Towers (Or BookShelfs) - I want everyones opinion.

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VR3
VR3 Posts: 28,126
edited May 2006 in 2 Channel Audio
Ok...

Heres what I want to try to get one day in the next few years...

A tower, or bookshelf in the $3,000 range (used preferably)...

Im looking for a brighter top end with great low end response. Strong center stage with a wide and deep staging elsewhere. The key though is the STRONG CENTER stage.

Size dosnt matter, they can be 1000 feet tall and wide, etc...

There is no bias, the one brand that comes to mind is JM Lab. Im looking for a sound similar to JM.
- Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
Post edited by VR3 on
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  • schwarcw
    schwarcw Posts: 7,328
    edited May 2006
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    Carver Amazings. Most models will give you what your looking for. And or course I'm biased towards the big SDA's. The TL's seem to bring the sound a little more forward.
    Carl

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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited May 2006
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    If you're looking for a "brighter top end," stick with speakers under $300.

    Sid, you know price doesn't mean a damn thing in audio, so why are you asking this question? Besides, in three years I fully expect you to be making your own "high end" speakers that will blow away anything at the $3K level.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,126
    edited May 2006
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    Im just interested in seeing what people think are great in the range...

    DIY is always an option...

    Early,
    I think you are mistaken my bright for the wrong bright.

    I find JM Lab Utopias "bright."
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,909
    edited May 2006
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    Lets see....Utopias ? Bright is very subjective.So you must have heard them
    and want to find the same thing on the cheap.For the 3 grand try REVEL GEMS or Dynaudio speakers seem bright to me.Of coarse some think the word
    "bright" means sterile.Give us some more info,music or ht use?Do you have a sub to use with the speaks?What are you useing now?What other gear to drive them?Not such a simple question to answer given the limited info.:)
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,909
    edited May 2006
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    Second thought is if your looking for a more "complete" sound,try Legacy
    speakers.I have the Focus 20/20 and from top to bottom they have it all.
    Sounstage is wider than my SRT'S,actually,wider than anything I have had in my home.But as I said,give us more info,when it comes to speakers,there are alot of variables,and room size is important also.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,522
    edited May 2006
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    Paradigm Reference Studio 100.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,094
    edited May 2006
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    Original Mirage M1si. What happend to the $300 studio monitors you were salivating over a few weeks ago? :)

    H9

    EDIT: FWIW,

    http://ecoustics.audioreview.com/cat/audioreview/speakers/floorstanding-speakers/mirage-loudspeakers/PRD_120126_1594crx.aspx
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,126
    edited May 2006
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    The key to my post...

    is *years* - The Studiomonitors kick butt... but I dont want to have them forever, but they will do the killer job they are doing while I am in this small room.

    I dont like B&W (boring). I dont like Boston Acoustics or Klipsch (way to bright).

    I gave very little info for a reason - I just wanted opinions.

    But, music - subwoofer - Im using Behringer Truth Studio Monitors, B&K PT5, SVS PCi 22-31, Onix XCD88.
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • haimoc
    haimoc Posts: 1,031
    edited May 2006
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    I would look into Totem Mani or Forest, too.
    -?¿-
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  • Loud & Clear
    Loud & Clear Posts: 1,538
    edited May 2006
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    Here they are, and they're in Carthage, NC.

    http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1151442526

    The Kithara is a speaker that I've thought of for a few years. The Heil air motion transformer must really be something to hear.

    Two Channel Setup:

    Speakers: Wharfedale Opus 2-3
    Integrated Amp: Krell S-300i
    DAC: Arcam irDac
    Source: iMac
    Remote Control: iPad Mini

    3.2 Home Theater Setup:

    Fronts: Klipsch RP-160M
    Center: Klipsch RP-160M
    Subwoofer: SVS PB12NSD (X 2)
    AVR: Yamaha Aventage RX-A2030
    Blu Ray: Sony BDP-S790
    TV Source: DirecTV Genie
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  • Chrisssssssss
    Chrisssssssss Posts: 11
    edited May 2006
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    Look into the MB Quart product line. I have multiple pairs of them and love em. If you want bookshelfs, QLS 530's (1" titanium tweet 6.5" woofer), QLS 830 floorstanders (1" **** tweet 2x 6.5 woof) and the big guy QLS 1030 (1" tweet 5 1/4 mid 2x 6.5 woof) Check out yawaonline.com for purchasing. The Titanium tweet is super accurate and some think it is a tad on the bright side. I like my highs fairly bright also. I highly reccomend them. I guarantee that you will like them.

    -Chris
    *******************
    Chris Nicholls

    Polk SDA 1C's
    Sony GX99ES Receiver
    Sony CDP X555ES CD Player
    Large MB Quart Speaker collection!
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,126
    edited May 2006
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    Awesome, keep them coming folks...

    CHris(x20) - Thanks for the rec, I just hope you never sign out because you may not be able to sign back in.
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • Shizelbs
    Shizelbs Posts: 7,433
    edited May 2006
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    I'm pretty biased, but the first speaker that came to mind was the Amazings. I would think them to be horrible in your bedroom setup though. But now I'm just making assumptions.
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  • audiobliss
    audiobliss Posts: 12,518
    edited May 2006
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    Loud & Clear wrote:
    Here they are, and they're in Carthage, NC.

    http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1151442526

    The Kithara is a speaker that I've thought of for a few years. The Heil air motion transformer must really be something to hear.
    Whao. Now that's totally radical!
    Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote:
    CHris(x20) - Thanks for the rec, I just hope you never sign out because you may not be able to sign back in.
    LOL!
    George Grand wrote: »
    Jstas wrote: »
    Simple question. If you had a cool million bucks, what would you do with it?
    Wonder WTF happened to the rest of my money.
    In Use
    PS3, Yamaha CDR-HD1300, Plex, Amazon Fire TV Gen 2
    Pioneer Elite VSX-52, Parasound HCA-1000A
    Klipsch RF-82ii, RC-62ii, RS-42ii, RW-10d
    Epson 8700UB
    In Storage
    [Home Audio]
    Rotel RCD-02, Yamaha KX-W900U, Sony ST-S500ES, Denon DP-7F
    Pro-Ject Phono Box MKII, Parasound P/HP-850, ASL Wave 20 monoblocks
    Klipsch RF-35, RB-51ii
    [Car Audio]
    Pioneer Premier DEH-P860MP, Memphis 16-MCA3004, Boston Acoustic RC520
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,126
    edited May 2006
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    This is a long way away - out of my bedroom into a living room.

    Im just looking at potential stuff..
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • pjdami
    pjdami Posts: 1,894
    edited May 2006
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    Check out the JM Labs Electra line used. I bought some Electra 906 bookshelves under a grand on Audiogon a few months ago. A little more top end sparkle than the Spendors and Dynaudio I own but not as bright as the Paradigm Studio 40s I had a couple of years ago. The Electras are a fun speaker to listen to and an easy load on the amp. Never had a chance to hear the Utopia line though.
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