Full range tower speakers, ~$6k and under?

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2FlyingYorkies

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Putting together a secondary system for the basement, and seeking some thoughts on full range tower speakers in the "$6k and under per pair" price range. At one time we thought this would end up being a true zillion-channel surround/theater setup, but we just don't watch enough movies to justify it. So this really becomes more of a lighter-budget music rig that can pull double duty. Would really like to have the option of a matching horizontal center channel, which definitely limits the options a bit. Electronics will still lean towards multi-channel, meaning that some kind of surround preamp will be in charge, and power will come from beefy solid state amps. Haven't settled on the electronics yet, but leading candidates for the processor include the Anthem AVM60, Marantz 8805, Acurus Muse, or Lexicon MC10. There will be sub(s) in this system for LFE, but I still prefer a main speaker that can dig reasonably deep on its own.

Very much interested in the forum's suggestions on what to consider. My own personal short list includes things like the Revel Performa series, Sonus Faber Sonetto, and Focal Aria, mostly because they're reasonably popular lines that get media coverage. I've heard all three, can find fault with them all (particularly when comparing to my primary rig), and am left a bit uninspired. I suspect there are other/better choices in this price range if I look a little more towards the boutique brands, so fire away!
 
Give Monitor Audio Gold series a listen and they would have a center.

It may be helpful to know what you didn't like in the other speakers.

I like the JBL L100's but not sure what would work for center. They did debut a new HDI series at CEDIA but I don't know anything about them yet.

I'm not up on Dynaudio pricing but one of their series would certainly have towers with matching center, perhaps the Evoke.

I've always liked Dynaudio. More of a Monitor Audio fan with their more recent models.
 
I just heard the Usher - Dancer Mini 2 Diamonds last week and liked them.

Mike has the new lineup of Fyne speakers that fit the bill.

Dynaudio is also a good choice.
 
Fyne 502SP and you’ll have money left over.
B&W 702S2 and you’ll have money left over.
 
you won't have any $$ left over but with a good discount ......... Revel F226Be
 
Mr Peabody said:
It may be helpful to know what you didn't like in the other speakers.
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Good point. Here are a few general thoughts on a few of the speakers I've heard so far. They were all generally driven by good 2-channel gear (Naim featured more than once).

Revel F208: Generally quite good, and a real contender. Good extended frequency response, but not a whole lot of weight or impact on the bottom. A sub would fix this, of course. Maybe not quite as dynamic as some of the others, and certainly not as sensitive. I'd describe it as inoffensive, but not inspiring. The new F226Be looks interesting. The 228Be was just too expensive, so I hadn't considered that line until now. Not a fan of the white drivers, though. Hopefully the grills are optically opaque and acoustically transparent!

Sonus Faber Sonnetto V: Good sound, but the soundstage was razor thin. Like move your head 2" from the sweet spot, and the other channel goes away. Maybe a setup problem, but I was assured they were set for a "wide" sound at the expense of perfect sweet spot resolution since they knew we'd be using them for a theater application. It was really hard to get over the soundstage issue and focus on the rest of the speaker.

Focal Aria 948: The biggest challenge here is that I'm tempted to compare directly to my Sopra No 3's at home. With that yardstick, they fall short. A bit bright in the treble, and slightly muddy bass that doesn't dig super deep. Considered in a vacuum I suspect they're fine for the price point.

I did get to hear the Monitor Audio Silver series recently (either the 200 or 300, don't recall which), and those were pretty good. The Gold series is probably worth a listen.

Mike (and others), Fyne sounds interesting, but I'm not sure how to get an audition here in the middle of the country. If my travel plans take me towards Florida, I'll have to come in for a listen.
 
How about the Goldenear Triton R? I have no experience with them but they do get glowing reviews for what that's worth.
 
how Big is the room? There’s used usher be20dmds on ag that really sing. Read the reviews for the meridian 7200. Lots of good options when you consider buying used.
 
steve59 said:
how Big is the room?
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The room is 23x30x8, with the speakers on the right-most 16ft of the 23ft wall. Seating ~12ft back from the wall.

Mike B. said:
How about the Goldenear Triton R?
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We heard the Triton Reference some time ago shortly after they hit the street, and were not impressed. Intolerably bright, almost to the same level as the Paradigm Persona 7 we heard the same day. This is not the reputation of the T-ref that I see in reviews, so I suspect a poor synergy with the connected McIntosh gear, much less break-in than we were led to believe they had, or some other setup issue. But perhaps more to the point, I don't particularly like the idea of a powered bass section. i'd rather have the flexibility to put dedicated subs where they "belong" in the room, which is often not the same place the main speakers should live.
 
Jack said:
Jeff is this mostly a Video system where you're going to use LFE from the processor?
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I don't know that it's "mostly" a video system, but it will be multichannel for when we decide to watch a movie. At one time it was going to be all-in 7.2.2 (or whatever the numbers are), but after re-evaluating the cost of doing that kind of setup the right way versus how often we watch 'immersive' movies, we decided to step back a little. I'd call it a secondary music system in the basement rec room that happens to be surround-capable.

Regardless, bass will be managed by the processor's LFE capabilities, augmented by electronic room correction of some kind. There will be stereo subs in the room. I still like the idea of a fairly full range speaker, as i can easily see myself defeating the subs for 2-channel use. Or at the very least would need to run a different profile for movies vs music.
 
Focal Electra 1038. They sound closer to Sopra series than Aria and through and through real full range.
 
The new big Elac Adante AF-61's are $5000 a pair. Andrew Jones most ambitious speaker since joining Elac.

Larry
 
kzhtoo said:
Focal Electra 1038. They sound closer to Sopra series than Aria and through and through real full range.
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I had considered the Electra, but it's been superseded by Kanta (at too high of a price for me) and no longer appears on Focal's website. I suppose I could go looking for a lightly used pair, though.
 
As a long-time Tannoy fan, I would buy any of the Fyne speakers simply based on their heritage. But that's my admittedly biased viewpoint.

If you want to save a lot of money, but don't want to compromise musical involvement, the Wharfedale Linton Heritages on stands are approximately 39" tall. Way better performance than their price range, and they are finished nicely.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/wharfedale-linton-heritage-loudspeaker

Plus, if they didn't work out, they'd be easy to sell.
 
astrotoy said:
The new big Elac Adante AF-61's are $5000 a pair. Andrew Jones most ambitious speaker since joining Elac.

Larry
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Yes!
I had these in mind too.
Heard them, unaware of the price and thought they were around 15K.

Dynaudio, Monitor Audio Gold (or even Siilver),mentioned above, are good choices too.

These Indianas got a very good review in 'Stereoplay':

https://www.dietmar-hoelper.de/Tesi/Tesi-661

They go down to 29 Hz and cost a whopping 900€ per pair.
 
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