Best bass response in a $1500 pair monitor?

nOrh mini 9.0's at $1500 on the button. The ScanSpeak Revelator woofer is considered by many to have the best midbass going. You can save a couple hundred by buying the "kit" (cabinets with XO's installed) and sourcing the drivers from Madisound, which is what I did. Just be sure to wire the tweeter in reverse polarity!

I upgraded mine by having Jim Salk build the Murphy crossover with literally *the* best parts going, and it took the speaker to a whole new level. You might also consider some "startup" manufacturers such as Rick Craig's Selah Audio or Jim Salk's Salk Sound product. Rick just did a custom job with the 7" Revelator woofer and a nice ribbon tweeter that is going for $1295. Since you're adding a sub later, and this speaker is -3@45Hz and -10@34Hz, you might consider going with a sealed enclosure, which shaves $50 off the price.

Selah Audio's site is: www.selahaudio.com
Jim Salk is at: www.salksound.com

Both these guys can build you just about anything you want, and are very reasonable in their pricing.

Good luck!
Howard

I'm always trying to figure out how companies like Salk compare to bigger names. They claim that their speakers are comparable to ones that cost twice as much, or more. Are these as high quality as B&W 800 series? I'm just trying to find a baseline in terms of what these are supposed to be competing with.

I can't speak for the manufacturers, but I think the general premise is that there's no middle-man markup involved in direct sales. Also, in the case of the guys I mentioned, there's no overhead; they build as they get the orders. The down side is you have to wait while your speaker is built. Don't know about Rick Craig, but Jim Salk has a waiting list, and I believe it takes about 90 days from the time you order to the speakers' arrival.

>Are these as high quality as B&W 800 series<
I wouldn't use the 800 series as my standard. Thankfully most good speaker manufacturers don't.

OOf. I missed the B&W question. I'm glad I did. Let's just say I agree with Judy so I don't offend anyone. :)

i had jim build me some 9.0 with dennis murphy crossovers in ebony mbow boxes that are absolutely stunning. i have to laugh at anyone who would go elsewhere for the money. they easily compete with my focus audio 688s.

How about Definitive Technology's ProMonitor 900? Its a powered monitor, and believe me it has serious bass respones.

Heh, Heh; here's my chance...I get absolutely fabulous bass out of my set-up. AR Complete amp, older rotel CDP 855, Soliloquy 5.0 monitors, Mapleshade speaker cables and a Transparent Audio Link 100 interconnect.
I've been playing around ALOT with speaker cables and interconnects. With several Transparent IC's that I tried, I consistently get powerful, percussive and defined deep bass (no sub needed). Mapleshade is the punchyest, but I get great bass with many different speaker cables.
The monitors are on 24 inch stands and sit on #2 vibrapods. All the bass energy gets out into the room, especially vibrant at lower volumes.