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Best bookshelf speakers

I’m building my first high fi system after being more of a portable audio person. I want to start with the speakers. Space is limited so bookshelf speakers are a must.

Preferences:
Balanced and revealing with a hint of warmth.
Midrange most important to get right over highs and lows
Timbre is super important - I listen mostly to acoustic music especially jazz
But I do need some bass as I also listen to some electronic music
Smaller is better but SQ is most important
A speaker that sounds good with different amps but also scalable with high quality sources
Wide sweet spot - I wont have money for a great amp at first but want them to be scalable for later

These speakers have caught my eyes - any thoughts on them?

Ascend Sierra 2s - Ribbon = dispersion limitations?
BMR Philharmonitor - See above. Also massive.
Buchardt S400/S300 - Wary of the sudden hype train and limited info
Silverline Minuet Grande - Limited info
Reference 3A De Capo - This caught my eye as a potential endgame speaker if I could blow up my budget a little. But concerns about BE tweeter as well as some potential snake oil stuff (cryogenic treatment (!?)), exaggerated sensitivity claims and wonky measurements put me off.

What else should I be looking at?

Edit: I could have sworn I had <$2,000 in the title... Anyway, my budget is 2k.

stuff_jones
stuff_jones OP
64 posts
 
I think one good way to narrow down the field is just looking at those manufacturers using the direct sales model and offering a generous return program. 

For one, you're getting more speaker for your buck cutting out the middleman and I assume there's some correlation between speaker manufacture cost and sound quality, even if it's not 1. 

Also the return policy of course reduces your risk. Maybe buy a few and demo them at the same time and return the ones that lose out?

Who are the direct sellers? Ascend, Buchardt,  Philharmonic Audio... any of the other contenders using the direct sales model? 
soix
2,133 posts
 
You've got some great recommendations here.  I'll add the Joseph Audio RM7si, Silverline SR-17.5, and Amphion Argon 3s, all available used now.  Sorry to make your job harder, but these are all worth a look given what you're looking for. 

https://tmraudio.com/speakers/bookshelf-monitors/joseph-audio-rm7si-signature-bookshelf-speakers-che...

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis97fd1-silverline-audio-sr-17-5-monitors?refsource=hifishark

http://www.audioasylumtrader.com/ca/listing/Speakers-Stand-Mounted/Amphion/Argon-3S-Monitors/-home-v...

kosst_amojan
2,095 posts
 
I wouldn't even briefly consider buying from a company that can't be bothered to stock and distribute their products through retail outlets. There's no reason to believe you're buying a better speaker that way. You're buying a speaker from a box company. None of those companies make their drivers. They just build the box and design a crossover, then buy everything else off the shelf. 
stuff_jones OP
64 posts
 
^ Cutting out a significant margin must mean more speaker for your dollar, all else equal right? If you shave off the retailers 40 percent or whatever, the consumer is getting those savings.

As far as criticizing direct sellers for not making their own drivers - That seems like criticizing Lenovo for not making their own CPUs. It's the final product that matters, right? 
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
I wouldn't even briefly consider buying from a company that can't be bothered to stock and distribute their products through retail outlets.

Because that's just so damn easy, it's a real wonder everyone can't do it.

There's no reason to believe you're buying a better speaker that way. You're buying a speaker from a box company. None of those companies make their drivers. They just build the box and design a crossover, then buy everything else off the shelf.

Buying direct or not is not really an indicator of anything, but I will say this:

To get to retail (which is oh so very easy) you have to charge 10x more than your drivers cost. So if you are buying $30k speakers, at BEST the drivers might have cost $3k. The markup is often higher. If they make their own drivers it's easily 20-30  to 1.

Fritz is a really good example of some one using nicely designed crossovers and cabinets with top of the line parts and charging you a lot less than 10x. Also, they sound really really good. 
By all means, please go spend as much money as you can on speakers. On the other hand if you have your own ears and prefer to spend the least you can for the same sound quality like I do, then Fritz and Tekton make a lot more sense.

Not that I like everything either maker puts out.
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