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Classical speakers that do violins well??

All my serious listening is classical.

I hate nothing more than steely shrillness on violins or a glare on a soprano's voice.

I love nothing more than the faithful reproduction of the tone colors of unamplified instruments (the wood body of the violin and cello, the felt pad excting the sinewy strings of a piano).

YET, I hate bloated, indistinct, overly warm, billowy lower mids and upper bass (what I gather some think of as "musical").

Do you have any experience with speakers that might meet these needs for $2K, give or take (new or used)? Can be either floorstander or monitor, but with at least enough bass to perform decently on orchestral music. THANKS.
-Bob
hesson11
hesson11 OP
233 posts
 
...and all I did was ask for a few speaker recommendations!

-Bob (OP)
rackon
295 posts
 
Yes, well, your thread got hijacked!

Good luck - do lots of auditinoing.
ajahu
306 posts
 
A used active speaker probably is the best solution with as big woofer as you could buy.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,333 posts
 
...and all I did was ask for a few speaker recommendations!

-Bob (OP)

Faithful reproduction => go active speakers like Ajahu suggests - preferably a pro studio model.
hesson11 OP
233 posts
 
OP here, with just another word of thanks.

In traveling over the weekend I had a chance to audition a few of your suggestions: The Vienna Mozart Grands and Focal Chorus 826V and 806V. Setup was not ideal (Magnolia and a Tweeeter affiliate, respectively), but I was quite impressed by all of them. They seemed to have good potential for performing well in a more carefully set-up environment. In terms of string timbre, I think I preferred the Focals just a bit, but it was close.

Unfortunately, word has come from my accountant that Uncle Sam will take up much of what I was planning to spend! So I may have to wait a while. In the meantime, my current speakers will serve well.

In fact, I didn't feel any of the speakers I auditioned were worlds better than my modest NHT SuperTwos. Scoff if you will, but these speakers perform quite well on the music I enjoy. I have been unable to unseat them from my listening room with the likes of Maggie 2.6/Rs, Spendor 3/1Ps, and a few B&W Matrix models. Each of these had their advantages, but from top to bottom, none pleased me quite as well as the NHTs. While I think the Viennas or Focals would probably outperform them in my listening room, I was reassured that the difference is probably not night and day. What I'm hoping for is a bit smoother rendition of highs (i.e., violins) and a bit better definition in the bass region.

Again, thanks so much for all your suggestions, and I wish I were in a position to audition more of your recommendations.
-Bob
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