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HELP Horns, Stats or Conventional Speakers

OK I am in the market for a new set of speakers and I have narrowed it down the these three types.
Stats, Horns. Conventional and Bose.

Music tastes are very eclectic from The Pistols to Joan Armartrading to Classical to 80s new wave stuff.
I also use my speakers for H/T but this is the least of my concerns.

So with a bank roll of about 5k (Used) do I go for stats horns (I Love the look of the Avantgarde) or Conventional speakers.

To help you make that decision for me I have the following information.
The room is a converted two car garage 17' X 13' X 9" high
I listen to digital > Denon 3910 and vinyl > Romance via a CJ PV15 and Antique Sound Labs Hurricanes Mono
blocks.

I just sold my Ref3s as I found them less than exiting.
I have listened to System Audio SA 1750s and find the small fast drivers to be a better sounding speaker (to me) than speakers with larger drivers.
I like the speed of multiple small drivers as opposed th the 10" woofers. and they are cheap (Less than 2K)

I am at a total loss as the stuff I am looking at will be bought unheard so I need your opinions to try to help me decide.

And that constructive help will be much appreciated.

Thanks
punkuk
exlibris
392 posts
 
Horns, Stats or Conventional Speakers?
There is at least one more option: omni-directional speakers like the MBL 101E.
Personally, I would never want another conventional or planar speaker. I'll either stick with my MBLs or go to horns.
topoxforddoc's avatar
topoxforddoc
313 posts
 
Go for the Avantgarde Unos. I own a pair of Duos and they're the best upgrade I've made in thirty years of hi-fi. Just be prepared to be patient with set-up. Oh and they will be ruthless in exposing any shortcomings elsewhere in your system.

Charlie
pacific_island_audio
49 posts
 
When I read statements like, "ruthlessly revealing," and "very fast sounding," the first thoughts that go through my head are: distortion and elevated mid-treble. I've owned speakers renowned for their speed and revealing detail, and I can't argue that they sounded fast and revealing—most of the time—until you get that piece of music or recording that truly reveals that speed and that detail is really artificial—a product of too much mid-treble or too much distortion. And measurements confirmed what I heard. After listening to many ESL, ribbon, and planar designs, I've come to the conclusion that exotic drivers are rarely worth the cost in dollars or the cost in trade-offs. There are exceptions. I love the sound of ESLs and Maggies, but there's no getting around the large panel trade-offs.
johnk's avatar
johnk
1,490 posts
 
I dont see any exotic drivers in maggies,planars, electrostats, even ribbons are not exotic except maybe a MBL. If you think a electrostatic or ribbon is exotic well maybe for you;) Electrostatics been around since the 1930s.
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