Speakers for a large room for around $1000

I didn't read every post here but it isn't clear what amp you intend to use - although I thought I saw something that indicated you might like tube gear (which is generally preferred, imo). With respect to tubes, there are lots of amp (and preamp) choices, but some speakers will need more power than others. If you happen to select some high efficiency speakers (100db efficiency or so), you could then look into low powered SET amps (I like 45s, but 2A3s and 300Bs are other possiblities). This would allow you to get great tube sound for perhaps less than medium to high powered tube amps. I think your biggest challenge is the WAF. If you could live with Vandy 2Cs (used in good condition), or Dahlquist DQ-10s (used in good condition) you would be looking at speakers well under $1k for the pair and you could get yourself a nice $1k or so ARC or other tube amp. Or if you could live with the Cornwalls (under $1k used vintage), you could get a 45 SET amp. Almost no speaker is going to sound very good pushed up against a wall or in a corner (although that's what Cornwalls were supposedly named for). Based on what you have written, I think you would like Vandy 2Cs if you could get permission to put them several feet out from the back wall. You could get yourself a vintage ARC D76A or D70MkII, or you could get yourself a Marantz 2230/45/70 receiver and I think you would be surprised at how good it would sound. Or you could put the same electronics on a pair of DQ-10s. I think you are down the tube path (given your guitar amp experience) and you really ought to get some speakers that will synergistically show off what a good tube amp can do.

One thing you will find is that all the good speakers and electronics in the world will only constitute some portion of the resulting sound. The room size, shape, and furnishings will drive a bunch of the results and the location of the speakers in the room will also drive a bunch of the results. Clearly, the speakers and the speaker interaction with the room are key considerations, none of which almost ever synchronizes well with the WAF.

Blnd2spll,

I am not crazy about unique Mirage or Ohm sound. Some people love it, but it is not my cup of tea - personal preference. So I think you can't go wrong with either Vienna or Paradigm. I wonder if your local Paradigm dealer has the SE model available for a look and listen - they have real wood veneer versus the Montor 7's vinyl, and have better parts and sound top to bottom. If the Monitor 7 is a great budget speaker, the Paradigm SE is a REALLY great budget speaker. Either will probably make you and your wife happy.

That said I have to agree with where Dmastri is trying to take you here with the Vienna recommendation. The Mozarts are a cut above the Monitor 7's and probably the SE's too. Craftmanship and sonic qualities are more sophisticated and as Dmastri says, will reward better upstream gear as it is upgraded. The Vienna sound quality is understated but very natural to my ear. I agree with you on finish, and prefer a nice warm wood grain over black. I know my wife would send tall, dark and shiny speakers straight to the dump.

Another idea:

If you can stretch to $1249, there is a pair of Spendor S6 for sale on Agon right now. Like the Vienna's or ProAc's mentioned above, these are very, very nice speakers.

There is also a pair of Monitor Audio RS-8's for $800 that look to be in nice shape. Nice sound, high WAF.

Good luck.

I suggest you give the Polk LSi 15 a try. A truly fantastic speaker for less than 1K (used) and will compete with many up to 3K. It's a no-brainer, read up on it.

Good luck.

"Clearly, the speakers and the speaker interaction with the room are key considerations, none of which almost ever synchronizes well with the WAF. "

No truer words have been written here.

04-29-10: Hi_hifi
One thing you will find is that all the good speakers and electronics in the world will only constitute some portion of the resulting sound. The room size, shape, and furnishings will drive a bunch of the results and the location of the speakers in the room will also drive a bunch of the results. Clearly, the speakers and the speaker interaction with the room are key considerations, none of which almost ever synchronizes well with the WAF.

That's one of the reasons I strongly recommend the Mirage OM-15s. They are designed to interact well with the room, and I've found them to be pretty forgiving with placement. You can even position the speakers pretty far apart and not lose the center image. The OMD-15 is fairly petite and is available in gloss black or rosewood, depending on your wife's preferences.

I don't know where this perception that the Mirage is an inferior speaker came from. The OMD-15s were designed to compete at the $2500 price point, which they do very well. Sometimes I'm simply stunned by the detail and ambience they can retrieve, while never sounding hyped up or artificially detailed.

Presently, however, new owner Klipsch has discontinued Mirage's two top-line floorstanders, so they are available from Vanns.com for 60% off list, but with 7-day return privileges and full factory warranty. Their tonal balance is neutral, the dispersion pattern emulates the average thrown off by live music, and therefore they yield excellent results when speakers have to be placed in a living room rather than a dedicated listening room. The soundstage stays put no matter when you sit or stand in the room.

The Vandersteen is a great speaker, and in fact the 2Ce and OMD-15 have a very similar tonal balance, one I find to be very natural. The Vandy has an advantage in image specificity because it is a phase coherent design. But the Mirage has the advantage in soundstage, and its imaging isn't bad. For tubes, the Vandy has a benign impedance curve, but you still should use a tube amp with 4-ohm taps. On the other hand, they're not efficient. Stereophile's test report measured its sensitivity at a very low 84 dB (at 1w input). Even with two speakers and the in-room boost, the sensitivity rating would be around 87 db tops, where the Mirage puts out 93 dB under the same circumstances. That means the Mirage can achieve the same SPL as the Vandy on one-fourth the power. Think about that--15 wpc instead of 60, or 40 wpc instead of 160. Like the Vandersteen, you should use the 4-ohm taps (on a tube amp so equipped), but the Mirage doesn't require much of a damping factor. The bass drivers are a mere 5-1/2 inches in diameter, so motion control is not a big deal. My amp has a low damping factor of 25, yet bass is extended and tight. They achieve their deep bass owing to a Mirage design and patented surround which enables greater cone excursion while maintaining linearity.