Speaker suggestions under 4k


Well here it is. I sold my Tekton Double Impacts and my Lyngdorf 2170 a while back. I thought it sounded very good! I was getting out of audio and wasn't listening much anymore. Well..... now winter is here, I'm bored and have the itch to get something descent again. 
I like rock/metal/bluegrass/ acoustic/ some country. I need impact and good midbass and low fatigue. I have a Crown DCI 4/300 and a upgraded Jolida Fusion preamp at the moment. Plenty of power for almost anything. 

My biggest pet peeve is cabinets that start talking at high levels or when the sound hardens at high levels. 

Willing to drive up to 300miles 1 way for the right deal and I am in West Mi. A little older does not bother me at all. I've just started looking and a few I've been eying are:
Aerial LR5 or Model 9
Dali MS4
LSA 20 statements (new)
KEF 205/2
Dynaudio Focus 360

Any others anyone feels I should keep an eye out for in this price range? 

Thanks
mofojo

Showing 10 responses by howaboutthat41

Subject to caveat emptor and all of that, if I were in the market actively at this point, I already would have jumped on the Pioneer S-1EX’s on offer through eBay (and perhaps elsewhere).  TAD drivers and beryllium tweeter, high-line Andrew Jones design. I have the smaller and presumably lesser S-4EXs (no beryllium, monitors) mounted atop a pair of JBL PS1400s and will never sell them.   Shipping is the only thing I would have any concerns about.

 I have seen a range of B&W 803s at or below your price point that also would draw my attention, along with a smattering of Harbeths and Spendors.   It is a rather seemingly obscure model, but for a good price — $720.00 — offset by a potentially longish drive, I might check out the Spendor S9s available in Minnesota or Wisconsin (as I recall) Then, I would grab the Spendor center channel offered on eBay or one of the audio sites listed at a starting bid of $499.00.   
If your ceiling (amplitude?) goes up a bit, the Joseph Pulsars listed somewhere for $6,000.00 (perhaps put in a sensible offer) look beautiful.  The Pioneers would be my first pursuit, all things considered, but there are a lot of amazing speakers out there right now in your pricing realm.  
Certainly — I hope that they meet (and exceed) your expectations. Take time to dial them in by way of positioning, which is invited with all speakers but perhaps moreso for those with concentric drivers.  Most top flight speakers are reviewed as punching well above their price points (to the point that notion is rather hackneyed) but if Pioneer simply marketed these as TAD speakers I believe they would have commanded prices and notoriety in line with Revel’s Ultima 2 line.  And I am a Revel fan (and owner) going back to the Madrigal days.  
I saw an ATI multi-channel amp listed (along with PSA, Conrad-Johnson, and a host of others around or below that price range -- you can always make an offer below the asking price, and see what happens) on one of the sites.  The ATI might have fan cooling, if that matters to you.  I have two such amps (one is a two-channel, the other, seven), and they push clean power and plenty of it.  I subscribe to the school of thought ("power school"?) that an amp exists merely to provide sufficient (or more) wattage.  The source, preamps, DACs, and speakers should handle the signal processing.   <end of my preaching>

ATI long has made the amps for JBL Synthesis, which not only are generally high-priced, sophisticated systems, but typically are installed in environments that demand reliability and dependability (six-figure systems owned by impatient people).  
Seems like that Usher would work well — should send around 200 watts to a 6-ohm load.   The S-1EX Stereophile review from 2007 (Kalman Rubinson) might provide insights on placement, load, and the like.