Wanting to get back into the hobby and want to start with the speakers.


Hi everyone. Last year I went to a couple of local Hi-Fi shops and demoed two vastly different types of speakers. The first shop I went to I demoed the JBL L 100 Classic, the second place I demoed two different pairs of Magnepan speakers the MMG and the .7. To my ears both Magnepan’s wiped the floor with the JBL’s. Funny thing is the JBL was being driven by about ten grand worth of McIntosh gear and the Magnepan’s were driven by inexpensive Marantz gear. Now since hearing the Magnepan’s every darn box speaker sounds well......boxy. It’s like they all have this hollowed out muffled midrange. If not for a few reservations I’d probably own a pair of either of the Magnepan’s. From what I’ve read on forums and reviews the consensus seems they require space/careful placement. Though, somewhat of a controversial topic is how much power they require to get up and running. Some say you can never have too much power with them, others say they get by just fine with fifty watts per channel. I guess I won’t know unless I try them.

To switch gears I went a demoed another species of loudspeakers today, two different pairs from the Klipsch Heritage line. The Heresy IV and the Forte III. Both sounded pretty darn good, they sounded similar in the mid’s and high’s, but of course the Forte’s cover about another octave in the low end. Regardless they both still sound like boxes with a bunch of drivers jammed in it( which they are).

Now like any self respecting obsessive audiophile I’m always reading reviews and scouring the internet for other popular speakers to seek out and listen to. A few others I am interested in are Tekton speakers, Harbeths( specifically the p3esr), Vandersteen( either the 1ci or 2ci.), and to throw another curve ball in there a pretty obscure brand called Human speakers. The have a stand mount speaker called the model 81( a sealed two way acoustic suspension, maybe sounds less boxy, dunno). The only ones I would be able to demo in person are the Vandersteen’s, but I’d have to drive about 3-6 hours just demo them.
Anyway, sorry for rambling on, and for overuse of commas. Any suggestions, advise, and or personal experience with any of the above speakers mentioned would be appreciated, thanks.

qxb1998
read reviews as a basis for going out to actually listen to speakers and systems.  
go and listen, become a pest.  do it often.  find your "sound" and then act on it.  
The room sir, tell us about the room you're placing them in, then we can make relative speaker suggestions.
Hi all, sorry I’ve abandoned this thread the past week. I wanted to fill you guys in on a little more info about the room. I say room because I do agree that the one I mentioned with a 6.5 feet ceiling isn’t the best option. It’s a basement with a drop ceiling, so that explains that. The room that’s the obvious choice is the 12Wx8Hx18L. It’s a living room that’s adjacent to a dining room, so it’s not closed off. It’s hard to describe without any pictures. It has hardwood floors, a couple of windows, one on the front wall to the left hand corner, one one the side wall in the middle of the right hand side. Both windows are covered with drapes, so Minimal reflection will happen. Has 

I don’t know if any of that helps, any feedback or further questions would be appreciated as always. It would go a long way to narrow down the list as to what is the right size or type of speaker for my room.