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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
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
2,164 posts
 
well with a decent wood working shop you can build your own diffusers in exotic woods...I love the look of RPG..
your room will be better than 90% out there because of the ceilings...check out Rudy Van Gelders studio.......
what state are you in ?
jnovak's avatar
jnovak
181 posts
 
Thank you for the courtesy of replying to everyone's questions and comments. That makes you a gentleman and a great Agoner! Good luck in your quest. Joe
skyscraper OP
219 posts
 
Tomic601, I am in Virgina, just north of Roanoke, a few hours southwest of Washington DC. I am looking forward to building stands for my DQ10’s if nothing else. I couldn’t afford them along with the DQ10’s, back in my 20’s. I do have to figure out what kind of wood, likely not exotic, they used on their side panels in order to match it on the stands. I have a vague, but unlikely, memory it might have been pecan

I’ll look up Rudy Von Gelders studio as you suggest, I’ve a number of recordings he engineered. That’ll be interesting. Thanks for the suggestion.

Joe, kind of you to say. Thank you. And I probably will be needing some luck making a determination considering the number of recommendations provided here. Great site and members. I’m very pleased with the helpful content and number of responses received.

Mike
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
1,457 posts
 

Yes, years ago I visited the guy in Uptown Audio when he still had his last shop, before he moved his business into his home, which is I imagine where you went.

That's why I was trying to suggest specific stores and models, approaching DC from the southwest (rather than just throwing out lots of names of speaker brands).  Gifted Lister is the first stop, and after that it's a toss up between Deja Vu (don't be deterred by the industrial estate), Evolution (haven't been there since they moved), and Command Performance (again a strange semi-subterranean building, but there's a convenient parking lot).

After that you might consider JS Audio, though my experience there wasn't great.  North of DC I haven't explored.  But as well as the Baltimore area you might consider Delaware, where there are a couple of good stores with interesting makes.

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gdnrbob
2,421 posts
 
@OP,
I can understand your reluctance regarding used speakers, but since gettting back in the game after a 25 year hiatus, just about all my equipment has been bought used-including speakers. And, I have never had an issue with damaged equipment.
Just ask a lot of questions and get a feel of the seller. -Is he a serious audiophile or just someone who trades equipment?
From my experience, most sellers on Agon will let you audition their equipment if you are local.
B
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