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Best bookshelf speakers

I’m building my first high fi system after being more of a portable audio person. I want to start with the speakers. Space is limited so bookshelf speakers are a must.

Preferences:
Balanced and revealing with a hint of warmth.
Midrange most important to get right over highs and lows
Timbre is super important - I listen mostly to acoustic music especially jazz
But I do need some bass as I also listen to some electronic music
Smaller is better but SQ is most important
A speaker that sounds good with different amps but also scalable with high quality sources
Wide sweet spot - I wont have money for a great amp at first but want them to be scalable for later

These speakers have caught my eyes - any thoughts on them?

Ascend Sierra 2s - Ribbon = dispersion limitations?
BMR Philharmonitor - See above. Also massive.
Buchardt S400/S300 - Wary of the sudden hype train and limited info
Silverline Minuet Grande - Limited info
Reference 3A De Capo - This caught my eye as a potential endgame speaker if I could blow up my budget a little. But concerns about BE tweeter as well as some potential snake oil stuff (cryogenic treatment (!?)), exaggerated sensitivity claims and wonky measurements put me off.

What else should I be looking at?

Edit: I could have sworn I had <$2,000 in the title... Anyway, my budget is 2k.

stuff_jones

Showing 1 response by chrisr

chrisr's avatar
chrisr
541 posts
 
Not sure what your listening space is, but mine has always allowed a 7ft equilateral triangle and sometimes 9ft in my living room.... 
Latest arrival in my 7ft triangle is an old pair of totem hawks,  and this is the best compromise i have ever had, between small size, deep bass, easy placement, relatively easy to drive, dynamics, sweet spot, and  fantastic stage and imaging.  They have been around for about 20 years and they are not cheap.  But i think that they do what an audiophile wants in a small package.
Maybe the totem sky measure up and  more at a lower price point.  There's always the used market.
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