Sounds daft and obvious but first put together a set of recordings that you know very well, are demanding in dynamics etc especially if keyboard and female voice are important . Use that as your comparison (eg Abbado - Zauberflote - Queen Of The Night !!)
Don’t let some “hi fi expert” select his favourite track as it may well be the one (maybe the only one) that sounds great .
I was looking for headphones , I had an expert try to sell me a pair with a demo of Rap in MP3 (I have NEVER listened Rap in my life). I even had one who demo’ed hi end phones by plugging into his cell phone …
Before you spend try them in YOUR system, YOUR Room etc
Very good point. Yes, they will have a song that fits their needs to sell. Definitely bring your own sample to try. Then you will know what you are wanting from these speakers.
I like a passive floor standing speaker also. They are usually full range and depending on the final setup, they might not require a subwoofer or will compliment one if a subwoofer is part of your equation.
Hi Eric
If you can notice, Pylon audio Jasper Mk2 products, I can recommend with full responsibility beautiful workmanship using the best Scandinavian products. They produce them in Poland, but I know that they are distributed in Norway. I also know that they have good opinions among users and professional reviewers.
The price-performance ratio is unbeatable. It’s really worth getting interested in these speakers
Regards from Poland
I can highly recommend Audiovector (Denmark) R3s. I have the Avantgarde version with Air motion Transformer tweeter and they are to my ears breathtakingly amazing. I run them on a Hegel H390 and its all I could ever ask for until I could afford the R6😂
In this day of mail order and closed specialty shops, few of us can audition equipment locally, especially quality loudspeakers. Magneplanar has developed an easily shipped yet highly representative Little Ribbon Speaker to let clients hear Maggie sound at home. These are highly regarded speakers. They will serve most small listening rooms. The larger speakers are for bigger spaces. The LRS gives an accurate representation of the larger and more costly product and will prove satisfying for many. Disclosure: I have LRS with Schiit Audio power.
Most of us will make use of reviews in product selection. I’ve found The AudioPhiliac (Steve Guttenberg) and Darko.Audio (John Darko) to be good sources of loudspeaker reviews. Always thoughtful with consistent findings between the two.
Both have access to the best of current product but John Darko given European logistics has yet to review Magneplanar speakers. John did send a crew to Minnesota to make a production shop tour video of Magnepan. Well done.
Both reviewers are careful about using small speakers with floor stands and with placement 1 - 2 meters into the room. Both reviewers are careful to mention associated equipment and music used in their reviews. Both have a collection of current and classic equipment that they can use in reviews.
Both have a taste for Klispch horn speakers (Forte in particular) but also the book-shelves. Both are good about describing the rendering ability of the speakers under review and contrasting them to peers on hand. Steve for metal and John for EDM.
Steve has commented favorably on the Maggies and uses Schiit Vidar to drive them.
Both like the sense of energy communicated by the Klipsch and their ability to preserve that sense when playing quietly. My Maggies won’t do that. They get veiled below 70 dbA or so. My LRS are becoming unhappy above 85 dbA.
Both reviewers use a broad spectrum of recordings in their reviews. John Darko likes electronic dance music but also a broad spectrum of pop from his youth. Steve Guttenberg usually reviews with jazz and vocal pop but occasionally breaks out some metal. Both are pretty eclectic. And both produce YouTube video reviews.
Jason Stoddard Schiit Audio co-founder has some interesting comments in this month’s head-fi blog post.
Schiit just introduce two low-power amps designed for use with passive near-field monitors on a desk. Jason talks about speaker-amp matching and what generically he expects the new amps to pair well with. Earlier columns talk about the development of Vidar, Aegir, and Tyr, his big speaker amps and his Ragnorok integrated amp.
Jason’s column is notable for its methodology. Jason talks about efficiency and room size and near field vs away from the array. And about amp noise revealed by efficient speakers in near field.
Schiit makes a spectrum of speaker amps, all noteworthy and all robust. Here I use Vidar with Magnepan Magneplanar Little Ribbon Speakers (the original). Interestingly, Jason on YouTube Q&A let slip that he tests his big amps with the hard to drive LRS. Also with Klispch Forte that are on stage in LA. The efficient Klipsch will show up a noisy amp. He carefully stays out of the recommendation game.
Disclosure: I own Schiit Gumby Multibit DAC, Freya+ preamp, Vidar (original) power, Magneplanar LRS, Roon in a TrueNAS VM. Allo DigiOne Signature stream receiver. Qobuz lossless
Jason consistently reminds us that Vidar is for hard-to-drive loads like the LRS and larger Maggies. That’s why you start with the speakers. Working the other way, there is significant risk that the amp and speakers won’t play well together.
Have them on YouTube and so even Andrew Robinson and Audio Advice I the US
We have a lot of audio shops in Sweden. 3-4 very close to me and many more in Gothenburg and Stocholm and between. All well known brands and models
So when my list is full … I will just listen and have fun before I make my decision.
