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Help with narrowing down speaker choice

I've been struggling with final choice for a speaker. First, I have a small to medium sized room (16 X 13 X 9). I want an intimate speaker and I own tube amplification. I listen to and like Jazz, Folk, and Rock in that order.

The speakers not need to be true full-range but they need to be close. I currently own the Thiel CS 3.6 speakers and they're very close to full range. I really like my Thiels, but I'm looking for the next level. I wish to better the Thiels in resolution and natural sound, or that real instrument sound. I especially would like to see an improvement in pinpoint imaging. The Thiels are good at this but not great. BTW - My tube amplification excels at bass, and the Thiels dish it out. I have no room for subwoofers, nor do I want sacfrifice a lot of bass being already spoiled.

Speaker placement enters into the equation, as the speakers must be away from the side walls, so no corners. I can move the speakers up to three feet from the rear wall.

The main speaker on my current list is the Horning Aristoteles, but I've only heard the Eufrodites. The Aristoteles are also in my price point of under $10,000. I will also be using a triode amp, so an efficiency of above 90 dB is needed, especially if I later wind up with a low watt amp. So, figure from 7 to 28 watts/ch triode.

Here are three speakers that are my current contenders, but I don't know if I'll get to hear them all. As you can probably tell, they all share a similar footprint:

Horning Aristoteles
Coinicident Super Victory II
Reference 3A Grand Veena
kennythekey
racamuti's avatar
racamuti
257 posts
 
Oh yea, of the speakers that you mentioned I've only heard the "Grand Veena's" and liked them very much, but I never heard them in my system so can't make a good comparison.
i don't know where you live but if there is an audio show within driving distance like the one in L.A. or the CES show in Vegas it would be a good idea to go and listen to as many speakers as you can. I'm lucky to be living in Vegas and go to the CES every year and get to hear all kinds of speakers all at once. I know that show conditions aren't the best but you can weed out the ones that sound promising.
Good Luck with your search and remember to have FUN!, Tish
kennythekey OP
558 posts
 
Thanks Tish. I'm going to the show in Montreal but they have not published the Dealer or Brand list yet.
kennythekey OP
558 posts
 
One of the things that I would like to avoid are speaker recommendations that are above 35 Hz. There are some incredible sounding mini and small monitors out there, I know, but I want those benefits plus deep, detailed, controlled, and natural bass in one package.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
6,996 posts
 
Hello Kenny,
I think you`re moving in the right direction for seeking a more natural sound in your system. Coincident is a great company with speakers that are made to order for SET amps. The Horning is certainly a very good option, I`d also strongly consider Tonian Lab(I`d love to hear their classic 12.1 with the 12 inch PHY-HP driver). It seems more music lovers are becoming aware of low power amps with high efficiency/easy load speakers. IMHO these amps with simple circuits, fewer parts(but high built quality) sound closer to real instruments/vocals.
Best of luck.
kennythekey OP
558 posts
 
Thanks Charles1dad

I'll look into the Tonians.

Regarding amps, simpler is better when it's smarter. Simple is hard to do right.
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