Need Help finding Speakers Budget 20,000 US

Here's my take on your quest in spending 20K.

1. Buy a pair of Sonus Faber - used but mint, for 5K or less.

2. Buy a few bottles of wine - the good stuff. All speakers sound GREAT after 3 glasses anyway - even a Bose Soundwave system.

3. Buy 2 round-trip plane tickets (for you and significant other) to a European destination - Paris sounds nice- and attend a live concert there plus a restaurant or two.

You should have enough money left to purchase music (downloads - vinyls - cd's whatever) or take in a few local concerts.

When all is done, you might even get used to the beautifull looks and sound (subjective of course) of those Italian speakers - if not you, your significant other will for sure.

All joking aside, I more or less followed this scenario (minus the Bose part) and dont regret a thing!

DYNAUDIO CONFIDENCE SERIES.

In the 15 years that I am in this business there is one big mistake what I see or maybe better say I hear often:

People buy expensive speakers and they do not have the quality in equipment and cables to get the best out of the speaker. In Always use % to explain it. There are enough people who get about 30% out of there speakers. That is why I often demonstrate different amps and cables to let people hear how big the difference is. Many shops are only interested in selling expensive speakers. They will not tell you that you do not have the quality to get at least 80% out of the speaker. Often they do not have the knowledge to give customers they right information.

In the past I met these kind of people more than these days. They had one thing in common. They werre not happy with the end results. I used other amps and cables to let them hear what the reason was.

I haven't heard them all but of those I've heard the speakers on your short list are all over the map sonically. We might be able to guide you better if you tell us what you are after sonically in addition to your music preferences. Have you auditioned any/many of the speakers on your list or is it based primarily on what you have read about these models here and elsewhere? As someone said above, speakers are such a personal preference since we all hear differently, respond differently to sound, have different rooms, equipment etc. If you are going to lay out that kind of money you really need to do some listening to get down to a few models that really float your boat. Of course, you already have some very fine equipment so maybe I'm not telling you something you don't already know.....Beyond that, the only comment I would venture has to do with your room--it is big, it is square and it is damped. Big suggests a larger speaker system that will have no difficulty filling and pressurizing the void. So, something like the Daedalus Ulysses or Argos with Lou's BOW system would likely do the trick. Your room is also square, which can present some problems. You may want to explore something that gives you some adjustment capability in the bass to account for standing wave and other issues that can occur in a square room--the Vandersteen 5A comes to mind. As for all the damping--is this really necessary? What are you using currently that has caused you to apply so much acoustical treatment? Are you looking to address the squareness issue? The reason I ask is that if you are wedded to the acoustical treatments then this absolutely mandates an in home audition of any speaker you are considering, since it is highly unlikely that the speaker will sound the same as it did during your store or show demo and you may be disappointed once you get your final choice set up in your room. Again, Daedalus (and probably some others) will provide a trial purchase so that may be of importance to you.

Best of luck with your search.

Bo1972, you're exactly right. Which is why I'd like to upgrade myself. :) High quality amps and cables *do* make a difference!