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What Are the Best Sounding Speakers UNDER $2,500 that You've Ever Heard.?


Ralf11

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Jud, I used to own 2c's. I tried out a set of Maggie 1.5QR's ... for month after month after month. Eventually, I decided to sell the 2c's. This was in 1995 IIRC. The newer 1.7i's are supposed to be much better than the 1.5QR's.

 

My Vandersteens replaced a set of DCM Time Windows and were a large upgrade.

 

But the Magnepans do things the Vandersteens cannot -- and vice versa. One has to try both to see which has their preferred pros and least bothersome cons. No speaker is perfect and this is especially true at this price point. Not to mention what will fit into the room.

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Thx - I am going to replace my Maggie 1.5QR speakers and their 1.7i's are likely, but I will look into the Revels and some others mentioned above. I have a room setup that is not too conducive to a panel dipole radiator.

 

OTOH, one addicted to the virtues of the dipole radiating panel, and its line source... ah "sourciness" ... it may be hard to switch to cones.

 

The comment above the amplifier is a good one and a more powerful amp could drive up a budget. IIRC, the Maggies are a fairly low impedance, 4 ohms and can drop down to 2 ohms at high freq.s, so you want an amp that deliver some current into a low impedance load. I use a Sunfire Cinema Grand to bi-amp my 1.5QR's.

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Here is a list of some possibilities I compiled form other sources - any thoughts?

 

 

Technics Premium Class SB-C700E - WhatHiFi didn't like it much; other publications did...

 

Tekton Design Warranty

 

PSB Imagine T2 Tower

PSB Imagine T2 Tower (Dark Cherry) Floor-standing speaker at Crutchfield.com

 

Monitor Audio Silver 8

Monitor Audio Silver 8 (Rosenut) Floor-standing speaker at Crutchfield.com

 

KEF Q900

https://www.amazon.com/KEF-Q900-Floorstanding-Loudspeaker-Black/dp/B00CE3LCS0

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Blake, I dunno, but perhaps the large co.s are doing the R&D and the smaller ones are copying?

 

It costs a lot of moola to do laser interferometry studies on cones (B&W).

 

Then there are ideas or theory that can be applied by one guy working out things with paper or computer models then moving into tart mode and trying it - examples may include: time alignment for minimizing phase delays, bass reflex design and the acoustic suspension design (tho that predates modern finite element techniques).

 

If this takes off, it should be in a sep. thread...

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Perhaps, but I've never heard a pair of Vandersteens I didn't find appealing and musical. One of the great buys in audio, along with Maggies and the lower-priced Focal lines.

 

Fortunately those comments are meaningful to you and many, many other people including me (tho I finally sold mine in favor of Maggies).

 

Maybe we need a Maggie vs. Vandie smack-down...

 

Even if a speaker IS inaccurate in some ways, it can be good enough in other way to compensate. Besides that, some distortions are euphonic.

 

Speakers are the most compromised component in any digital audio system - pick your compromises carefully.

 

(add the cartridge/tone-arm/turntable if an analog system)

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I think the Pioneers were designed partly as a challenge to see how good a low cost speaker could be.

 

BTW, besides timbre Maggies are often said to offer speed (which I assume usually boils down to transient response), a wide sweet spot, etc.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Maggie's need a ton of expensive components in order to do their singing if you would. I like them in some systems but those systems have never been inexpensive. I know many dealers who sell them and they agree. That's the reality of that design. Nothing wrong with that but something to consider if you are trying to do a budget systems. They have the much smaller designs that are basically for video or a very small den/bedroom but even those are compressed and need clean power. A nice Belles integrated can run them but you are still talking a 2k amp. Again they can. E excellent speakers but folks should be realistic about them , that's all

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile

 

they sound great with inexpensive amplification - as long as it can drive a 4 ohm load - in contrast, electrostatics usually offer a high reactive and very difficult to drive load

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Thx ctsooner - I just got home from listening to 3.7i (vs. 1.7) - both driven by a $4,000 Rogue amp. They sounded good (or good!!)

 

This was in a fairly narrow (but quite long) room and not at super loud SPL - loud enough to make the dealer turn them down a bit to converse tho. I forgot to take an SPL with me...

 

By " inexpensive amplification" above I was specifically referring to my 1.5QR's bi-amped by a Sunfire Cinema Grand - It was not a really costly amp, esp. for the non-Signature versions. I have not done any blinded tests to see if large buck amps will sound better (or if sub-kilobuck amps will still sound good).

 

After listening at the dealer's, I do think you should upgrade your Maggies every 20 years or so. It is pretty easy to drive them temporarily with whatever amp you have that shoot high current at 4 ohms, and then search for something else to compare with. A lot easier to A/B/X amps than speakers...

 

 

I'd be very interested to know what low buck amps Magnepan has tried on their larger speakers (not the desktop ones). I do know that wendell has used Bryston at shows and that they've used ARC gear a lot. There is a lot of legacy interchange between those two MN companies...

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I don't understand the love for B&W, KEF or really any of the British speakers that I've heard. We all have our preferences, this is why there are so many to choose from.

 

so tell me, who do you love?

 

 

 

 

 

 

my apologies to The Sapphires -- I am wondering what factors in the sound from speakers you are after, or at least what brands

 

personally, if I were restricted to buying all my components from a single country, it might be England (despite being taught to dislike the English and yankees as a child)

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  • 1 month later...

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