound better than the 9's without significant power.

sdcfan19

I really like the sound I get from my RTi10's with classical music. I would imagine that speakers form the LSi line would great given the right power.

TroyD

Depends on what sort of 'classical'.....if you are talking full on symphony, you want something that can move a LOT of air. Big floorstanders. SDA's, Carver Amazings, AR9's...that sort of thing.

That said, I prefer, for most classical listening a planar/electrostat for detail resolution and transparency. For my tastes (and I listen to mostly classical) the best speaker I've EVER heard for this is the Quad ESL. While it doesn't move enough air to *quite* capture a full symphony like a Mahler or a Bruckner as well as some of the aforementioned speakers, it's not bad and for smaller ensembles, it is UNBEATABLE.

BDT

stangjason

I can't complain about the sound of classical music from my RTi8 combined with my HSU VTF-1 sub.