Best Monitors under $10,000

I have had a pair of Wilson Benesch monitors with their ultra-cool stands in my room for an extended period of time and I also bought a pair of the LS-50s and had a custom made pair of Sound Anchor stands for them. I 'get' what monitors do and I appreciate it (I still have to have subs though). However, given the choice, I will take a pair of really good floor standing speakers any day. I'm a sucker for full range sound and large scale dynamics.
 
Harbeth M30.1 on Sound Anchor stands. I'm a new owner, they're still breaking in, and they are awesome. I've fawned over them in a separate thread. I've owned other quality monitors and floor standers and these are my last pair of speakers. Chris
 
Try explaining to the ballbreaker mother-in-law! The music is barely set at background levels and I still get questioned why I have to have it so loud and to turn it down.
 
My Adamantes III 25ths sound better than I ever imagined. If they take the under $10k prize, though, it would be for wife appeal. Because my wife likes the looks, I get little complaint about the expense or the fact that our living room is now primarily a listening room. They do not help with the eternal struggle over volume level, however. If I had it to do over again I would have written a right to 90db peaks into my wedding vows. :panic:
 
I forgot to mention why I love the Brodmann Vienna Festival Series monitors.

Price - Exceptional value.
Build - Exceptional finish. Crafted by piano makers.
Sound - These cabinets have integrated sounding boards. They are an all rounder but do exceptionally well playing classical and jazz. You will probably never hear a better piano score after listening to Brodmann.
Setup - Easy to drive, easy to position. Minimal footprint.

I always keep coming back to these. They are one of those special monitors that leave you with a magical impression.

I would love a pair for another system and will probably end up owning them.

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Well I already have a pair of Linkwitz Orion's which are full range and probably blow away most floor-standers costing up to $20,000, driven through an external crossover by eight channels of Pass Labs/First Watt amplification. Peter Aczel of the Audio Critic reviewed the Orion's when they were introduced several years ago, calling them the most musically convincing speakers, in stereo, that he ever heard.

So for me, monitors are just another way of enjoying the music. I have several tube amps and an amazing (and amazingly powerful) solid state amp, the Muse 200, which makes my generally inefficient monitors such as Platinum Solo's and Usher BE-718's sing like you wouldn't believe! I just sold off a pair of Focal 1008's so I wanted to find another pair of monitors, preferably fairly efficient ones which can be driven well with a 300b or 845 SET amp, which to me would un-throne the Usher's, which to date is the best-sounding monitor I have had the pleasure to listen to.
 
Moby said:
Harbeth M30.1 on Sound Anchor stands. I'm a new owner, they're still breaking in, and they are awesome. I've fawned over them in a separate thread. I've owned other quality monitors and floor standers and these are my last pair of speakers. Chris
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Chris, respectfully, if I were a betting man, the Harbeths's, while awesome speakers, will not be your last pair. Based on my experience all of us audio addicts are constantly seeking out their holy grail of speakers, or amplifiers, or DAC's. The never-ending quest for our "last" speaker is what makes our hobby so interesting and enticing and compelling!
 
Steve, are there any professional reviews of these Brodmann speakers out there? I would love to read more about them. Thanks.
 
RDSChicago said:
Well I already have a pair of Linkwitz Orion's which are full range and probably blow away most floor-standers costing up to $20,000, driven through an external crossover by eight channels of Pass Labs/First Watt amplification. Peter Aczel of the Audio Critic reviewed the Orion's when they were introduced several years ago, calling them the most musically convincing speakers, in stereo, that he ever heard.

So for me, monitors are just another way of enjoying the music. I have several tube amps and an amazing (and amazingly powerful) solid state amp, the Muse 200, which makes my generally inefficient monitors such as Platinum Solo's and Usher BE-718's sing like you wouldn't believe! I just sold off a pair of Focal 1008's so I wanted to find another pair of monitors, preferably fairly efficient ones which can be driven well with a 300b or 845 SET amp, which to me would un-throne the Usher's, which to date is the best-sounding monitor I have had the pleasure to listen to.
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I bet you say that at all the audiophile gatherings...:rolleyes:

Peter Aczel aka Peter "Cotton" Ears is no shrinking violet when stating that SQ always takes a back seat to measurements. you had me until you mentioned his name.
 
Understood, Rob (from another Rob). I independently decided I liked the Orion's very much, "Cotton Ears" notwithstanding!:)

They are pretty cool speakers, with the front and back-firing tweeters and woofers and all. But again, something about excellent monitors intrigues me more than floor-standers. Perhaps it's the laser-like imaging or some other intangible I can't put my finger on. And with the Orion's, one is stuck with the amplification that is tuned in to the crossovers, so there is no room to compare and contrast how different amplifiers sound with different speakers. I can demo a half dozen amps with at least that many pairs of speakers. The permutations and combinations seem nearly endless. And moving monitors out of the way to make room for a different pair is certainly far easier than lugging floor-standers in and out of the listening area! Maybe I just put my finger on why I like monitors better than floor-standers - ease of movement!
 
