Speaker Help Please: Floorstanders around $1Ok to fill very large space with no sub


Hi Gang, haven’t posted in here in years...
A great friend of mine is going through major remodel and looking for 2 large floor standing speakers to fill a great room 38’ long x 20’ wide with a celling that slopes in one direction from 15’-8’. so about 7200 cubic feet. 
He is very serious about music. Used to book bands. He listens to a lot of New Orleans groove-based music and Americana. His wife loves female singers, like Brandi Carlisle.
My main advise to him is, since he/his wife don’t want a sub, they will need speakers with sufficient low end.
Haven’t thought too much about amp yet.

He will also use the system for 2 channel home theater watching.
Thanks for any suggestions

bigasscab

At 7200 ft3, you are well beyond the ability of most home speakers to effectively fill the space. There is only so much output a 1" dome can put out into that space. Additionally, you do NOT want wide dispersion in that large of a space, too many reflections, or if you treat for them, not enough output. 

You are in the realm where horns will simply be a better fit, work better acoustically, and be more satisfying. If there are two symmetrical corners on a short wall, then K-Horns may be an option. Cornwalls are bass limited to roughly what a smaller bookshelf can provide, just louder. They need a subwoofer, which is off-limits in your requirements. Both recommended with numerous caveats and mitigations required.

Next up, JBL 4367. They would have no problem filling this space, have proper dispersion for large spaces, sound wonderful, have the low bass the Klipsch lack. The only issue would be the cost - new, they are $16,500 a pair. And worth every dime. There are a couple pair on eBay right now in the $11-12K range. Highly recommended.

An interesting option would be the JBL 3732T. These are for-real cinema speakers, and would require building grilles for most domestic use to achieve any level of acceptable WAF. Cost wise, they are in budget at about $8000/pr. However, they require triamplification (1 - 2ch 100-200 w/ch bass, 2 - 2ch 50-100w/ch mids and highs) and a 3-way electronic crossover (2- DBX 223s recommended) plus cabling, plus a DIRAC-enabled front end, plus install and tuning. But, the end product would be stunning. 

Big Magnepans, maybe, but with big power only. And without seeing the rrom, it's hard to tell if Maggies (full disclosure, I love Maggies, big or small IF they're set up properly in an appropriate room with appropriate power) 

There are other horn speakers that may work here, but I'm not familiar enough with them to make a recommendation. But again, this space is just too big for direct radiators to handle. It's just a physical limitation, and acoustics is just applied physics.

I have a similar size room with a pair of Ohm Fs that were retrofitted to F4000 drivers at some point in their life - they fill the room.  Somebody suggested a Walsh 5 - that would work great and looks pretty good too.

I think you absolutely need at least 1 really good powerful sub preferably 2 or more.  Focus more on strong articulate mid/upper bass and mids and highs that agree with your preferences for your main speakers. Tektons would be good as others said as they have a solid thick strong sound great top to bottom and are room filling. Paradigm Founder 120H would be great as well. Even in a normal size room I’ve always found improvements with a good sub crossed over and dialed in correctly. 

My living room is about the same size. Highly recommend either the Magnepan 3.7i or the 2.7x - both inside $10k. He needs a large speaker to fill that space and provide the soundstage.

 

And the Lyngdorf TDAI -3400 amp. 400w per channel into 4 ohms. Superb! It has ‘Room Perfect’ to tweak the sound for room acoustics. Will make a big difference with that slanted ceiling. Made in Denmark. I’ve had that amp for 5 years with the 2.7x - fantastic. I have subs, but don’t want to mess with the Maggies low end. 
 

Happy hunting!

A bunch have already been mentioned, but I'd look here

MoFi SourcePoint V10 Master Edition $8,000

Arendal 1528 Tower 8 $12,500 or Monitor 8s $6,800

Fyne Classic 12s OR 703s OR 702SPs - Used under $10,000

Volti Luceras used under $10,000

Pure Audio Projects Trio 15s $8,500

Revel Salon 2s (Sometimes under $10,000