Next after that Is the power and dac …
Try to listen to different speaker types – i.e., boxed cones & domes/with a subset of open baffles, planar magnetic, horns and electrostatic. You might find yourself attracted to a speaker type that you wouldn’t have automatically gravitated. By sticking to one type and never listening to other types, you may be missing some really great speakers and some you may actually prefer over others. Once you have a speaker type preference, listen to as many different ones in that type that you can to ultimately make a short list, or a selection.
While audio shows aren’t the best places for critical component auditions, because of the rooms and the brief amount of setup time; however, audio shows are great places to get a feel for the presentations and pluses and minuses provided by different speaker types in general.
I believe there are more speaker manufacturers than any other audio component. So, you’re correct when you say: “there is so many other speakers out there”. That’s why in my mind, it is better to try to first select a type. By doing that, you may be able to lessen the vast amount of speakers there are to choose and better prioritize what you want to audition.
And with your budget, I wouldn’t get locked into floorstanders. At your price range, I’ve heard some great bookshelf speakers!
So you’ve gotten several responses recommending various British speaker brands. I find most somewhat lacking in detail and clarity, which are important for acoustical music (classical, jazz, etc.) Exceptions to my ears are ATC, KEF and B&W. I find most B&W speakers too bright in the treble. KEF is better to my ears, and ATC is the top dog.
Here are two American speakers to consider, both full range with subs not really needed for acoustic music - the Aerial Acoustics 6T and the Vandersteen Model 2e Signature. The Aerial is at the top of or just above your budget. The 6T is their smallest floor-stander. The Aerial 5T is a smaller, less costly standmount or bookshelf speaker that is better to my ears than the ATC 19. Vandersteen has a smaller, less costly Model 1i+ that has been in production for decades and is $2,000 per pair. Check the Aerial and Vandersteen websites and read some reviews.
I hope there are dealers near your home that carry these brands. If you audition them you will understand why I’ve suggested them. FYI, I’ve owned a pair of older, larger Aerial 8b’s for over 20 years. The cabinets on Aerial products are gorgeous if that matters, and they are extremely well built. My son auditioned and is buying a pair of Aerial 5T’s after comparing them to KEF and Spendor products. He told me there was no comparison. They were that much better. One suggestion - if the Aerial or ATC speakers are of interest, both brands benefit from amps that provide high current, not just wattage. And the Aerial is a 4 ohm speaker that drops to 3 ohms at some frequencies. So your amp must be able to handle such a load. A reputable dealer will be able to help.
Have not auditioned the new KEF r7 meta. Sorry Aerial is not sold there. As to ATC, I’ve auditioned the very small 7, the 11, 19 and 40. The 7 is great for a small room with a sub. For a larger room, I prefer the 19 to the 11. They use the same drivers, but the 19 has a larger cabinet yielding a fuller sound and deeper bass. The SCM 40 towers are at the top of your budget and are outstanding, but they don’t have quite the low frequency extension of the Aerial 6T.
Again good luck and happy listening.
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James_I
(The truth is out there but not necessarily here)
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Another vote for the KEF R series. I have the R11s and like them.
I have all B&W speakers in my surround system setup, 702 S2 towers in front, CM series center channel, old 600 series towers in the back and 600 series bookshelf for the sides. The local Audio Video shop allowed me to bring the 702 S2’s home for an audition and they stayed put. Mine have the rear port vs the newer model with the down facing port. I’d like to addition the newer model when the shop has them in stock. The current 702 S2’s will move to the rear position and replace my old 600 series towers. Eventually the 700 series bookshelf will replace the 600 series bookshelf’s. The sound is very good to my ear. I haven’t had the opportunity to auditioned any others for Stereo and honestly don’t feel the need.
In my setup, with a Denon receiver and external MC amp, the Stereo playback includes my JL Audio subs with the 702’s. When I use the S88 dac for Stereo the subs are not used. The speaker sound is excellent either way but I do enjoy the additional bass punch when the subs are included.
This is good advice. Don’t get hung up on different manufacturers. There are literally hundreds. Rather what type. This is also predetermined by you amp.
I just bought a pair of Dynaudio Evoke 30 and I’m really happy. They are powered by a Michi X3, great combination.
So, of course, I would recommend you to give Dynaudio a listen. Evokes, Contour series, great speakers.
I also auditioned Proac, good but… Harbeth, great sounding but could not live the looks in my living room. Acoustic Energy AE520 was a big surprise but to big for my room. Elac Vela 407 is also worth a listen and last but not least, Audiovector R3 series…
First off to be honest and fair I’ve never auditioned Harbeth but just a feeling in the gut putting me completely off. 6000usd plus for this construction just defying my logic. They must somehow sound absolutely heavenly at lower volumes, midrange goodness.
. My still on radar would be ATC and Pro-Ac