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2017 ‘Keeper’ speakers under - $25K

Heading towards the second half of 2017, I thought to ask here what other’s feel based on their experiences, wants or desires, exactly which recent production speakers under $25K, would be the ones you would want to marry.

Or be in a very long term fundamentally though not totally committed, relationship.

One wherein if they promise to satisfy on demand, you promise to keep them clean and sufficiently supplied with power and the purest of signals, not to leave dirty clothes on the floor, and to take the trash out daily, er, uh, regularly.

Actually, those last two items are predominately conscience driven and do not command perfect adherence.

Which speakers hands down just flat out captivated your attention, fancy, or were so compelling they made a significant impact.

In short, Speakers that have taken your breath away .

As speakers are merely one part of the ching let’s qualify things somewhat.

1. Speakers which can run very well in medium sized rooms. EX. 14 to 18ft wide, and 17 to 25ft long or deep, with ceilings from 8.5ft to 10ft H, or so.

2. If a sub was or should have been added, please, mention that as well.

3. If an Ultra high end setup, massive SS power amps, Tubes, or flea watt amps, were feeding and or driving them noting it would be appropriate.

4. Recent production since 2015. New or used.

Although it seems prudent to list only current production speakers, I know adding on the facet of pre-owned adds a lot more choices for the ‘desert island’ I got mine, you get your’s, scenario, but what the hey. It beats that 250 to 500 plus hours of run in new units usually insist upon.

If links to accounts or info on them is available, please include it.

As this is about options anyhow, let no design be excluded.

blindjim
mr_m
1,087 posts
 
You mentioned you have a personal gripe with Vandersteen. May I, respectfully, ask?
I mentioned the Treo to you earlier, but after reading more of what you require, I think the Vandy Quattro Wood CT with 2Wq subs might meet your need. They don't require large or expensive amps to sing, With the built in bass adjustment along with the subs, you can perfectly dial in the bottom end for just about any room. And, just my opinion, I think they would give you that "take your breath away" appeal you are looking for. All under 20k. I do admit there are a lot of very nice choices here to choose from.
Cheers,
Tim
4425
455 posts
 
No tubes needed on latest Wilson's with new soft dome tweeter. It's very extended and smooth. Not exotic which is fine with me. 
Also top solid state amps are so good that that's not an issue as well. I love my Yvettes and I'm not some big Wilson fan. They just do it right from the wood crates to impeccable build quality. Had Revels before and think highly of them as well. 
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
7,068 posts
 
@blindjim I think you can get into a set of Classic Audio Loudspeakers model T3 for the budget you've mentioned.

The speakers are easy to set up in most rooms. I have them about 6 inches from the wall behind them and they image very nicely. You don't need a subwoofer (they easily shake the building with only a few watts as they have dual 15" woofers in each cabinet) and they are easily driven by tubes as they are 98 db and 16 ohms.

There are a number of options so you can upgrade the speaker over time. Mine are set up with field coil midrange drivers; the midrange employs a beryllium diaphragm that has its first breakup at about 35KHz; the speaker is seamless, very fast, smooth and revealing. 
paul79
163 posts
 
Joseph Audio Perspective's.
swampwalker's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
swampwalker
5,132 posts
 
Blindjim- it HAS been a long time, but I’ve learned some things along the way. I like tubes. A good tube system to my ears sounds like music, a good ss rig sounds like a good ss rig. So once that was settled, it means looking for tube-friendly speakers. The beauty of a high eff speaker is that it mates well with tubes AND it does not require horsepower size amps. That means you can use modest powered amps that do not break the budget. The Thor EL-34s would be great, but if you have not heard the Classic Audio/Atma combo that Ralph Karsten demos at shows like RMAF, you should. A pair of M-60s produced rock concert level volume in a very, very large room not the little converted overnight rooms, but one of the very good sized conference rooms. That allows you to keep your amp budget down and put more $ into the speakers. I used to own M-60s but let them get away (my bad), but now I have a fully loaded S-30 that does just fine in my 14x 23 room. The Hornings use a modified Lowther for the mids, a wave guide tweeter, and multiple smaller (maybe 8") woofers in a modern slim tower cabinet. The Classic Audio speakers use horns with conventional very large woofers. To my ears, no shout in either one.

If you prefer the VAC sound over an OTL, you can get a used Ren 30/30 for about $3-4K that will give you all the dBs you will ever need with high 90 dB speakers. I mention these two brands because I have used them both with 95/96 dB speakers and thought they worked very well, and you will hear only the best comments on the level of service VAC and Atma-sphere provide.
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