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Audiophile Active Speakers?

Bracing for a flame war on this one - but are there any really seriously good sounding active floor standers? The new Dynaudio XEO 6's intrigued me.

Here's why I'm interested. I recently acquired some great Verity Audio speakers that I realized my entire cabling, amps, preamps etc were too warm for. Problem is I'm getting past the point where I see this as a hobby and am just looking for good music reproduction without tons of system matching experimentation etc.

One interesting option would be selling all my electronics, cables, etc on A-gon and just purchasing a good DAC and good sounding Active floor standers. I could therefore afford decent speakers (up to $7K or so), pocket some cash, simply the system (and save lots of time and grief shopping for matching components).

Am I expecting something that would sound as good as the Verity's with appropriately good electronics? No - not even close.

But a quality audiophile sound I could live with and possible tweak with the right sounding DAC that could make me more or less satisfied is the goal. The don't have to be magical like the Verity's. Any thoughts?
larrybou
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b_limo's avatar
b_limo
2,271 posts
 
What about Genelac? Are those more for near field?
kiddman
341 posts
 
Feed them a good source and get them out from the wall and you'll get imaging a plenty from ATC. You need to listen to them. Take off the audiophile hat about not being able to alter the sound with distorted special effect cables and all that. Think "what does music sound like?" and then listen.
worldwide
58 posts
 
Floor standers, try,

Psi audio
Ks digital
rcprince
3,059 posts
 
I hadn't thought about the question as "audiophile", but Kiddman's point is good, and can also be applied to the Adam speakers, which are also used in studio applications. I have heard both the ATCs (the 40s, I believe) and the earlier version of the smaller Adam model in their Tensor line (believe it was the Delta). Both have the dynamic capabilities that you need to make you think that you're listening to live music. They will not sound "pretty", though. I listened to the Wilson Sasha at the same time as I did the Adams, and while the Wilson did everything "right" in audiophile terms and sounded very good, I preferred the Adams speakers because of their openness, tonal fidelity and realistic dynamics; if I'd had the cash then and knew I'd be moving to a smaller room in a few years I would have bought them. I heard the ATCs in my home (their then-distributor brought them there for an NJAS meeting) and, aside from a bit of brightness that I attribute to the preamp that the distributor brought and used, I was struck by their resolving power and incredible dynamic abilities. These speakers aren't for everyone, but they might be what you're looking for.
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