LOUNDSPEAKER FOR $10,000.00 PER PAIR


I currently have the Triton 5's Loudspeakers, Marantz SA14S, SACD player, Thor Audio tube Tp-150 monoblocks,
Thor line stage with 2 SVS sealed subwoofers.  Seeking better sound. My short list of loudspeakers are as
follows:

1. Golden Ear Technology Reference
2. Revel F228 BE
3. Focal Kanta 2
Any suggestions would be appreciated.  
128x128kjl1065
Bondmanp, Omni directional speakers are a love hate thing, honestly most people don't like them, if they did everyone would be making such designs at last count I think there are four such designs: MBL, Ohm, German Physics a Walsh clone, and the Candian Electrostatic product.

The issue with omni directional speakers is the image is very large and very unfocused, also the sound may be bouncing all over the place due to reflections, over the years have heard most of these designs, give us a direct radiating loudspeaker which is tunable anyday.

Soix so far heard the Carvers at several shows and they just didn't sound right to us at all, where did you hear a pair sound good, most of the show reports haven't been flatering.

Salk does make some very interesting designs with very good drivers, howerver, if detail is your thing, a pair of Paradigm Personas offer a pure Beryillium midrange driver and tweeter so the sound if very coherent and the Paraigms are quite dynamic and image extraoridinairly well.

The Salks use a ceramic midrange driver with a Raal ribbon two very good but different sounding drivers, have heard ceramic midrange drivers over the years they all sound slightly hard in the midrange, although they have great detail, hence Kharma moved away from ceramic for this very reason. 

The other issue with a company like Salk is actually hearing a pair because they are factory direct means no dealers and hence difficult to audition.

Drive or fly to a big city and you most likely can hear Kef, Paradigm, B&W, Magico Rockport, Wilson. etc.

Kji if it is possible take an audio vaction to NYC and you can hear almost every conceivable reference speaker you would want.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ


audiotroy,

Can you provide a link to the show reviews that express displeasure with the Carvers speakers? All I have been able to find is glowing reviews about them. I think you’re making that one up. However I did find one dude on I think "What Hi-fi" who thought the image was too high. Probably because when you stand up the image rises with you.
I now own them and after about 200 hours of breakin they sound fantastic!

ozzy
Hi, The speaker that impressed me the most with symphonic music is the Shahinian Diaposon Ensemble. You can find a used pair for under $10,000.
Good Luck, Tish

@Dave & Troy - Have you actually heard the current line of Ohm Walsh speakers?  (To quote JGH, "if you haven't heard it, you don't have an opinion.")  Yes, they are not everyone's cup of tea, which is why I suggested a home audition rather than an unauditioned purchase for the OP (who, like anyone else, won't know if they love them or hate them until they hear them).  FYI, the Ohms are not full omnis.  They have attenuated rear propagation, and a conventional dome tweeter.  IME, and I have owned the 2000s since 2009 when they first went into production, they are capable of producing fairly solid images of performers within the soundstage.  No, these images are not lazer-sharp, but again, IME, they mimic the sort of imaging one hears in a live performance.  Yes, much of the sound is reflected off of the room walls, but the designer clearly factored this in to the design, with, to my tastes, excellent results.  I cannot speak for other brands, but owners of conventional and panel speakers who have been to my home to hear my Ohm Walsh 2000s have generally been impressed, although, as you said, they are not for everyone.  No speaker is.


My impression of the Carver Amazings, which I heard at the 2016 Chester Group show in NYC, was very favorable.  YMMV, of course. 


To the OP:  Auditioning is indeed extremely important.  Furthermore, auditioing in your own home, with your own gear, and with your own music, is, IMHO, essential to making the best possible purchase of a loudspeaker that you will be happy with in the long term.  If you go the B&M dealer route, insist on such an in-home demo for at least a few days if not a few weeks, not simply a brief in home demo with a dealer hovering, and telling you what you are hearing, rather than your own ears doing that.  In your price range, you should find dealers who will accomodate this for you.  

audiotroy,

I believe you’ve made those statements about omnis before, and my reply this time will be similar.

As for "love/hate" thing, I’ve rarely (actually never) encountered someone who hated my omnis, and rarely seen anyone state a hate for omnis in general.


I think the omins that most people are aware of, and most encounter at shows, are the MBLs. They get some bad comments, but usually those are confined to remarks about tonal balance (’too bright’) or the volume (they were played too loud! As we know MBL for some reason loves to crank their demos).

But MBL also get tons of rave comments, and being so expensive most people don’t go on to own them. Rarely do I see people saying they "hated" the MBL or an omni due to, for instance, the imaging - usually that’s one of their most impressive characteristics.

As to unfocused, that like any speaker depends on the set up, room etc.My MBL 121s do not strike me as unfocused (and I have some of the most focused-imaging speakers out there, in the Thiel 3.7s/2.7s). Their imagine sounds to me quite natural. (My room is pretty well damped, which would contribute to this). Listening to some well recorded vocal tracks (for instance one album, a tribute to Nick Drake in an Elizabethan style, with voices recorded in a great acoustic space), vocalists sound more like hearing real people (with eyes closed) than on any other speaker I’ve owned. That wouldn’t be the case if they didn’t image accurately or realistically.


And I’ve heard the MBL 101s in well treated rooms, in which their imaging was as realistic, in terms of palpably focused images of voices and instruments, as any speaker I’ve heard.

Just adding some more user experience to the conversation.