If I Had Ten Thousand Dollars (Sing it!!)

musicfirst1

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OK lets say the sky's the limit on the rest of your system, but you could only spend 10-15k on a new pair of speakers. What would those speakers be?:rolleyes:
 

Folsom

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I'd start by paying someone $500 to dig up all the system lists in threads identical to this one, then go from there.
 

marty

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I love questions like this! Surveying Audiogon, there are some really good choices out there in this price range including:
Wilson Sophia 2
Revel Ultima Salon 2
Focal Scala Utopia III v2
And a real sleeper- Sony SS AR-1. Not a classical "audiophile" speaker, but a damn good one nonetheless.

These are all rather 'traditional". i excluded horns and planars but there's plenty of those out there for sure.
 
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Ron Resnick

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I'd start by paying someone $500 to dig up all the system lists in threads identical to this one, then go from there.

:D
 

Ron Resnick

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I nominate Magnepan 20.7s for $15,000.

Drive them with Aesthetix Atlas Eclipse mono hybrid amplifiers (or high power solid-state or push-pull tube amps if you want to spend a lot more money), add your source and preamplifier, and top off with a pair of REL 212/SE subwoofers. You are done!

A friend of mine has exactly this system, and I love it!

The total cost of this system would be less than many dynamic driver loudspeakers.

Eventually you can choose to replace the 212s with a “six-pack” of REL G1 Mk. IIs.
 
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musicfirst1

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I'd start by paying someone $500 to dig up all the system lists in threads identical to this one, then go from there.

Identical thread? No I don't think so..

My question is pretty specific, I think.

For example I have a friend who has a 100k system fronted by a 10k pair of speakers that sounds truly epic. Yet I've heard these exact speakers several times with lesser electronics at shows and in homes and they always sounded mediocre at best. They have a pretty nasty reputation on most forums as well.

It's one thing to find a relatively forgiving speaker at a 10k price point (many would put entry level Sonus Fabers in this camp for example) that can sound almost universally good if not great in a wide variety of systems; its quite another kettle of fish to find reasonably priced speakers that can really show off electronics that cost many multiples of the speaker's asking price.

I am interested only in the latter.
 

Hi-FiGuy

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I nominate Magnepan 20.7s for $15,000.

Drive them with Aesthetix Atlas Eclipse mono hybrid amplifiers (or high power solid-state or push-pull tube amps if you want to spend a lot more money), add your source and preamplifier, and top off with a pair of REL 212/SE subwoofers. You are done!

A friend of mine has exactly this system, and I love it!

The total cost of this system would be less than many dynamic driver loudspeakers.

Eventually you can choose to replace the 212s with a “six-pack” of REL G1 Mk. IIs.
I'm in with this one, in fact my goal.
 
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musicfirst1

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Funny, my six-pack of Rel G1s will be in my system forever.. regardless of any future electronics and main speakers.
 
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Ron Resnick

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It’s good you already have it!
 

KeithR

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I love questions like this! Surveying Audiogon, there are some really good choices out there in this price range including:
Wilson Sophia 2
Revel Ultima Salon 2
Focal Scala Utopia III v2
And a real sleeper- Sony SS AR-1. Not a classical "audiophile" speaker, but a damn good one nonetheless.

These are all rather 'traditional". i excluded horns and planars but there's plenty of those out there for sure.

Agreed. And I think the Sony is better than the other three
 
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Al M.

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Identical thread? No I don't think so..

My question is pretty specific, I think.

For example I have a friend who has a 100k system fronted by a 10k pair of speakers that sounds truly epic. Yet I've heard these exact speakers several times with lesser electronics at shows and in homes and they always sounded mediocre at best. They have a pretty nasty reputation on most forums as well.

It's one thing to find a relatively forgiving speaker at a 10k price point (many would put entry level Sonus Fabers in this camp for example) that can sound almost universally good if not great in a wide variety of systems; its quite another kettle of fish to find reasonably priced speakers that can really show off electronics that cost many multiples of the speaker's asking price.

I am interested only in the latter.

I'd buy mine, Reference 3A Reflector monitors ($ 12K), which are augmented in my system by dual JL Audio F112v2 subs.

These speakers are very unforgiving since highly resolving, but sound amazing with my Octave amplification of about $ 30K total, in a room with sound treatment about equal the price of the speakers. They are in many ways as good as much larger speakers several times the price, in some ways not so much. But the overall package is stunning for the price, at least to my taste.

And they fit better into my room (24 feet long and 8.5 feet high, but mostly only 12 feet wide) than larger speakers would. They also can do some intimate stuff in an unparalleled manner.
 
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Hi-FiGuy

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And a real sleeper- Sony SS AR-1. Not a classical "audiophile" speaker, but a damn good one nonetheless.
.
I remember being blown away by these speakers years ago both in sound and cabinet construction. They are hand made and designed in a way that they actually don't need any glue or screws to stay together.
I could not believe the sound I heard and in my opinion smoke many others in that price range, which doubles the price point of this thread at $27k.
 

DaveC

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I remember being blown away by these speakers years ago both in sound and cabinet construction. They are hand made and designed in a way that they actually don't need any glue or screws to stay together.
I could not believe the sound I heard and in my opinion smoke many others in that price range, which doubles the price point of this thread at $27k.

Sony makes some of the best hardware on the planet imo, and their ES electronics are also massively underrated.
 
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andromedaaudio

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Okay here we go again , i think there are indeed multiple of these threads .
First magico V3 wilson WP 7 avalon ascendant
 

Kal Rubinson

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Agreed. And I think the Sony is better than the other three
Possibly but it was not optimal in my room. Just a bit dead and airless.........................and, although I mean "just a bit," it was disqualifying. I've heard it sound better elsewhere.
 

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