Speaker choices, $1000-2000 Smooth & Musical

No question, you must add the Audes Blues to this list. You can get them new for $2200 or $2K. Used for $1200 or something.

I own these myself and absolutely love them. A steal. Honest to goodness.

Vandersteen 2ce sigs are smooth, musical, full range and have a very coherent presentation of all frequencies. These definitely should be on your list as mentioned above. Forgiving yet transparent and can be used with inexpensive electronics but will continually rise to the occasion with as much as you are willing to spend. Others are better in given areas but I haven't heard ONE speaker better across the board in this price range. An excellent value.

>I am interested in full range or near full range sound that is smooth and musical. I am not interested in anything overly analytical but would like a certain measure of transparency and detail.

Paradigms are not that smooth. Not to a person who likes what Proac does.

The 1.6 QR and the LFT VIIIa are very demanding. While I like them both, let's just say it could be easy for either of them to sound not smooth at all.

Smooth and musical to me means Vandy or Reynaud. If might be a question mark whether they have enough detail for you...I love them. Proacs I've heard were a bit too precious for my American tastes.

can't believe none of the responses so far has failed to mention the magnepan 1.6 speaker.hands down the best speaker in that price range. it deserves an audition at the least.

I like Bigkidz recommendation of Alon II or IV. They are definitely smooth & musical.
The other one that shocks me as to have not been mentioned here so far is the Vandersteen. The 2CE and predecessors are the #1 selling high end speaker of all, from what I've read. Something like 50k pairs have been sold. You could probably find their 3A below $2k used. They aren't perfect, but given your priorities, you owe it to yourself to hear them. They also hold their value well, and are easy to sell if you ever decide to go in another direction. Cheers,
Spencer

If you're considering the ProAc Response 1.5s and Studio 250s, also think about the D15s which replaced the 1.5s. I see some pop up now and then for under $2K.

I second the tyler selection, his ref monitors or linbrook are very effecient and musical. Call him and see if he will arrange to ship you a pair to demo in your own home.
another option is Silverline audio(Sonatina-Panatella) I own all of these speakers and can attest to their smooth and musical nature

I second the Paradigm 100 recommendation. But I also have to add the new kid on the block, the Gallo Ref 3s. They are ASTONISHINGLY good speakers and I recently saw a pair on Audiogon for $2k. I'd buy them in a heartbeat if I had the bucks...

-RW-

Given your stated criteria, you should also audition the Vandersteen 2Ce Signatures (new), or the Vandy 3A's (used).

SEAS Thor kit from Madisound, Eminent Technology LFT-VIIIa with Sound Anchor stands, Magnepan MG-1.6 with MyeSound stands, and Vandersteen 2CE Signature.None of these need subwoofers for most music. The Thor is a darkhorse because it is a kit, but it uses much better drivers than most speakers in this price range and is incredibly neutral. The ET and Maggie produce huge soundstages and serve nearly all music well. The Vandersteen is well balanced and reasonably neutral. Good luck!

Semething to consider is the Linn Ninkas. They are 2k new, used they seem to be fairly rare, but you might get lucky. Very smooth and easy to listen to - very good for the money. They respond really well to bi-wiring/bi-amping; even with non-linn amplifiers - and I'm told if you go all Linn you can get some real magic out of these low-priced wonders.

I use them in two of my systems; purchased as a cost compromise initially - but here I am a year and a half later, with the same speakers. One of these days I'll upgrade one of the rooms, I'm sure - but I use two Ninkas, two Katans and an Ekwal center channel for my theater; and for well under 6k with a B&W ASW800 subwoofer I have a killer theater that would cost many, many times more money to drastically improve upon. Not to mention that these speakers are still fairly small - and NOT ported, which makes placement in my small theater room much easier.

Happy hunting - I think we are incredibly lucky to be able to plunk down 2k or less and have such a magnificent selection of fine speakers available to us.

Just wanted to add that the price bracket would be for used speakers. Thanks

Paradigm Studio 100s. Excellent speakers. Hard to beat in this price range.

Used pairs of Alon II, IV or Vs.

Happy Listening.

Add Tyler Linbrook Monitors to your list - they are very smooth and musical, yet are quite detailed. A pleasure to listen to..........

once again, i must push the bastanis prometheus open baffles. about 1600$, you build (VERY easy).

very open, smooth and musical. I have not heard proac 1.5, but i like the bastanis alot more that the 2.5, which i have heard.

i am going to keep pushing these speakers until someone buys them and feeds back to me, thanking me and telling me how great they are.

if you look at the new stereophile, they gave these speakers 2nd best sound of show for the recent RMAF in Denver, which i attended. my opinion of stereophile has been raised accordingly. They CANNOT be accused of just shilling for large manufacturers who advertise with them. Kudos to sterophile for recognizing some of the small players.

i disavow any relationship to the mfg. whatsoever.