Hi Aqua, as a fellow DC audiophile, I thought I'd chime in on some of the local dealers. My favorite audio shops in the DC area are Deja Vu, which has already been mentioned; Sound Images on Rt. 50 in Falls Church; and Gifted Listener Audio in Centreville, VA (out Rt 66). You can bring music and listen to your heart's content at any of these stores; ask for Randy at Sound Images, he's the best informed of their sales staff in my opinion. At Deja Vu, you will listen to amps, speakers and CD players from mfrs you may never have heard of, but the music played in that shop is incredibly beautiful no matter how much you can afford to spend. Vu has some gorgeous yet very reasonably priced integrated amps and CD players from an Italian company (I think called Synthesis) that I found astonishing esp given the price. I was listening to small ProAcs with a small Synthesis integrated amp that cost $1300 new, plus a small Synthesis CD player that looked exquisite and sounded the same. Sound Images has Harbeths now and lots of JM Labs, PSB and other brands. Gifted Listener is a big Linn dealer but he also carries other brands like Thiel, Magnapan, Piega, Vienna Acoustics, Ayre and others. If you are creating a new system, it really pays to work with a dealer where you can put it all together and hear it all in one place.
Top 5 Entry-level audiophile speakers $1500-2000?
Newbie looking to get some decent stereo speakers less than 2k. Prefer recommendations for speakers that are available to audition locally in DC area. Initially would be stereo, w/ upgrade to 5.1 at later date. First priority is music, then movies.
Have in mind: paradigm studio 60, 100, b+w, dynaudio, Dali brands, etc. Prefer something not too harsh on the ears. Need to sound good at low to medium volumes. I have a smallish room and do not tolerate extremely loud playing. Anyone could please shed some light on the best quality speakers in this price range I should look at. I would appreciate it, as I am very confused with the ammount of choice. Would be paring it with SACD player in the future.
Best
Aqua
Have in mind: paradigm studio 60, 100, b+w, dynaudio, Dali brands, etc. Prefer something not too harsh on the ears. Need to sound good at low to medium volumes. I have a smallish room and do not tolerate extremely loud playing. Anyone could please shed some light on the best quality speakers in this price range I should look at. I would appreciate it, as I am very confused with the ammount of choice. Would be paring it with SACD player in the future.
Best
Aqua