Best speakers for my system


Hi everybody,

I hope you can give me some good advice. I have a Levinson No. 336 amp and a Levinson No. 390S CD processor. I have Audience AU24e interconnects and speaker cables and an Audience AR6T power conditioner with an AU24 powerChord. What speakers would work well with these components? I'm overwhelmed with the choices. My budget is probably something between $5 - 12K, depending on how much the economy improves this year.
gapperis123
Thanks Elizabeth. The speakers can be any size. I don't prefer bookshelf speakers. Yes, I would like to play them loud but would also like excellent fidelity when playing not so loud. I like different types of music. Soundstage, good bass, mid-range and hi frequency and dynamics are more important to me than appearance, although cool appearance is OK, too, but secondary in importance. My listening room is about 20 feet by 12.5 feet with a low ceiling. Realistically, the speakers can come out 4 feet from the front wall and about 2.5 - 3 feet from the side wall. I have RealTraps catching reflection points. The dealer from whom I purchased my gear is no longer in business, so I have been reading Stereophile and Absolute Sound to see what's on the market--and I'm overwhelmed. I hope this information helps! Thanks again! Glenn
Based on your follow-up answers, I would suggest that you at least consider the following:

Wilson speakers - Watt Puppy or Sophia's (assuming used is acceptable)
Thiel speakers - 3.7 would be very nice

Both of these, in my opinion will deliver very much in the categories you say are important. I have owned both brands and have powered both with ML (331.5 amp) and I currently own the 390S CDP. I am actually considering getting another ML amp. I currently run both Wilson W/P speakers and also Gemme Katana speakers.

Gemme would be another speaker for you to consider. They are a little more polite than both the Wilson and Thiels (definately more forgiving than both). They provide a different perspective with regards to sound staging, with more of the depth behind the speakers versus infront of the speakers (Wilson and Thiel both present a more forward sounding stage IMO). They use almost the same exact drivers as Thiel, yet produce a more neautral (or at least more polite) speaker. FWIW, they are beautiful to boot.

There are a lot of really good speakers in your price range and you have amps that can drive most anything you will be considering. I would suggest paying closer attention to people who have run ML amps (not trying to dis anybody though) as the amp speaker relationship is so important. There are a lot of other speakers I have heard and like, but if I haven't listened to them with the ML amps, I hesitate making a recommendation as I don't have first hand experience.

Also, I would strongly suggest you get rid of all that really junky, awful, crummy, bad for sound RealTraps stuff. If you send it to me, I'll be happy to take it to the landfill for you ;)

Heck, I'd even pay for shipping :-)
Just top of mind....My list would enclude: Rockports, Aerials, Wilson, and Revels. All are good, but depends on what you are looking for. Wilsons tends to be more analytical. Rockport and Aerials more relaxed sounding. Revels in between. However, with such a large range in $$$ means there are choices within these makers and it depends if you buy new or used. If dealers are hard to come by in your area, recommend going to a show to get an idea or plan a trip to one of the urban areas with more stores. 5-12K is an investment.
I'd say you need to go to lots of different dealers and listen to lots of different speakers. Your needs do not really rule much out (other than panel speakers due to the low ceiling), so you need to figure out what you like. Some stuff to listen to in addition to stuff already mentioned - Harbeth, Devore, Verity, Sonus Faber, Avalon, ProAc, B&W.