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Advice about warm, gentle speakers...


Help. I need to use a home theater system for 2 channel music. The system is based on a mid-level Denon DVD player and a Denon receiver and right now the ONLY variable I can change is the brand of front left and right speakers (presently Paradigm Titans). I would like to get something that can soften the digital glare (besides turning down the treble!). The speakers need to be either monitors or small floor standers and I am aiming for a price less than $4,000 new or used. Finally, I am not in a location where I can audition different brands so I hope to narrow it down to a few choices for in-home trials. I listen to all types of music but not louder than about 80-85 db. From reviewing the forums it appears that more “serene” brands include Green Mountain, Spendor, Sonus Faber and Vienna Acoustics. I really appreciate any input on this—thanks in advance for the advice.
aitchnu
drseid
201 posts
 
I have heard most of the speaker brands you are looking at and I think you are on the right track... I have specifically heard both speakers from Vienna and SF on a Denon 3805 and I had very different results... The SF Grand Piano Homes (the model line before SF switched to the new Domus lines) surprisingly sounded *very* good with the Denon, and I can easily recommend that combo. The VAs by contrast (I think the model was Mozart) sounded lifeless and dull... definitely a bad combo to my ears at least.

As for Spendor and GMA, I love both brands, and highly recommend them (the Spendor 3/1Ps and GMA Callistos are particular favorites of mine). That said, I heard them both powered by high-end tube amps, so I don't know how they would fare with a Denon receiver.

---Dave
undertow
1,033 posts
 
I posted this yesterday 6-19-2006 and it never came up on your thread, very weird... But anyway POLK is the best match for Denon amplification, and some of the best polks made, which you can look up on this board and audioreview.com etc... are the current model LSi15, suppose to be very smooth and warm, with great sound.. and are considered to be even better than the bigger LSi25, Can be had for way less than 4000.00 as well :) Good luck...

-- I have a newer denon receiver 3805 for a 7 channel surround in addition to my 2 channel system, have some older polks on it, excellent match, always sound good... And the good thing is you should be able to find a pair local for audition and see what you think in the first place, give em' a shot trust me, they will mix better than the paradigm in my experience.
jihley
74 posts
 
try to listen to the Quad "L" series (at least the 12L or the 21L) To my ears, using a new rotel receiver, they are full sounding and laid back but detailed and have never uttered a discouraging word. The fit and finish are well above the price too. Milo
aitchnu OP
21 posts
 
Thanks to everyone for the excellent advice. I appreciate the thoughts on changing speaker position, room acoustics and electronics but my problem is that I cannot mess with any of these variables—I can only change the speakers (It’s a long story--I used up my family’s tolerance for audio craziness with my main rig that includes tube equipment and full range electrostatics. If I started cluttering up the household home theater with audiophile stuff I would be exiled--my only option is to fiddle with the main speakers to try and tame the sound). I will definitely look into the various suggestions--I am very intrigued by the recommendations for the Polk and SF brands as well as the others.

Thanks again to all for taking the time to reply to my question and thanks to Audiogon for providing such a great resource!
dodgealum
1,398 posts
 
The other brand that comes to mind is Vandersteen. Not sure if they will work within your space constraints, however.
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