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Speakers in 10-15K price range for Classical music

Well I am in the market for speakers. My music choice is primarily classical and then a little bit of everything else such as jazz and soft/alternate rock. I started with a budget of 5-7K and auditioned Maggie 3.6, Quad 989, Spendor S8e and so on, but quickly realized I couldn’t get what I was looking for in these speakers. They all did pretty well on solo or few instruments but could not nearly reproduce a symphony (Mahler’s fifth, or Tchaikovsky’s sixth or Schubert’s ninth) with any authenticity. This was about a year ago. Since then I had stretched my budget and am now looking for speakers in the 10-15K price range.

Now here’s the challenge. I didn’t like the Thiel, B&W or Wilson sound. I had liked Maggie 20.1 in the past, but can’t find any dealer nearby that carries them for an audition. Heard the Vandersteen 5a for about 10 mins and they are pretty convincing, but I need a proper audition and then it’s still beyond my price range. Now my question is what other speakers I can look at for the kind of music I like?

Thanks much in advance, for your help.

Oh, my system is Krell SACD and 400xi Integrated Amp. Will upgrade the amp eventually, but will need to wait for another year at least :)
neal1502
layman
34 posts
 
Forgot to mention that the Dynaudios (with the right amp) can be convincing. They have the ability to recreate realistic instrumental timbre but need the finest sources (the best digital or analog sources) to achieve this.

I prefer the newer models with trapezoidal cabinets to the older models with standard cabinets (which sound significantly boxier).

Dynaudio models cannot be bi-amped but I would almost be tempted to do this, as they typically use an 8-ohm tweeter and 4-ohm bass/mid unit. The tweeters sound delicate and refined connected to the 8-ohm taps of a tube amp but the bass-mid unit needs to be connected to the 4-ohm taps to sound balanced (damped and controlled). A very refined solid-state amp will also do the trick (without having to re-do the crossover).
4musica44107
520 posts
 
Layman:

I have found the Devore Fidelity Silverbacks and the Verity Fidelio Encores to be excellent at their respective price points for classical music. I feel the Silverbacks are actually a little better than the FEs for large scale orchestral works, but overall I preferred and purchased the less expensive FEs.

And of course the Verity Sarastros are just incredible for large scale orchestral music but too large and expensive for me. My friend and dealer (Don Better of Don Better Audio) told me that when his Cleveland Orchestra friends come over to listen to classical music, they all prefer to listen to it on the Sarastros. And Don has a lot of great speakers to choose from.
classical1
168 posts
 
09-17-09: Macdadtexas said:

I think if you upgraded your amp first, and tried the Spendor or Maggie 3.6's again you would find them much different. Your integrated does not have the power to really open up either of those speakers."
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I couldn't agree more! In your original post you were looking at speakers in the 5-7 K range Before you double or triple your original budget on speakers I'd consider what a better integrated or separates might do with the Spendors or Quads..

just my 2 cents, but it might save you a lot of money:)

cajunpepe
255 posts
 
You can get a 10/10 new pair of JM Lab Alto Utopias here on Agon for $11k or $12k. they were running $23k last year before they were updated to the new line. Some are new from large volume dealers as they are getting rid of the old stock to place the new Utopia III line. This speaker does many things well and has a huge dynamic range. I drive mine with 500 watt monos and am not looking to replace any time soon(that is unless I get a fantastic deal on the next level up Nova Utopias!!).
Enjoy the hunt!
Pepe
neal1502 OP
11 posts
 
Thanks much Layman, 4musica44107, Classical1 and Cajunpepe. Really appreciate the suggestions. Now I have a big list of speakers that I need to check out.

@ Classical1 - I haven't tried the Quad and Spendor at home, rather at the dealers who had much better electronics than mine.

I'll post my experience as I go along.
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