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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
miketuason
264 posts
 
Mike, if you happen to pass by any McIntosh authorize dealer, check out their McIntosh  XR100 Speakers, I think they sounded pretty good as well. I almost bought a used pair but someone beat me to it, and they are also retail at $10k/pair, this Speakers are capable of handling up to 600 watts.
skyscraper OP
219 posts
 
I will do that Mike. And its good to hear a familiar name like McIntosh. They've been around forever it seems. 

Mike
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,645 posts
 
Regarding recording choices to audition, generally it would be good if you could listen to recordings that you are familiar with but that aside, I find early Steely Dan recordings very dynamic and quite well done. "Speed of Jack" track in particular is a great choice and has an expansive soundstage if/when rendered properly. I'm sure everyone has a favorite selection.  
skyscraper OP
219 posts
 
Kalali, I do have that one, so can bring it along. Thanks.

Mike 
glupson
1,794 posts
 
skyscraper,

I will echo others. Bring with you what you will be listening to once you take speakers home. If it is Sheffield drums, so be it. Otherwise, you seem to have quite a large collection so pick your favorites and just go with them. Who cares if speakers can pull all the obscure Japanese percussionists just right when you really like Hotel California and Barry Manilow? I will second the opinion about Steely Dan, especially on SACD. They are a nice challenge for the system. I use it to feel good about how it sounds but, I admit, it is not what I ever listen to otherwise. Nothing wrong with the music, just not my favorites.

It is probably anathema to mention Barry Manilow on an audiophile forum and he was just an example, nothing personal I promise. On the other hand, someone has bought all those records he put out.
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