This Should Be Interesting - Help Me Spend Money - New (Used) Tower Speakers...

MrBuhl · March 2019

The mission is simple, I enjoy all my Polks, but as with my amps and preamps, where I have grown to try new and higher end stuff, I want to now try some towers that might eventually eclipse my Lsim705's. At least one or two of my SDA's will never leave, because, as the saying goes, "nothing beats SDA".

OK - so here's the parameters, looking for suggestions for USED tower only (have to narrow it somewhere) speakers that after thorough and diligent and very patient searching, I could acquire for say... under $1500 a pair, hard stop, no $2K pairs please. I know that's not a ton, but it is a fairly wide range - and here are some thoughts below to get everyone started as well as associated gear, room, and listening info.

Please feel free to also ignore this long and involved post, but I tried to anticipate questions in advance.

GoldenEar Triton - (which models?)
Salk - (reaching - again – what to look for?)
B&W - (most confusing speaker lines ever)
Usher - (which ones?)
Focal - Aria, Profile or Chorus
Legacy Audio - Classic
Dynaudio - (which ones?)
Sonus Faber - Venere
Revel - Concerta
Dali - Ikon or Zensor?
what brands/models have I missed?

Associated gear and room –

Mantown – 8’ ceilings, drywall on all walls and carpet on floor. Large soft furniture for dampening, including one large stuffed ersine in the middle of the room, right behind listening position. I’d call it a fairly neutral room. Speaker position between 7’ and 9’ apart, and between 6” and 12” off the rear wall. 3’ to 4’ to the side walls and about 10’-12’ to the listeners ear.

Needs to work fairly equally well with:
Amps – McCormack DNA-1 OR Pass Labs x150.2
Preamps – EE Minimax “Tutay” modded OR Audible Illusions Modulus 1
Phono – Parks Audio Budgie OR Vincent Pho-800
Turntables – Music Hall mmf 5.1 OR Yamaha YP-D6 DD
CDP – Marantz 8400 SACD OR Sony S-9000es SACD

Listening style – almost 100% 2 channel audio, via a fairly even mix of CD, SACD, and Vinyl with the occasional BT Streaming through and Audioengine B1. Listening preferences vary all over the board, mostly all forms of classic rock, but jazz, classical, blues, reggae, female vocals, even some rap & country can be part of the mix.

I have really always liked the Polk sound, as you will obviously see below from my speaker selections, but generally I tend to favor what I would call a fairly accurate speaker, airy highs with detail, punchy mid-bass, and a present, but not overwhelming bottom.
I have already auditioned several models of vintage Infinity, Wharfedale Emeralds, Polk SDA 2a, 2bTL (modded), 1c (modded), CRS+4.1TL (modded), 5b’s, Lsim 705, several models of vintage AR, Klipsch KG-2, and Bose 901 Series IV.

Let the games begin - I appreciate any thoughts and suggestions!

dromunds · March 2019

You place an emphasis on imaging and soundstage?

MrBuhl · March 2019

Definitely - damn I was trying to be so thorough! Thanks!

afterburnt · March 2019

Them Ushers still in the FM?

marvda1 · March 2019

Skip has a pair of usher 6381's but don't know how he would get them to you, wait i have the boxes in my attic.

gyosa · March 2019

Salk Songtower.....
$ 2K brand new

Bk

MrBuhl · March 2019

^^ I dont even see many used Salks in my range^^, and I think that would be the "each price" on new ones?

MrBuhl · March 2019

marvda1 wrote: »

Skip has a pair of usher 6381's but don't know how he would get them to you, wait i have the boxes in my attic.

I've been noodling these, I do like to avoid a rear firing port if I can because of placement issues tho... hmmm makes that new Usher Skip mentioned intriguing...

daddyjt · March 2019

You mentioned you’ve heard vintage Infinity - does that include a set of Kappa 9? The midrange of the Kappa 9 is superb, and you McCormack would have no trouble with the well known low impedance challenges of the speaker. $1,500 is right in the ballpark for a nice pair in good condition.

Also, add the Focus 20/20 to your potential Legacy Audio query. If I had to sell all of my speakers off, my Focus 20/20 pair would be the last to go. They are the best all around speaker I have ever owned, and can be had for $1,500 if you are patient. They do have twin rear facing ports though...

Anyway, just a couple thoughts. Good luck with your search!

nooshinjohn · March 2019

Magnepan 1.7's

hochpt21 · March 2019

I went from Polk LSiM 705's to GoldenEar Triton 2's. It's the first time in a long time I have not felt the need to upgrade.

Clear, airy, detail.... this describes the Tritons. What I also love is the powered sub in the speaker. You can adjust the gain as needed, which provides a ton of flexibility.

