Best bookshelf speakers

Both the Spica TC-50 and Celestion SL700 are small vintage standmounts that you should consider.

@stuff_jones

You heard what I did with the Hawks. The tweeter is a touch bright. However, what I did like is that at low and moderate volume you still get a lot of detail. Tubes helped a bit, but I'd still have to turn the volume down a bit on certain material. Overall, great speakers though and a ton of great sound for their footprint and price (when used). 

stuff_jones

A few thoughts....about everything that has been said so far

1.  you should consider all of the speakers that have been suggested as "candidates" for you to audition at home...just because it sounds good in someone else's home with their equipment does not assure you that you will love it in your home.

2.  If you have to spend a few shipping dollars to audition at home, in the end it will be worth it

3.  Most likely, you will get the upgrade bug down the road...so don't buy a speaker that will be hard to resell unless you try something and it is just so good you have to have it and don't care about resale.

4.  If you know what you want, there is nothing wrong with the resale market...buying preowned will save you 30% or so after shipment

5.  The internet direct situation is much like craft beers....20 years ago, the craft beer guys forced the big brands to offer better tasting products.  The ID guys like Fritz, Zu, Tekton, Philharmonic, Salk...to name a few have done the same to the big guys like KEF, Quad, etc.  Just because speakers measure well doesn't mean they will sound great in your room...and just because the ID guys don't have the best measuring equipment doesn't mean that they can't make great sounding speakers.  So far, the ear is the best tool....and each speaker company voices their speaker to their way of hearing/thinking what music sounds like.

6.  If you have a big room...and bass matters, don't dismiss the idea that you could get better overall sound spending $1500 on speakers and $500 on a decent sub from one of the ID companies.

Let us know what all you try and what you ended up with.

Anti-climactic conclusion (for now).

I’ve spent way too much time researching gear. I was already struggling with setting a budget and feeling like if I just upped my budget a little I’d get to a higher level of sound quality that I could be content with. But then I would back down feeling guilty that I would be spending too much. I could imagine this iterating the rest of my life until eventually I had tens of thousands of dollars in my gear through a never ending cycle of this is amazing! elation/there’s x imperfection in my system, how can I upgrade? discontent.

I don’t want to go down that wormhole.

So I’ve ordered the new Vanatoo Transparent One Encores. I’ll probably add the RSL Speedwoofer 10s to fill out the sound.

I’ve got the Transparent Zeros on my desk and they sound really good and balanced, especially for the money. So good that I also bought a pair for my mom. Here’s a review: http://noaudiophile.com/Vanatoo_Transparent_Zero/.

So I thought I’d get the big brother to them and enjoy the music without thinking too much about gear and my wallet.

Sorry to all those spending time advising me. Hopefully someone else will benefit.

Hello folks,
I was an EE in my previous life. Built amps and my own speakers a few times. Less hassle to purchase one as I got older.
Needed small form factor speakers in our kitchen / eating / family area and I got Ascent Acoustics Sierra-2 (RAAL). Just simply great. Does not go low enough and I don’t want to use a sub. The Ascends are wonderful just don’t go low enough - that is all.

PS - I simply want to hear what is recorded, good or bad. Mostly good.

Met with Jim Salk and Dennis Murphy and listened too the BMR and also the Philharmonic-3 at Dennis’s home. Wow !! to both is all I can say.

I will be receiving my BMRs from Dennis Murphy with custom Salk cabinets soon. They go quite low. My cousin who came with me, ordered a pair of the Philharmonic-3s (replacing Legacy Audio Whispers).

Digital source is an Oppo 203 with a routine Sony amp. Analog source is a Technics SL1210 (vintage) with Ortofon Red and a Musical Fidelity A308 as a phono preamp.