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Road trip to demo $10,000 speakers

I'm going to take a several hour road trip to the Washington DC/Baltimore area to demo some speakers in the $10,000 range for a once in a lifetime purchase. I plan on listening to some Magico A3's, Aerial Acoustic 7T's, and Spendor D-9's. One of the dealers also has Paradigm Persona 3F's on the floor, so I'll take a listen to them too. While I'm up there are there any other speakers in that price range you'd recommend I try to locate and take a listen to. I'm open to and welcome your suggestions and will take the time to research each one as well.

I'm not in the market for used equipment. Thanks for any and all suggestions.

Mike



skyscraper
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
1,457 posts
 

@skyscraper

Gifted Listener for Vandersteen, Magnepan, and my favorite there, Vienna Acoustics Liszt.

Evolution Audio for Aerial.

Command Performance for Dynaudio, Focal, Devore.

But you must get yourself to Deja Vu, for Harbeth.

The nearest store to DC with Spendors is in Philadelphia.


Capital AudioFest.  Check the list of exhibitors.  It may or may not be worth the investment (time and money).

mtrot
642 posts
 
Mike, FYI and IMO, just be aware that some of why that 1975 demo sounded so good could be related to the electronics used and not just the speakers.  If the dude was driving the speakers with quality tube electronics, that could account for how great the sound was.  An audio society guy in NYC likely knew what he was doing and was using some great electronics.  The audio source and amplification can make a significant difference. 
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gdnrbob
2,421 posts
 
Call John Rutan at Audioconection. He is in NJ, but can recommend a place where you can listen to Vandersteen.
And, considering you owned DQ-10's, I think Vandersteen should be very high on your list.
If you like planar speakers, I believe Magnepan offers a trial period on speakers ordered from the factory.
B
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
If the salesman is blabbing away constantly, just be brave and tell him to shut up! Jabbering salesman is the WORST! When i audition locally my dealer knows, and just leaves me alone. I bring music I KNOW WELL and love totally. I usually watch for 'surprises. Little stuff I never really heard before. Means it is doing more than I ever heard before.
(Make SURE you take all of your music home. I can't tell you how many items I have left behind and lost)Demand plenty of time. I expect at least an hour.
soix
2,133 posts
 
Three more I'd highly recommend hearing if you can:

Joseph Audio Perspective
ProAc D48r
Nola KO

David Lewis Audio in Philly in theory carries all three brands (along with lots of other great ones) if you can detour there, but I have no experience with them so as usual call before to see what they have to demo. 

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