Being close to NYC, I suggest you take the time and check the local stores and listen to as many speakers as you can. You may also want to focus on what aspect of your listening experience you'd like to improve, e.g., tonality, timber, accuracy, soundstaging, etc., since most speakers tend to do some things better than others. Last but not least, certain speakers tend to do a better job reproducing smaller bands with lesser number of instruments and vocals vs. some others which seem to do better with large orchestral presentations. All that been said, if I were looking for speakers in that price range, I'd expect them to do very well regardless of the musical content. If you have the room, see if Sound Lab speakers offer you what you're looking for. I've heard them paired with McIntosh MC601s and C2600 in a large room and they sounded exceptional.
Speaker Recommendation: 20K range
I’m looking for new speakers in the <20K range.
I am not looking for used, unless it’s a demo model straight from an AD.
I am hoping to find a line that clearly beats speakers in the ~10K range like Magico A3, Revel 228BE, Legacy Focus SE etc.
I will be pairing the speakers with a Lumin D2 streamer, Mcintosh C2600 pre and MC452 amp. Changing those components is not going to happen anytime soon and so system synergy with those pieces is important.
I also would like the speakers to be rated at 500W given the amp I will be using and the fact that the listening space is quite large.
While I mostly listen to jazz, rock, pop, classical and vocals, I am really looking for speakers that sound amazing with any genre. I also need them to sound great at moderate levels of volume.
I currently have Focal Kanta No 2s, and while they are quite nice, I want something much better in all respects.
I am not really up to speed on all the audiophile terms that describe the various traits of sound – I just want my jaw to drop when listening to the speakers with any genre at all volume levels, if that’s possible :)
I am close to NYC and would like to narrow down the list to ~5 candidates before I start auditioning.
Hopefully you guys can help me compile a list!
Thanks in advance for your time and suggestions.