$6000 budget question

Interesting question as to what you can get now versus then for dollars spent. I have been looking a little for new speakers to replace my 15yo speakers which cost half as much as the F30s. Six grand will certainly not take you as close to the top these days in the relative sense. The ones I have heard in this price range are obvisously flawed in comparision to 10K plus speakers (of the same size) and are more "forgiving". I really like the Vandersteen Treos and Endeavor Audio E3. The E3 had flatter frequency balance while the Treos are better spatially.

I agree with Beewax. For instance I am another one very impressed with the engineering done by KEF on the LS50 as well as YG Acoustics on their entire range.

I used to own F30's in the early 2000's, and they are at the top of list of equipment I regret selling. Amazing performance for a reasonable list price of $3500 back in the day. Since I foolishly sold the F30's, it's been a revolving door of speakers in my system. Last fall, I finally tried the Studio 2 from Revel thinking it would be an "end game" speaker. The Studio 2 had the most amazing bass response I've ever experienced in my system but had a somewhat forward upper midrange/lower treble that gave the speaker an analytical quality that bothered me (and I didn't experience with the F30). Therefore, I did not keep the Studio 2 very long. One speaker that looks like a good value at $6K retail in today's market is the Paradigm Tribute, but I doubt it would play as deep as the F30. Another is Revel's own F208 for $5K.

Im not in the market for speakers, but wonder what $6000 would buy these days. My priorities are full range and neutral to warm. No mini monitors for me. I like a good soundstage but am not obsessed by it. I rarely get imaging beyond my speakers, and I think it's highly dependent on the recording, if the lights are on, if I'm wearing my glasses and if I've had some wine/bourbon/scotch

My dislikes are hyper detail at the expense of tonality. I've heard too many highly regarded speakers that were all detail.

I happen to like my Revel F30's quite a bit but after 14 years of wining them, I'm curious.

Suggestions?

Yes this sounds more like a system issue than a speaker issue. Try a different preamp would be my suggestion. Most of the attributes you mention are controlled by the preamp equation of your system.

The RBH SX-8300/R retails for just under $6K but can be had for less and should be considered seriously if you have the means to demo them. I came very close to buying them before deciding to go with the Revel F208's. I auditioned both speakers but unfortunately not at the same time. I guess what steered me away from RBH was that the bass was just a tad too boomy for my tastes but I'm guessing RBH owners would strongly disagree. Perhaps if I had a chance to demo both speakers in the same environment I might have felt differently. What also steered me away was that the matching center speaker in the same line was way out of my price range so I decided to go with the F208's & C208.

Try to audition Teac ai-1000, 2000 or even 3000. They can be had on ebay for 40% off. They have parts found on much much more expensive receivers, and sound like it too.

I was really impressed with the pleasant hifi from Teac of all the makers - you wouldn't normally expect hifi from mass company like them, but this is exception.

Sometimes companies like Sony, Denon, Marantz can come up with affordable hifi gears that are good value...

Concerning speakers, you should really audition them your self - they are so personal and subjective...

I like JBL L-300, Paradigm Studio, Usher, etc. but I am into Opera and my speakers won't do for other type of music, and vice versa...