Big Stupid Warm Speakers


I'm getting ready for a speaker change. I've owned B&W 804 matrix speakers for about 12 years now. While I've enjoyed the refinement of them there's always been something missing.

Yes that's right, and that something might be BIG STUPID WOOFERS. Some of my favorite speakers ever were a pair of Infinity's I paid $300 for in 1979. They had 15 inch woofers, tweeters that were harsh and not the greatest, but these things roared like an angry lion even when no music was playing. When it was playing, about anything from Oingo Boingo to Mozart was a visceral experience.

Now with upper end speakers, you don't know there's bass until there's supposed to be, the tweeters are refined and realistic sounding, there's some wonderful imaging etc. But it's somehow too polite - I want to get back some of the warmth from the big woofer days. And no, using a sub isn't the same thing.

I remember being in a high end store about 10 years ago when a Polk Rep was there showing this huge new Polk speaker that was just incredible sounding. Big warm, realistic, detailed -awesome. I asked the store owner when he'd be getting them. He rolled his eyes and said, "Our customers are too discriminating for this type of speaker. The bottom end was way out of control."

So maybe I want out of control instead of polite. Can anyone put me in the direction of some BIG STUPID WARM SPEAKERS that still have some refined and high end attributes? The rest of my system is all Cary HT that retails for around $10K.

Cary Cinema 6 Preamp Processor
Cary Cinema 5 Multichannel amp (200 WPC)
Cary Cinema DVD 6 (incredible with CD's)

Even though the system is HT, the electronics do very well with music. And even the they're Cary components, they're solid state - but easy on the ears. I listen to Classical, Jazz, Electronic, Bluegrass, etc.
Oh yeah, and looking to spend under $3K/pair.

Has anyone else gone through this? Any speaker recommendations? Thanks.
larryb
I know JBL speakers are not up to Hi-Fi tesk in these days but you might just want to check out their Northrige series-E100. It uses dual 10" driver. Best Buy carry them.
Last year JBL had Studio series which had 12" driver You might find them in internet stores who might carry them left over stocks. I have heared them both. E100 sounded better between the two. I ended up getting Dynaudio 52s with Sub. Well good luck finding your pairs.
While they're not "high-end," you might try Definitive Technology. If you want tons of "big-woofer" bass, they certainly deliver. Great for HT duty too.
I would definitely recommend the big JBL floorstanders. If you want big, warm sound, nothing beats a good JBL floorstander. Plus they are as cheap as big speakers go for nowadays (by audiophile standards). Check them out at your local Best buy.
I have a pair of Legacy Focus 20/20's. They have great base and I do not run a sub. I like my base realistic. I know there are many who say, "what no sub for LFE!". You really must here these, I am a 2ch person that wants hi end sound from my home theater. I think they fit the bill. they go for about $7K a pair.

Good luck, hunting for audio gear is lots of fun. Listen to many before making a call.

nick
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