I even used some of the equipment you listed. At one point I had them hooked up to a Parks Audio Budgie, Dared sl200a and McCormack DNA .5. Even compared to my current Rogue, I preferred that combo. I remember having a non-audiophile buddy come by and he was just gobsmacked. He didn't want to stop listening and I just kept pulling albums. It was fun.

I have not heard any of the other models you mention, but that is my experience anyways.

Have fun!

MrBuhl · March 2019

Super helpful suggestions guys! Thank you! Anyone familiar with Focal Electra 926's?

MrBuhl · March 2019

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Magnepan 1.7's

Maggies? Really - I hadn't thought of those!

nooshinjohn · March 2019

You may need a sub, but at your price point the Maggie will image like crazy and present an addictive soundstage that simply cannot be beat at that price.

nooshinjohn · March 2019

If you can go a touch higher you can find the 3.6r at around 2k.

afterburnt · March 2019

@hochpt21 don't "feel" the need to upgrade? Someone check him for a pulse.

txcoastal1 · March 2019

Location?

maxward · March 2019

What he said. I got my 3.6s for a little more than $2000 five years ago.

MrBuhl · March 2019

txcoastal1 wrote: »

Location?

Washington DC region now

MrBuhl · March 2019

daddyjt wrote: »

You mentioned you’ve heard vintage Infinity - does that include a set of Kappa 9?

Also, add the Focus 20/20 to your potential Legacy Audio query. If I had to sell all of my speakers off, my Focus 20/20 pair ...They do have twin rear facing ports though...

Anyway, just a couple thoughts. Good luck with your search!

Nothing as big as the Kappa 9, no, and I didn't think the 20/20 could be had at that price point! This is good, suggestions expanding the horizon!

MrBuhl · March 2019

nooshinjohn wrote: »

You may need a sub, but at your price point the Maggie will image like crazy and present an addictive soundstage that simply cannot be beat at that price.

I want to avoid a sub, but I am not a die hard for low end so that may be OK.

pitdogg2 · March 2019

Love me some Legacy's!

Upstatemax · March 2019

MrBuhl wrote: »

nooshinjohn wrote: »

You may need a sub, but at your price point the Maggie will image like crazy and present an addictive soundstage that simply cannot be beat at that price.

I want to avoid a sub, but I am not a die hard for low end so that may be OK.

I listened to them the other week at a local dealer. Hooked up to modest gear (Parasound P5 and A21), in a similar sized room to yours and they sounded great with I think plenty of bass. I'm also not a bass head, so I don't demand a lot of bass from my speakers.

Right before I listened to the flagship 30.7 and I was not impressed. I walked out of that room with a poor impression of Magnepan. Went to another room that had the 1.7's and they were far better in that set up.

I'm sure the 30.7's can sound much better than they did in that listening session, but the Magnepan rep wanted to show off how good they can be even in a less than ideal set up. I think it backfired, big time.

VR3 · March 2019

For what it's worth... There are some formidable monitors that show up in that price point

Wilson audio cub, with the target stands
Jm lab mini utopia

Just to name a few, the price range is around 1800 to 2500.

Tony M · March 2019

How about these beauties?! 1500.00

If I had the space....!!!!!!!! I'd already have them here.

Just a little road trip...

https://raleigh.craigslist.org/ele/d/bynum-infinity-rs-iia-speakers/6838176716.html

adb3da · March 2019

Dynaudio Contour S3.4. I’ll admit that I am biased, those are the speakers that I own.

MrBuhl · March 2019

Tony M wrote: »

How about these beauties?! 1500.00

Just a little road trip...

https://raleigh.craigslist.org/ele/d/bynum-infinity-rs-iia-speakers/6838176716.html

Already down to $1450! That's not a bad trip, I would travel that distance for the right speakers, its a day out and back basically... I don't know much about these, I'll have to get some read on.

MrBuhl · March 2019

adb3da wrote: »

Dynaudio Contour S3.4. I’ll admit that I am biased, those are the speakers that I own.

Personal experience is welcomed! Nothing wrong with that and in fact what I'm hoping for!

What do you dig about them?

MrBuhl · March 2019

VR3 wrote: »

For what it's worth... There are some formidable monitors that show up in that price point

Wilson audio cub, with the target stands
Jm lab mini utopia

Just to name a few, the price range is around 1800 to 2500.

I appreciate that, I just feel like I'm comparing to the Lsim705 towers, so I want to stay tower, probably goofy I know - but I'm also afraid I'll never get there if I open up to monitor sized LOL!

VR3 · March 2019

I understand, Im a tower guy myself... but these are hard to call monitors... they weigh around 80 to 90 pounds and use world class drivers, just saying!

MrBuhl · March 2019

^^ Yikes!! ^^ Don't make me do it!!

This Should Be Interesting - Help Me Spend Money - New (Used) Tower Speakers...

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