Advice on buying a used speaker up to 3k

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?board=90.0

A place to start on OB.

I have the corresponding Psss integrated (INT-30A), and I'm with Jazzcourier: the more efficient the better.

I love it, but it's just not that much amp, especially regards the lows; I here respectfully disagree with the many who say the smaller Passes are "more powerful than rated" and mate well with fairly low efficiency speakers.

Two that mine did not mate well with were the Gallo 3.5 (88db) and the Montana EPS2 (92db). They sounded pretty good, but the pairing didn't quite come together. Too bad, because both are very good speakers, and can be had at your pricepoint.

One that did work very well was the Vaughn Zinfandel (98db) an augmented full range design with powered base, which helped a lot. You don't see them much, but they, especially in a not-the-latest permutation, could be had used at your pp. Might be worth emailing Jim at Vaughn.

Btw, the Zins are not headbangers. You didn't state your listening habits, which would be helpful to advisers.

John

Probably hard to give a precise sensitivity cutoff, Freemand, because for various reasons manufacturer's numbers are only a rough guide (For instance, I've seen speaker builders sputtering about rivals overstating their efficiency.) That said, if you can't try the speakers in your room and see, 92 db seems a pretty safe cut off for your Pass. More would be better.

+ 1 with Jazzcourier on waiting in the weeds. :) Partly because the bigger models are a headache to ship, markdowns in the used market can be huge, and with 3k and some patience, you can be looking at 6-8k retail. You might get lucky and get a discounted price on a cash local sale, as I did recently, to come in around 40% retail. PBN Montana is one example of an excellent larger line that sometimes trades way below retail (There's a lovely pair here at 25% retail, but out of your price range, alas.)

And shopping is fun. Happily check the boards for a few months, and pounce if there's a really good deal that interests uou. (The better the deal, the easier the resale, if it doesn't work out.) Shows are also more fun if you are shopping, so you might hit one of those. Think of the shopping as practicing your hobby, not a chore.

A high efficiency line not yet mentioned is Zu. Great guys, nice speakers. They often have good deals on their site. I'm not a stickler for listening before you buy, but in the case of Zu, I'd try to, because they re pretty distinctive.

John

Hi Again! Walter knows a lot, is no nonsense -- and persuasive! I've bought several pieces from him in the past, and always enjoy chatting.

The standard story on OB is that they play best when well into the room, like 5-6'. Prohibitive for me, as I expect they are for many people, for this reason. Too bad, they can get great airy sound.

If you can do OB, you might consider building them. The carpentry can be pretty manageable. You might check audiocircle, which has a lot of OB people, including the highly regarded GR Research.

John

Mapleshade notwithstanding, many speakers (exceptions like Northcreek noted) are designed to play some distance from the walls, and many of us find they sound better that way.

You probably picked up more bass with boundary reinforcement with your KEFs, but you might have lost out with things like soundstage, air, and imaging. If your room or kit is very bass shy it might still sound a net gain to you.

GR Research makes OB speakers and can be found on audiocircle.com, another good audio site with more emphasis on DIY. Trading is free there, so many folks list their stuff there before trying here.

John