I'd second the KEF R3. Great sound, and huge soundstage (my thing) plus decent bass. I'm not a sub type of guy, just listen to music and the KEF R's are on my current short list. Check A4L for fantastic refurb prices (and some new). I'm also a huge fan of Revel, but have heard some people saying they've had problems with placement and bass. YMMV.
The Elac Adante AS-61 (mentioned above) is enormous. Plus, Jones himself said it was designed for a sub. Even the floor stander (beyond enormous) drops right at 50Hz. . I had that one on my short-short list until I learned more. Some people are ecstatic about it. They can be had on sale as they're discontinued, but I'd proceed with caution on that one
Other brands to check based on your headphone choice:
All but the Dynaudio are available direct from the manufacturer, and I think a lot of bang for the buck. Plus, if you like hip hop, the Buchardt and Fritz, like the KEF's, dig deep. Buchardt has a pretty generous trial program (Denmark), YouTube is rife with rave reviews on these. Fritz and Ascend made in USA and can often be had for great prices. I've heard both of these (not the Buchardt) and give an enthusiastic thumbs up. One guy on YT actually used some Fritz to replace his very large Legacy floor standers, to give you an idea of their output.
There's really so many fantastic speakers these days (quite the opposite of 25 years ago) it's really hard to go wrong. Some of these boutique companies offer incredible value being direct to consumer.
Even the Polk LSiM 703 can be had for a fraction of their original asking price, sound amazing, have crazy fantastic build quality, and leaves lots of money for beer and pizza, or room treatments and a DAC! Good luck! 👍
The Elac Adante AS-61 (mentioned above) is enormous. Plus, Jones himself said it was designed for a sub. Even the floor stander (beyond enormous) drops right at 50Hz. . I had that one on my short-short list until I learned more. Some people are ecstatic about it. They can be had on sale as they're discontinued, but I'd proceed with caution on that one
Other brands to check based on your headphone choice:
- Buchardt
- Fritz
- Ascend Acoustics
- Dynaudio
All but the Dynaudio are available direct from the manufacturer, and I think a lot of bang for the buck. Plus, if you like hip hop, the Buchardt and Fritz, like the KEF's, dig deep. Buchardt has a pretty generous trial program (Denmark), YouTube is rife with rave reviews on these. Fritz and Ascend made in USA and can often be had for great prices. I've heard both of these (not the Buchardt) and give an enthusiastic thumbs up. One guy on YT actually used some Fritz to replace his very large Legacy floor standers, to give you an idea of their output.
There's really so many fantastic speakers these days (quite the opposite of 25 years ago) it's really hard to go wrong. Some of these boutique companies offer incredible value being direct to consumer.
Even the Polk LSiM 703 can be had for a fraction of their original asking price, sound amazing, have crazy fantastic build quality, and leaves lots of money for beer and pizza, or room treatments and a DAC! Good luck! 👍