Frustrated trying to buy new speakers...

scooter

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Dec 25, 2013
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I have been listening to planars for almost 9 years and my new house is forcing me to get something smaller. So, I have been hitting the local audio stores but have been coming up short. They have only the usual stand-bys such as Wilson, B&W, Sonus Faber but have very limited ability or willingness for home auditions (none of which are my cup of tea). The largest dealer in town is only "willing" if I am very close to purchasing one of their brands and the inference was buy first and then we can exchange if you aren't happy. Those that are openly willing don't have the selection that interests me enough to make it worthwhile.

How does one go about hearing brands such as Magico, Raidho, TAD, or Evolution Acoustics to just name a few these days? It seems like I am being forced to buy a used pair off of audiogon so that I don't get killed by depreciation and just flip them if I don't like how they sound.
 

GaryProtein

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Jul 25, 2012
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I have been listening to planars for almost 9 years and my new house is forcing me to get something smaller. . . .

Your new house or your wife???? :p :p
 

scouter

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Oct 30, 2012
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Love of planars+ smaller room = Magico, IMHO. Sealed box will be less placement dependent than ported. A less detailed sound than planars or Magicos, give YG Carmels a listen. I've had both, and both are excellent in their own way. This kind of money dictates travel and listen. Where are you located?
 

GaryProtein

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I have heard the smaller Raidhos and they were very, very good.
 

scouter

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Love of planars+ smaller room = Magico, IMHO. Sealed box will be less placement dependent than ported. A less detailed sound than planars or Magicos, give YG Carmels a listen. I've had both, and both are excellent in their own way. This kind of money dictates travel and listen. Where are you located?
Wives need to be on board for the speaker decision. Not many speakers are worth mama not being happy.
 

GaryProtein

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That's true, but you at least have to give them a run for the money!:D
 

treitz3

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Dec 25, 2011
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Hello scooter. What are you going from to? (space wise)

Tom
 

GaryProtein

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A speaker in your living room is a lot harder to declare, "Oh, this, I have had it for quite some time now. . . " than a cd player or pre-amp that she doesn't actually use herself.
 

Bruce B

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Long time Maggie owner/fan.... my first box speaker was a Joseph Audio RM25si Loved that speaker and all of Jeff Joseph's speakers.

If I didn't have the Wilson's now, I'd either get TAD or Magico. Forget about the others on your list.
 

scooter

Well-Known Member
Dec 25, 2013
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So to answer a few of the comments:

Old room approx 550 sq ft. New room approx 230 sq ft. Both have ceilings slightly < 9 ft.

Old room - dedicated. New room - dedicated... i.e. wife doesn't care what the speakers look like. I thought I could expand the new media room 10' but it turns out that the house would fall over if I did that. I kind of screwed myself when buying the house as I thought I could make it work until the architect crushed my soul after we moved in.

Use the living room - Would love to do that but I don't have a living room. Its a contemporary house with a very open floor plan with lots of glass (and I mean lots). The dedicated diminutive media room is all I have to work with.

Flying around to audition speakers still doesn't help in evaluating what something will sound like in my house. Hence my thought of picking up something on Audiogon. There is a set of Raidho C3 and TAD CR1 from dealers available now... I know both have been upgraded with new models but if I am forced to gamble, one could do a lot worse.
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Von Schweikert Unifield 3 Mk2

I was so sad my Uni 3 Mk1 in the bedroom was bought I had to order a replacement. They replaced 1.6QRs by the way.

You might not get the wave launch but the ribbons will help make the adjustment from planar to dynamic driver a lot easier.
 

GaryProtein

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Jul 25, 2012
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. . . I thought I could expand the new media room 10' but it turns out that the house would fall over if I did that. I kind of screwed myself when buying the house as I thought I could make it work until the architect crushed my soul after we moved in. . . .

What do you mean by "the house would fall over?" Is it literally on stilts on a cliff? Get another architect. There is little you can't do with well placed steel and concrete.
 

DaveyF

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Jul 31, 2010
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Scooter, IF you liked planar's, then perhaps you might ask the dealer to demo the SF Guarneri Evolution's. IF set up correctly, ( Which is a BIG IF)...they can give you all that planars can and frankly IMO, a LOT more. Plus, they will work like a charm in the room size that you are working with.
 

scooter

Well-Known Member
Dec 25, 2013
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What do you mean by "the house would fall over?" Is it literally on stilts on a cliff? Get another architect. There is little you can't do with well placed steel and concrete.
The wall in question supports multiple loads from multiple directions with several stories on top of it including two porches and a flat roof that is cantelievered. Yes, you can do a lot with steel which is what they did to build the house in the first place.
 

Peter Breuninger

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Jul 20, 2010
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Raidho D1, Magico S3, or downsize your planars to MMGs with a bass panel (or two). The MMGs in Vegas last month were simply amazing.

GoldShowBestsoundtheshow2014 magnepan.jpg

 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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Scooter, IF you liked planar's, then perhaps you might ask the dealer to demo the SF Guarneri Evolution's. IF set up correctly, ( Which is a BIG IF)...they can give you all that planars can and frankly IMO, a LOT more. Plus, they will work like a charm in the room size that you are working with.

+1...we did the shootout between quad 2805, 2905 and Guarneri and Strad. For all the qualities I loved about the 2905, I found them in the G. Very very pleasantly surprised by this. Very. 3 dealers attended...all of us were surprised actually.
 

GaryProtein

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thedudeabides

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Jan 16, 2011
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Scooter,

Had four pairs of Martin Logans and currently the MBL 116's.

Will be buying the YG Kipod II Signatures in a couple of weeks.

If you and your wife want to visit the NYC area, suggest you contact Bill Parish / GTT Audio for a visit.

He's a YG dealer and, IMHO, a man of great integrity.

I agree with the fact that you should plan on some travelling to be sure you are happy with your next set of speakers. A very reasonable down payment to insure long term satisfaction.

GG
 

microstrip

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It is very difficult to advise if we do not known approximate budget and the system you want to use, we could easily find many tens of great sounding speakers that are suitable for a 230 square feet room.

For your room size I can not separate looks from sound - ugly speakers make me claustrophobic in rooms having less than 400 square feet. Dis-considering the brands you have excluded my obvious recommendation would be either the Franco Serblin - Ktema or Accordo - or the Sonusfaber - Amati Futura or Guarneri Evolution.
 

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