Rather than putting $5,000 toward speakers, you may want to consider putting something like $2,500 toward a good integrated tube amp (example: used VTL integrated IT-85) and the other $2,500 toward a used pair of Sonus Faber Grand Pianos or something similar. I fear your Bose 550 receiver may not be up to making music of $5,000 speakers and for that budget there are a lot of combinations folks could recommend. IHMO of course. Jeff
New or used???
I'm currently building a two-channel system starting with the speakers, and of all the speakers in the $3-$6K price range I have listened to (including Joseph RM25XL, Paradigm S6, B&W 804S, Totem Forest, Thiel CS 2.4, PSB Synchrony 1) the Von Schweikert VR-4JR, Dali Helicon 400 and Sonus Faber Grand Pianos and Cremonas all stood out for me.
Here's my dilemma ... For budgetary concerns (and so my fiancée doesn't kill me), I'm trying to keep the speaker purchase near $5K. I was wondering if any of you have any advice on buying new (the VR-4JRs or Dalis) vs. used (such as picking up the Cremonas or a pair of VR-4SRs used) as well as your opinion on how these speakers compare to each other. Thanks for your help.
Here's my dilemma ... For budgetary concerns (and so my fiancée doesn't kill me), I'm trying to keep the speaker purchase near $5K. I was wondering if any of you have any advice on buying new (the VR-4JRs or Dalis) vs. used (such as picking up the Cremonas or a pair of VR-4SRs used) as well as your opinion on how these speakers compare to each other. Thanks for your help.