Loudspeakers that match well w/Bryston B-60?


I'm looking for a floorstanding loudspeakers that would match up well w/my Bryston B-60r. My listening room has catheral ceilings and I listen at a distance of 10' to mostly jazz/classical/easylistening country/folk/rock. The
midrange is most critical. Budget is under $2500. The Theil
.5/ Snell QB-x25/Pro Ac Studio 125 interests me because of price/size/and availables finishes, but, I'm open-minded to any and all
suggestions. Also, what loudspeaker cable could you recommend that would compliment speaker w/amp? Thanks. Bill
128x128kotta

Showing 4 responses by kotta

Thank-you for all your responses. I was hoping to spend in the +/- $1500 for speakers and upgrade my speaker cables.
The other components of my modest system I'm pleased with.
(Creek Tuner, Cal Icon Mk2, MMF-5 tt, VDH interconnects.)
I was planning on auditioning the Thiel 1.6 in the near future. I've spoke with Thiel about the .5 and the the 1.6
and they seemed very enthusiast about 1.6. I sensed they felt the 1.6 would be a better match w/the Bryston. Unfortunately there are no nearby dealers for the Snell, so
I'm not sure how I could audition their speakers. (I have an older Snell J-4 hooked up at my mother's house which sounds glorious with Jolida hybrid/int. amp. Her family room is much better acoustically than my listening room. The same
system in my house doesn't sound nearly as good! There is a nearby dealer which has the Spendor line. I'll let you know how things develop. Once again Thanks, Bill.
Final post on where things stand. Sold the Bryston. I found it to be of very high quality, but, I did not find the int. amp to be all that musical/magical, especially considering the $$$. (I probably never found the right combination.) Found a mint/flawless used pair of Snell E/III's in walnut and I'm totally satisfied. I've liked Snell's for many years (have the J/IV's in another system) and these are keepers for life. The JM Labs 707 were sold as well. I'm using a small Jolida 102b int. amp w/ the Snell E/III's and they sound very nice together. The Jolida's input tubes (2)-12AT-7's/(1)12-AX-7 were replaced w/ Telefunken's and the stock power cord was replaced w/ one of Ernie's (Subaruguru)Belden PC. Huge improvement. The Snell's even sound excellent w/the Marantz PM-57 int. amp. I bought used recently. One last change, the spk. wires were changed from the Kimber 8TC to Cardas Quadlink 5-C's. Another major improvement. Thanks for all your comments. Bill
Thank-you once again for all your sound advise. I've reached the point where I'm focusing in the direction I'll
be heading. As far as speakers, the choices are Spendor 2/3,
1/2e, Theil .5(Up for auction at the moment), Vienna Acoustics Bach. I believe a warm sounding speaker is needed to match-up with the Bryston. I agree with Karls that high impedance/sensitivity are req. I also feel that Maggies would not be the best match with this int. amp. (I tried out
a pair of MMG's a few years back and if memory serves me well they were somewhat power hungry. Fine loudspeakers though they did not suit my tastes. Finally settled for B&W
DM 640's.) Charles, I agree that the Vandersteen 1C/2Ce would be a good match. I'm hoping to match the decor of my
oak stereo/tv stand and therefor the speaker finish is important. One final thought, I've not ruled out the possibility that the Bryston will no longer be in the equation. I might just trade-in towards a pair of Spendor
1/2e's and use an inexpensive 50w NAD 320 BEE int. amp for the time being till I find a really great amp to drive them.
As I mentioned earlier, there is an auction for the Thiel .5
which I might bid on. Its very difficult deciding without having the opportunity for an in-home trial. Hopefully I'll
be able to raise a few funds with my ads in Audiogon to make
this all possible. Once Again... Thanks. Bill
Just wanted to follow-up and let you know where things stand. I was using very ineffecient loudspeakers w/my Bryson B-60r and I was not pleased. I was thinking that the amp was not musical enough for my tastes. I always wanted to try tubes so I went ahead and bought an EL-84 based Jolida Jd-102b int. amp. For $580 what a wonderful amp. My dealer recommended a give a listen to JM Lab Chorus 707 spkrs. which are 91.5db sensitive. He ordered a pair and I auditioned in my system for a week without any pressure to buy if I didn't like. Sounded very nice w/the Jolida. Decided to buy. Boxed up the Bryston and was deciding to sell or keep. Being curious, tried the Bryston out w/the JM
Lab 707. Wow! Sounded absolutely great. Better bottom end and the midrange was smoother compared to the Jolida. (To be fair the Jolida probably is not fully broken and stock tubes haven't been upgraded.) What a fine combination, the Bryston/JM Lab Chorus 707. Don't feel I need to upgrade for a while. Kimber 8TC bi-wired bare wire is being used as spk wire. Funny, the Bryston is running much cooler now and it sounds very fine indeed. I'll most likely upgrade in the future and buy spks. at a higher level than what I was planning on now, but, that's down the road. In the mean time will buy more records/CD's and relax listening to music. Thank-you all for your insightful comments. Appreciate it very much. Happy Holidays! Bill