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Speakers in the range of $3 to $4.5k per pair?

Upgraditis is setting in, and I'm looking at first replacing my loudspeakers. I'm putting together my first list of candidates which will be narrowed down in the next weeks to 5-10 candidates I will want to audition. What's your recommendation for speakers in the range of $3000 to $4500 per pair (prices in the US), for stereo use?

My current system is a Rotel CD player (RCD-1072), pre-amp (RC-1070), and 200 Wpc amp (RMB-1080), connected to B&W CM-4 (2.5 way floorstanders, recently discontinued; CM line is between the 600 and 700 lines). Having B&W and knowing a dealer, my starting point are the B&W 804 Signature, which I can get for $3000 (MSRP is $4000). Having said that, I want to consider other options as well. My new speakers will have to work well with the Rotel setup for a good 2 years. My next step is likely to be in replacing the pre-amp and then amp, and my guess is I will stick with solid state.

Looking forward to your suggestions.

Horacio
lewinskih01

Showing 1 response by gene888

gene888
8 posts
 
B&W owners rarely like Vandersteens. B&W's (at least from my limited experience) have a much brighter and detailed sound, whereas the Vandys are more subdued and laid back. They are nearly polar opposites on the speaker continuum IMHO.

As Bigkidz pointed out, you didn't say what you did or did not like about your B&W's. If you like your B&W's, I don't think you'll like the Vandersteens. If you find your B&W's to be fatiguing, then give the Vandys a shot. If you find these to be too laid back, try Focal-JMLabs, Spendor S8e or Audio Physic Tempo.

In all honesty, I think people spend way too much on speakers and not nearly enough for amplification. If you generally like the sound of your B&W's you may be surprised to find out how much *more* you'll like them with the right amp/pre-amp. With $4K, you can get quite a big boost in quality if you buy used. Just my $.02.
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