Multipurpose floorstander speaker

listen to the kef q65.3 or any of the reference range.

On the used market I'd look for something like a Soliloquy 5.3 or a Silverline Panatella, both of which will put out enough bass to do justice to rock(and home theater) but also hi-fi enough to handle intricate jazz recordings(and neither requires a lot of power to sound great).

If you're looking new I've been hearing great things about Axiom speakers, and I think the floorstanding 80s will fit your budget(see Soundstage! review of the smaller 30s for reference). The bad news is you can't demo them before you buy them, but the good news is I think you can return them in 30 days if they don't work for you. With nothing to lose they're probably at least worth a shot if they work for you aesthetically. Best of luck.

Tim

there's currently a pair of thiel 3.5's & 3.0's adwertized here on a-gon, asking $900 & $750 respectively. hard to come close to real 20hz-20khz full-range sound w/the soundstaging of these guys at anywhere near the price, imo... but, they *wood* benefit from a bit larger room. strategic sound-dampening at 1st-reflection-points wood help greatly here...

doug s.

I am not familiar with the Castle 7SE, can you describe its sound and also what you would like to change about it? I am familiar with some of the other Castle models though.

You might checkout the PSB Stratus Bronze or one of the floorstanders in their Image Series -- www.psbspeakers.com. They are often listed on Audiogon and eBay at discount or as B-Stock.