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Speakers for a large room for around $1000

I am moving soon into a new house where the main room is about 12x14ft with a vaulted ceiling up to the second floor (maybe about 15-20 ft high).

I am looking for 2-channel stereo speakers exclusively for music. I don't really play my music that loud, but I do like the music to really fill up the room. I'm not a huge audiophile (meaning I'm not going to spend a lot of time analyzing or obsessing over my speakers)--- all I'm looking for are some good solid speakers that have a good frequency response (and might sound good with a tube amplifier).

My budget is about $1000. I could stretch that up to maybe $1300, but I'd have to be convinced the extra is really worth it. I'd also really prefer to have new speakers, mostly for the warranty. Though again, I could be convinced otherwise if it's worth it.

I've considered speakers from a whole bunch of manufacturers, i.e, Paradigm to B&W, Axiom, DefTech, Klipsch, Polk, etc, but due to my geographical location I'm really not able to demo many, so I'm stuck trying to make this decision based on online reviews. It's tough for me to separate audio speakers from home-theater speakers just by reading reviews.

Any and all help is really appreciated!
blnd2spll
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knownothing
1,298 posts
 
OK, I was anticipating the WAF issue - why I hesitated with the Vandy recommendation up front, and why in part I suggested the 1c over the 2ce, which is just more of the Vandy thing visually. But the 2ce is closer to full range than any of the other speakers you or I have mentioned here.

High WAF with decent sound narrows the field some. I suggest focusing on Focal, Vienna, Monitor, Quad, anything used from Totem, and maybe the Aperions and the PSB G-Designs. One speaker I didn't mention earlier is the Paradigm SE. These are very nice looking and sounding speakers, a little more costly than the Paradigm Monitors.

Here is what I recommend, buy the best sounding and looking small floorstanders you can find new or used and be prepared to have to try several pairs in your space. Do the same with amplification - don't restrict yourself to tubes at this time and price point. I would plan on eventually supplementing your system with one or two subwoofers, since most small floorstanders are essentially stand mount speakers with an extra (small) woofer and a built-in stand.
unsound
6,115 posts
 
Blnd2spll, The Vandys are a brilliant value oriented recommendation, and can match beautifully with another super audio value; the McCormack power amps. While they have a different overall balance, the Thiels share many design parameters, and a similar sonic presentation as the Vandersteens, with IME a much higher WAF. The downside of the Thiels is that they can be pretty demanding of high quality amplification.
rrog
1,958 posts
 

I was going to recommend Vandersteen speakers, but I did not because they are a risky purchase when buying used. Vandersteen has an ongoing problem with heat build up in the crossover which can damage crossover parts and degrade the sound. This occurs when the speakers are played at high sound levels for extended periods of time.
unsound
6,115 posts
 
Rrog, can you provide supporting evidence for this claim?
dmastri
19 posts
 
if people get offended at opinions,maybe they should not be in threads,wow johneyb53 knows how to read from a speaker manual,If you listened to the question properly blnd2spll said he wanted 2 channel speakers does not really play music loud and wanted something that would sound good with tubes,and all i said was for what he is looking for the vandis would be a much beter speaker than the mirage being a former vandi owner and at the time had them paired with audio researth tubes it was a good sounding budget system. Mirage do not pear well with tubes not to say it is a bad speaker,but again for two channel and not playing loud music without question a vandersteen is the way to go over a mirage.i do not get into the mombo jumbo about specs,again listen to what the questio said thank you.
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