Speaker suggestions:long-wall, somewhat nearfield.


I sit 7-feet from the front of the speakers, and leave
about 2 or 2.5 feet from the back of the speaker to the wall behind them. There is tons of room to the sides.

I want to avoid piercing highs, boomy-loose bass,
grainy etched vocals,
or too-forward/ringing mids; (basically anything that
would have me recoiling from the sound or causing listening
fatigue, with classical or lesser-quality rock/pop CDs.)

Repeating my main priority: don't want fatigue, even at the
expense of other audiophile goodies.

Wilson Watt Puppy sixes used to be here but vocals were
dry and scratchy and so were strings. Aerial 10Ts were here
and worked pretty well but the bass was a little one-note,
but I could have lived with them long term (they were forgiving on even the worst CDs). Piega P10s had pushy upper bass and lower mids (any bell-like sound gave me a headache). Apogee Stages were pretty wonderful but the woofers broke and couldn't be repaired.

Thinking: Harbeth, SP Tech, Vandersteen 5As, Quad 2805s
but I am open to anything. Budget: under $11K, new or used.

Upstream: Edge NL12.1 amp, Mac C46 pre, EMM SE cdp,
Stealth Indra ICs, Cardas Golden Ref speaker cable.

Thanks again to anyone out there for your kind assistance.
rgs92

Showing 8 responses by rgs92

The room is about 20 by 10 feet, with the speakers on the long wall. That long wall has doorway to a small room on the
right (usually open) and another larger opening on the left
to a hallway.

|-Hallway----------LEFTSPKR------------RIGHTSPKR----DOOR--|
[20 feet wall to wall]

D
O
O
R
Lapierre-Thanks!
No, the EMM has not been updated (and still has the old Phillips xport. Thanks for the new ideas. I will do some research. So you prefer the SF Cremona to the Guenari?
Does the Harbeth RM40 have too much bass?
Would the SHL5 be a better choice? Thanks again
for your comments.
I read that the RM30s has some bass issues. Could you
describe the bass? Is it tuneful, integrated and satisfying?
I don't need really deep bass, just high quality bass.
Thanks!
Hey guys, thanks yet again. Thanks for confirming my
interest in the SHL5. You say "not the M40" Lapierre--
is that because of the bass that might overwhelm things?
And Jig-I just read the av123 review on SoundStage,
and it sure does look interesting. No, no price is too low.
I know that there are a zillion exceptions to the price=quality equation in audiophilia. (I still think back to
Dynaco A25s I got new for $160/pair, and the new Apogee Stages
I got for $2500/pair, all from dealers.) In fact, my target price is more like $5K if I can get away with it and be happy
(tired of all this speaker swapping).
Marty, thanks!
Is the Peak C.E.'s bass well controlled and friendly?
Thanks again.
Well, the rear wall is a large window covered by light curtains. Thanks for the help.
Oh, that one-note or disconnected coming-right-from-the-woofer bass syndrome is pretty common to my ears at audio shows
and dealers in my experience,even with megabuck speakers.