Speakers around 4K: Ascend vs Tekton vs Vapor

At that price point, nothing will compare to the Selah Audio Tempestas for truthfullness and musicality. They are a speaker with no sonic compromises except for the lowest bass.
After 44 years in the hobby and over 250 pairs of quality speakers, they have taken me off the market, possibly for good.
AFAIK, no one has ever sold a pair in the used market.

Thanks for the replies. I should add the Selah to the audition list. I live in the SF bay area. I'll give Vapor and the others a call.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to listen to JTR Noesis. I was pretty impressed by these speakers. I'm not sure how they'd compare for music at the same levels with speakers that use the RAAL for example, which some people consider the best tweeter in the world. They did seem very good though, lots of detail and accuracy without being harsh. I think they can also get as loud as I'd ever want for home theater use without any apparent distortion.

I probably should have mentioned this in the beginning. Whatever I get will have to do dual duty for music and movies. Based on this fact I'll have to consider how loud the speakers can get without distorting. The guy who let me audition the Noesis said he used to have $16,000 Revels, and when watching movies they'd end up distorting when pushed too hard.

I'm wondering how the others I mentioned would compare considering this "dual duty" factor, so I should consider the useable output. Noesis are rated at 134 dBs. I should still listen to as many pairs as I can though. Some others that are recommended are Zu Omen Def and Dali Mentor 6.

One thing I want regarding music is the ability to listen to bass heavy music (electronic, hip hop etc) at club levels. The Noesis are also very efficient at 101 dB. That's not the most important factor for me as long as the speakers can get as loud as I want without distorting, but I don't have unlimited amounts of money to spend on an amp that has tons of power.

Do you all think I should discard some based on their "usable output"? It would save me time, but since the Noesis are the only ones I've listened to so far, I should listen to at least a few others.

I'm not sure if you saw the official JTR on AVS forum.
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1165099/official-jtr-speaker-thread/4860
I highly doubt that the other speakers you are looking at would put out those kind of dbs without distorting.
They look like a ton of speaker for the money.
Are they only two grand ? Good luck on your search!

Hi Todd, thanks for the input. I am aware of the JTR thread and I started my own thread regarding this search at AVS forum.

They're expensive for me, but I'm going to get this right the first time. It seems because I'll be using the speakers for home theater, that will narrow down the choices a lot. The good news is that, to me and apparently a lot of other people, the Noesis did sound very good for music.

The guy who let me audition the speakers has gone through lots over the years and feels like he's settled on his Orbit Shifter/Noesis combo (with smaller surrounds).

The price for a pair would be $4400 plus shipping.

I think I'll start calling the manufacturers and asking them about the usable output and how the speakers should fare for home theater, and see what they say.

If you want high SPLs, it may be the Vapor Arcus and not the Cirrus you want (though the Cirrus is excellent). The Arcus is a big prodriver-based monitor, and goes dangerously loud without strain, and without a lot of watts. It is also a splendid speaker: delicate, but lively on the attack (Vapor kindly loaned my a pair for two weeks, so I listened a lot). You would need subs, esp. for movies, but that might also be true for others you are considering.

I agree with the PP to the effect that Selahs are also very worth consideration.

Please take care of your ears,

John