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What now?

At the risk of repeating a question that has been asked and answered a few times, let me tell you my story.  I am an old-time audiophile (now 79) who has to adapt to new circumstances.  For the past forty years or more I have listened to music on two pairs of Snell type A speakers (A and AIII), one pair in my living room and another pair in the studio where I paint.  I have moved to a smaller house.  I had to sell the Snells because I don't have room for them (they went to a good home).  I also have sold some fairly high end equipment that powered them.  I now have two Marantz 60009 receivers and a nice vintage turntable.  The turntable is in a small (about 12x15) room, with a piano.  I need to find floor-standing speakers I can put on either side of the piano and close to the wall behind them.  I want to find them used, but not too used - I don't want to need to repair them anytime soon.  I am used to good sound and my hearing is still pretty good.  I listen to some classical, some choral, some solo voice, some guitar, etc.  I like what might be called a "warm" tone - without wanting to get into a debate about what that means - just don't want treble that is on the edgy side.  My budget is flexible, but not unlimited - maybe from $700 to $3000.  I do care how they look.  Some years ago I had a pair of Acoustic Zen adagios, which were OK, but I always preferred the Snells (maybe I was just used to them).  So - what do you recommend?  Adagio?  Vienna Acoustic Bach?  Tannoy?  Sonus Faber?  I am not in a place where I can easily audition speakers, and many of the ones I would consider are no longer sold new anyway, so I need to rely to some extent on the judgment of others.  What do you think?

 

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twilightround OP
39 posts
 

You are right, of course.  I just thought I was special 😗.  Actually, I thought my space was especially problematic.  I have followed the speaker discussions in forums, and what I find is too many recommendations.  Many take no account of the space.  And dozens of recommendations don’t really narrow the field much, especially when there is little opportunity to demo any of them.  Nevertheless, audiogon is the best place there is to get useful information.  

grislybutter
2,231 posts
 

@twilightround

you are special :)

you can try Crutchfield and Amazon 60 days no cost about 8 great brands combined. I would say your room is OK but your listening position is definitely a little unusual.
Because of your space, culturally, I would say speakers from countries that have typically small apartments will be a better fit (NOT THE USA) because they have to solve the space problem. As I read on this forum: these effluent people build rooms for speakers, in Europe, people build speakers for (whatever) rooms. >> the Brits? the Austrians?
But of course that was a pretty stupid generalization. 

My space is worse than yours. You are not pursuing perfection, you are pursuing maximum joy and a lot of high quality speakers will get you there. It will be a great journey.

twilightround's avatar
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twilightround OP
39 posts
 

I have ordered the GetBetterSound book, hope it may help. I have some possibilities for speakers.  One is vintage McIntosh XRT 18 - pretty amazing concept.  Another is Revel f208, which provides for some attenuation of bass if needed.  A third is Triangle Antal 30th anniversary, which one reviewer says can sound good only 8” from front wall.  I may also be able to do some sound conditioning on the walls.  Thanks to all who have answered.  Any comments welcome.  

danoroo
239 posts
 

@twilightround 

Have you considered what stringreen suggested earlier which is headphones?  For less than the price of the speakers you seek, you could purchase a quality set of headphones. Sennheiser HD800S, Focal Clear, Hifiman Arya,  Audeze LCD-X, and others.   In my opinion, the bang for the buck can't be matched by any loudspeaker.  If headphones are out of the question, there's a set of Monitor Audio Gold 200s on Ebay for $3200 plus shipping.

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