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Great Rock & Roll speakers?

I have a pair of Vandersteen 2 sigs with a DNA-1 & CJ PV10al. I have never been able to get the image proper with the speakers due to odd ball room placement. I really like the speakers but need something to image better in the same price class. I don't have a lot of room behind the speakers & don't want monitors. I really love the bass response of the speakers but had the idiot lights flash during a listening session once. Since then I have been paranoid to really crank them. I spoke with Richard & he explained how the lights work so it is obvious that I listen to alot of music that is heavy in the mid-bass region. So I need to find a speaker that is a good match to my DNA & CJ that will image well sitting close to the walls. The overall size of the speaker isn't much of a concern as long as they aren't much larger than the Vandy's. Speaker placement issues would pretty much rule out planar speakers & adding additional subs is not the direction I would like to take. Check my system here & let me know your thoughts.
fishwater
sc53
689 posts
 
I was at my friend's for dinner last night, and his mid-80's vintage Polk SDA-1A's sounded incredible! I had just gotten him to buy some custom made Sound Anchors stands for them and the bass became so much more focused and tuneful. The rest of the spectrum seemed to improve also. These speakers look like the Vandy's (there are a pair of Polk SDA-1B's for sale on this site right now, for $650, and the seller has a picture of them, they look just like my friend's) and are designed to go right up against a back wall. That's how he has his placed, and the imaging and music are really fantastic. I know these are an old design, but these speakers are really a classic. Now that he's added the stands, he will probably be keeping them for another 15 years.
cytocycle
1,034 posts
 
I listened to the PSB Gold's on an Acurus DIA100 100watt integrated and they would be excellent rock and roll speakers. They might even put out more bass because they are ported, just not as low. You are in good shape with the PSB's because the bass port is on the front.

http://www.psbspeakers.com/s/StratusSeries.html

Check out the pictures and user manuals are online.
fishwater OP
178 posts
 
What about Paradigm's ? I have a dealer less than one hour from here & they would probably take my Vandies in trade.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
The B&W DM603-S2 can really rock. Not sure about how the new S3 compares.
rlwainwright
1,901 posts
 
You should take the drive over to the Paradigm dealer and give the 80s and 100s a listen. They will play plenty loud; have excellent, deep, tight, bass; image quite well; and look very elegant if you opt for one of the real wood finishes.

I currently have a pair of 80s in the rosenut finish and I'm quite pleased with them - bought 'em off A'gon a couple years ago and don't intend to upgrade anytime in the near future. They are used in a mixed 2ch/5.0ch setup and I do not feel compelled to add a subwoofer, they have plenty of low register output.

Female voices and guitars are particularly pleasing, and I find the soundstage to be wide with very good, pinpoint imaging. In my room, 15'x18', they are placed on one of the long walls, approx. 15" from the wall and toed-in about 15 deg. I have placed them within 6" of the back wall with little degradation of imaging, and a small (un-needed in my case) increase in bass output. They are front ported and can sit close to the wall if needed.

I am usually seated about 12' away, centered. The "sweet spot" is 2 people wide, but you can still get decent imaging even when seated 3' to the left or right of the sweet spot.

They are reasonably efficient and play plenty loud with decent amplification - I've used an Adcom 6000, an Acurus 125X5, and currently an HK Signature 2.1 and AlphaCore biwires to drive them. Everyone leaves the house when I get to rockin'!

Look good, sound good, relatively inexpensive - what's not to like?
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