Hear ye! Thou who knowist thy speakers..


All you speaker connoisseurs, your assistance would be greatly appreciated. I live near Yosemite Park in the Sierra Mountains of Northern California, so getting to enough high end audio stores to audition speakers is very difficult and time consuming. Steering me in the right direction will save me many days and hours of travel. I own a Meridian 508.24 CD player, Audio Research LS 16 pre-amp, Plinius SA 100 MKIII Amp. Nordost SPM interconnects on the Meridian and NBS Monitor IV interconnects on the pre-amp and amp. Black Mamba on the CD and NBS Monitor IV power cords on the rest. My current speakers are NHT 2.5i with either (I switch them occassionally) NBS Monitor IV (warmer) or JPS Superconductor+ (revealing) bi-wire speaker cables. For the money ($1300), the NHT 2.5i are the best speakers I've heard, but it's time to get a speaker that compliments the rest of my system. I'm willing to spend no more than $5,000 for used or new speakers. I do have them hooked-up to the DSS receiver and DVD (stereo), but I mainly listen to music. Classical, jazz, world beat, rock.. If it sounds good, I'll listen to it. Which speakers in your humble opinion should I focus on and why?
rosstaman
Try to listen to the Talon Audio Peregrines before you buy. There are 2 dealers in CA (but I dont know if they are close to you). They sell for $6000, but I am sure that you can work with a dealer on that issue. As to the why of things, they are simply awesome monitors. Prodigious bass, and awesome ouput capabilities for a monitor (which would be neeeded for your huge room). All the classic audiophile descriptions apply, but then again the way that these things reproduce music cannot be put into words. Check them out. E-mail me if you want any specifics.
I would give a listen to the Meadowlark speakers. I have a pair of Kestrals and to me everything a speaker should be. The kestrals are on the bottom of the list so I would think that the higher priced models might be your ticket. Check there web site, very informitive. Good listening
Rosstaman, Your equipment deserves Dunlavy-IV or IVa in your price range, used. You will not regret it
If you like NHT's sound, you might want to go for a 3.3. That is a very well regarded speaker. It has very powerful bass, excellent imaging, and a 'good' level of detail. It is also designed to sit near a wall. I own the Virgo which is also a good choice; Not as much bass, needs to be out in the room more, but has tremendous detail and imaging. If rock is your priority go for the NHT for the bass. If it's jazz, then try the virgo for it's clarity. You might want to read up on stereophile's descriptions.
I agree with Rzado, the Genesis' is the ticket. I've heard the rest and settled on Gen 201's but the V's are great also. WAF is very high also-they are pretty speakers. Brandt