Ascend Acoustics Sierra 2 EX. Absolutely wonderful and the EX version has solid bottom end. Even better is the BMR Philharmonitors, but size may disqualify them. They’re even better than the Sierras, and that’s saying a LOT. If you can afford them, Dynaudio Heritage Specials. Prolly have to spend $5500 for used, but resale value is assured.
Advice for bookshelf speakers
It is time for me to consider getting some new speakers and I'd like some advice. This is a secondary system where I watch movies the majority of the time but I still like the speakers to sound good on those occasions when I listen to music. I need to replace my left, center and right. The speakers I am replacing are KEF XQ1s and an XQ2C. I can live with just a left and right if the manufacturer does not make a center channel. These will be driven by an AVR, not separates and will have a sub to pick up the lower frequencies. I have some WAF dimensions that need to be adhered to: 9"-10" from the back wall, no taller than 17" and the left and right tweeters will be 55" apart. I would prefer there not to be a precise sweet spot since we sit in various areas on the oversize couch facing the speakers. I'm not really too hung up on budget. Somewhere between $2-4K total would be where I would like to be.
Given the above, I was thinking about sealed or front vented. I don't think rear vented would be good for this situation but I could be wrong. I have only done internet viewing and no listening. I have looked at Salk's website and have also thought about ATC and ProAc. I've also looked at Ascend (too narrow of a sweet spot?), Fritz (rear vent), Watkins Generation 4 (are these vented?) and others and just wanted to bounce it off this group. Thanks in advance.
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Can't help with any real-world suggestions (neither of my favorite 2-ways would work well with an AVR) ... but I totally agree w/OP's comment about sealed/acoustic suspension possibly being better close to a wall. My home office system is space constrained, with ~12" between the back of the speakers and a front wall + picture window. Sealed speakers are affected less by proximity effects than ported ones (have had multiple examples of both here). So my vote is for sealed, not ported speakers. |
JBL 4425 speakers, wide sweet spot. Mike https://www.lansingheritage.org/html/jbl/specs/pro-speakers/1985-4425.htm |
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