stuff_jones
A few thoughts....about everything that has been said so far
1. you should consider all of the speakers that have been suggested as "candidates" for you to audition at home...just because it sounds good in someone else's home with their equipment does not assure you that you will love it in your home.
2. If you have to spend a few shipping dollars to audition at home, in the end it will be worth it
3. Most likely, you will get the upgrade bug down the road...so don't buy a speaker that will be hard to resell unless you try something and it is just so good you have to have it and don't care about resale.
4. If you know what you want, there is nothing wrong with the resale market...buying preowned will save you 30% or so after shipment
5. The internet direct situation is much like craft beers....20 years ago, the craft beer guys forced the big brands to offer better tasting products. The ID guys like Fritz, Zu, Tekton, Philharmonic, Salk...to name a few have done the same to the big guys like KEF, Quad, etc. Just because speakers measure well doesn't mean they will sound great in your room...and just because the ID guys don't have the best measuring equipment doesn't mean that they can't make great sounding speakers. So far, the ear is the best tool....and each speaker company voices their speaker to their way of hearing/thinking what music sounds like.
6. If you have a big room...and bass matters, don't dismiss the idea that you could get better overall sound spending $1500 on speakers and $500 on a decent sub from one of the ID companies.
Let us know what all you try and what you ended up with.
A few thoughts....about everything that has been said so far
1. you should consider all of the speakers that have been suggested as "candidates" for you to audition at home...just because it sounds good in someone else's home with their equipment does not assure you that you will love it in your home.
2. If you have to spend a few shipping dollars to audition at home, in the end it will be worth it
3. Most likely, you will get the upgrade bug down the road...so don't buy a speaker that will be hard to resell unless you try something and it is just so good you have to have it and don't care about resale.
4. If you know what you want, there is nothing wrong with the resale market...buying preowned will save you 30% or so after shipment
5. The internet direct situation is much like craft beers....20 years ago, the craft beer guys forced the big brands to offer better tasting products. The ID guys like Fritz, Zu, Tekton, Philharmonic, Salk...to name a few have done the same to the big guys like KEF, Quad, etc. Just because speakers measure well doesn't mean they will sound great in your room...and just because the ID guys don't have the best measuring equipment doesn't mean that they can't make great sounding speakers. So far, the ear is the best tool....and each speaker company voices their speaker to their way of hearing/thinking what music sounds like.
6. If you have a big room...and bass matters, don't dismiss the idea that you could get better overall sound spending $1500 on speakers and $500 on a decent sub from one of the ID companies.
Let us know what all you try and what you ended up with.