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Speakers: $3,000-$4,000 on Audiogon

I am moving to a larger listening room (21 x 14) and am looking into new speakers - to pressurize the room, as I tell my wife ;). My current speakers, B&W CDM 9NT, have always sounded to bright in my previous listening room and are currently not at the same level as the rest of my system (click on the system link to see the components and cabling). Cardas cables and a McIntosh have somewhat tamed to extra energy in treble region.
I am looking for a well rounded speaker that excels in all the important areas (dynamics, frequency extension, detail, musicality). If I had a preference, I would lean towards a warmer/less analytical sound but not to the point of sacrificing detail.

Some speakers which I've had my eye on off the top of my head:
Dynaudio Contour S 3.4
Magenpan 3.6
Von Schweikert VR-4jr
Focal JM-Lab 946 Electra

Open to other suggestions,

Thanks in advance
AdamG
adamg

Showing 6 responses by pubul57

pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Maybe I have not heard these speakers in too long a time, but I'm suprised to see Thiel and B&W mentioned in this context; fine speakers no doubt, but compared to something like a Harbeth, Spendor, or Proac they don't seem to answer the call for warmth - they both always sounded to portray the "detail" side of the spectrum. I would not call the Merlin VSMs, that I own and recommended, warm either, but they do have a great, smooth highend with that Dynaudio Esotar tweeter.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Theil are wonderful speakers, but warm? The Harbeth line (the bigger ones for frequency extension) would fit the bill, or ProAc perhaps.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
You might also wnnt to consider Merlin VSMs which use the Esotar tweeter. The best speaker I have heard, though it is down 2dbs or so at 32Hz - not bad for a two-way.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Vandersteen's are among my favourite speakers, but I don't think they would be described as detailed - which I don't think too much of is such a great thing anyway - they are certainly full range, especially the Quattro. I'm not sure Cardas cabling would be best though - they don't need the relative filtering that "bright" speakers would need. As much as I loved my Vandersteens, the Merlins in my view are significantly more resolved, coherent, detailed, musical, and dynamic. The only area where they may fall short, is in ultimate deep bass slam (32Hz-22Khz +/- 2db) - never a problem for me however in my 12x19 room listening to acoustic music. Oh, and they are practically designed for and with Cardas cabling. While Merlins are typically a tube amp speaker, they are known to work well with Mac, especially with the units with autoformers or whatever ever that MAC transformer is called.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Nothing wrong with a manufacturer or dealer giving their opinion (I welcome them), but it needs to be disclosed - it helps to know how much salt to apply. Which is not to say that Dynaudio's are not fine speakers, or that the 5s are not better than the 3s.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
No problem, and I agree about the Dynaudio 5 versus the 3, worth the step up IMHO.
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