Another 2,000 Speaker Question

Trelja's post is, as usual, on the mark. I'm not the world's most technical guy, but I've had no trouble dealing with my Audio Research and now Jadis tubed equipment since I was weaned from solid state about 12-13 years ago. There is obviously more maintenance involved, as you eventually do have to replace tubes, and you may have to adjust bias (although some tube equipment is self-biasing). The sonic trade-offs with solid state are pretty much as Trelja states; there are also a lot of threads on this topic you could take a look at here, as you will see it is a never-ending debate. To me, tubes just do a better job of conveying the soul of the music, rather than the technical strengths and weaknesses of the recording itself. As far as what speakers I use, that wouldn't help you much, as I have a four-piece system which is not yet, to its designer's chagrin, commercially available, where I use tubed amps for the satellites above 200 hz and solid state amps for below 200hz (I listen to a lot of full scale orchestral and organ music, so I need the last octave of bass). I'd still prefer a tubed amp for below 200hz, but finding one that will handle 20 to 40hz is difficult and expensive. Trelja's also correct in that you should probably focus on the speakers now, just keeping in mind the possibility of tubes for the future. Too many choices at once can lead to audiophilia nervosa, or something like that!

a good compromise re: tubes vs solid-state, both for sonics, mainytenance, & ability to drive difficult speakers, would be to go w/a tubed preamp & a solid-state amp. many (myself included) are wery happy w/this arrangement.

re: speakers, i'd tink that maggies wood be wery difficult to properly place in your room, especially along the long wall. they need a *lot* of space behind them, & to the sides... others have mentioned dunlavy's as doing well along a long wall of a room - this is true, & dunlavy's are excellent-sounding speakers, imho, but thew have a *very* small sweet-spot, even when set-up perfectly.

if ya like the e-stat sound of the maggies, i'd inwestigate newform research's r645 (as many a-gon regulars know, and are prolly sick of hearing, i'm saving up for these!). they go for $2265 delivered, ya have a 30-day in-home trial, & if ya don't like 'em, yure only out return-shipping. also, at 91db/1w/1m, they're sensitive enuff to be used w/toobs, tho the owner/designer recommends solid-state digital amps. i currently own speakers that retailed for $3800, but, based upon owner comments on audioreview, i wanna czech these out. a few happy owners have also posted their comments here. the ancillary equipment used, and speakers compared, are really quite impressive...

good luck, doug

In the 2k range the Martin Logan SL 3 is a great transparent speaker- they are originally 3500 but sell for 2 and under on the used market.

I agree with Ljgj. The SL3 can be placed in your room. It has probably one of the most revealing mid ranges around. I few cautionary points: You probably won't want to drive these with tubes--while you can--and they sound great--they need a lot of current, which puts you into big buck tube amps. Sedond's suggestion of a tube pre and solid state power is a very good one for these speakers. Another important point--what is behind the speakers? If it's curtains--well, then it's curtains for these speakers--they need a sonically reflective wall behind them, otherwise the soundstage collapses.

Thanks, Sedond. I read the reviews on audioreview.com on the speaker you referred to. I don't think I've seen a collection of reviews that positive on anything. It's in my price range as well. I particularly liked the one reviewer who mentioned Keb Mo's Just Like You album, which is the type of music I mainly listen to. It can also handle tube and/or SS with it's sensitivity (is that the right word) So many options! As far as your compromise, I was thinking about getting speakers (all of the ones recommended here sound intriguing, though electrostatic vs. cone is up in the air), amp (possibly tube), and cd player w/volume (older units by Resolution Audio? or Wadia have been auctioned for reasonable amounts on this site) and foregoing the preamp. My other option is using the digital out on my Sony DVD player to a newer Digital processor (the MSB Link III's upsampling, for example seems like it's getting a lot of press), and getting a preamp. Any thoughts (I probably enraged about 90% of the readers reading this due to these equipment choices!).

Ljgj, thanks for the recommendation. A friend of mine just bought the Aerius second hand and has been gushing ever since about it. I may get a chance to audition at least its little brother.

Tubes sound the way to go for me, thanks Trelja and rcprince. I only purchase tube amps for guitar amplification due to their tone and 3-D quality; I guess much of the same concepts apply in audio (obviously audio components are far superior). I like the comment regarding the naturalness of the dynamics, I think that's right where I'd be going.