RDSChicago said:
Paul, those Diapason's are frickin' beautiful. I went on the website and didn't see any USA presence. Are they available here in North America?
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We have one in Toronto but not sure in your area. I think we have an actual owner here as well (a.k.a BayStbroker) hope he chimes in .

I heard them with GRAAF Int amp( another Italian beauty ) sound fabulous.

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Not sure when exactly, but I am hoping to arrange an in-home demo of the Dali Epicon 2's soon. Will let you know how that pans out if and when...

They are attractive to me for several reasons - They are fairly efficient. A definite leg up on other contenders like the Dynaudio C1 and Harbeth M30.1s which is important to me with my 30w/ch Luxman. They have fantastic looks and build quality, definitely a leg up on the Harbeth's in that department. They have a dedicated stand for them, which I really like, however, I probably wouldn't actually purchase it as it is $1500 which seems obscenely expensive for what you get.

Hopefully I can agree with their sound. It is with considerable trepidation I re-enter the market for high end speakers. I've had 3 high end speakers in a row now that while impressive, were not always satisfying on a fundamental level. Im looking at just about everything out there under $10k (though really shooting for <$6k) but am leaning towards a simple two way of some sort.
 
Well, Paul - you missed out one tiny detail . That the local dealer you mention has a (long) history of kiting cheques, selling used and demo inventory as "New" , running an endless shell-game of payments with suppliers and buyers and has the general business ethics of a cockroach. He's trusted by no-one with a brain . With dealers like that.....
 
RDSChicago said:
Paul, those Diapason's are frickin' beautiful. I went on the website and didn't see any USA presence. Are they available here in North America?
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According to their website --and that may not be current -- Diapason has NO N. American distribution. That said, Alan Kafton/Audioexcellenceaz has carried Diapason in the US for quite some time. Diapason had some US distribution/presence in the mid to late '90s (along with some other Italian products like Aliante, Chario, Aloia) with Steve Davis and HIFI Farm but none since then that I've seen.

Diapason - audio excellence az
 
The Diapasons are eminently musical and handle bass down to 40Hz very admirably. Soundstaging is miraculous and enchanting. But if they were to take the trophy in the under $10k category, though, wife appeal would be a major factor. After she SAW them, my wife hardly questioned the expense OR the fact that I've turned our living room into predominately a listening room. They do not, however, do anything to deter the eternal spousal struggle over volume levels. If I had it to do over again, I would have written the right to peaks of 90db into a premarital contract.:P
 
RDSChicago said:
Steve, are there any professional reviews of these Brodmann speakers out there? I would love to read more about them. Thanks.
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See below. Not that much in full reviews. I have been demoed these speakers twice in different environments. I have also listened to the bigger VC7. You would be very surprised how close these baby's are. Also, given that they have omni-directionality as part of their design, they are very room friendly.

Brodmann and Electrocompaniet | Stereophile.com

http://www.brodmann.at/pics/avmentor.pdf

http://www.hans-deutsch.com/theacousticactiveprincip.pdf
 
Can't believe nobody mentioned the Evolution Acoustics MMMicro One. At $4k with stands, it's a steal. And also the best bookshelf speaker I've heard, above or below their price.


alexandre
 
RDSChicago said:
Chris, respectfully, if I were a betting man, the Harbeths's, while awesome speakers, will not be your last pair. Based on my experience all of us audio addicts are constantly seeking out their holy grail of speakers, or amplifiers, or DAC's. The never-ending quest for our "last" speaker is what makes our hobby so interesting and enticing and compelling!
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RDSChicago - also respectfully - I'd be happy to take that bet. When you reach a certain age the excitement of spending money for its own sake wears off - when you finally realize that you've made a great purchase, one that you can live with for a long time, you happily move on. The Harbeths were a great purchase and I find them perfect for my listening room. I'd also have to disagree on another point, its not the equipment that makes the hobby so enticing, but the music the equipment is reproducing. So, since I'm not planning on moving any time in the next 10 years or so, I'll happily spend my money on vinyl rather than equipment and just sit back and enjoy.
 
asiufy said:
Can't believe nobody mentioned the Evolution Acoustics MMMicro One. At $4k with stands, it's a steal. And also the best bookshelf speaker I've heard, above or below their price.


alexandre
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alexandre, you need to get out more (jes kiddin') I had an opportunity to buy them when the were still 2500/pr. and sprang for the pulsars instead.

I will say jon Tinn does coax impressive sound out of them at the shows I've heard them at.
 
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