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What's the best passive (and preferably floorstanding) speaker one can find for $2,500 or less?

MRC01

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I like the Magnepan speakers at almost every price point. The 1.7i would be my choice. If they want big movie bass, I would go with 0.7's and a powered subwoofer with DSP, like the SVS series. ...
I've owned a few Maggies. The largest being a 3.3R. They always seem to wear thin with me as I've never quite liked them enough to keep them long term. ...
I've owned a pair of 3.6/R for over 15 years. They're more sensitive to room setup than most other speakers, which means they can sound terrible, but if you can dedicate an entire room to them, and the room is big enough, they can be downright magical. For my $5k budget I never found anything with their midrange and treble transparency, great for the classical and other acoustic music that I listen to most of the time. They've got decently flat response and low distortion at least in the mids and treble.
In case it's helpful for comparison, here are my latest Room EQ Wizard measurements:
http://mclements.net/blogWP/index.php/2019/01/27/room-eq-wizard-awesome/
I'm also open to any tips for improving things.
 

Blumlein 88

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I've owned a pair of 3.6/R for over 15 years. They're more sensitive to room setup than most other speakers, which means they can sound terrible, but if you can dedicate an entire room to them, and the room is big enough, they can be downright magical. For my $5k budget I never found anything with their midrange and treble transparency, great for the classical and other acoustic music that I listen to most of the time. They've got decently flat response and low distortion at least in the mids and treble.
In case it's helpful for comparison, here are my latest Room EQ Wizard measurements:
http://mclements.net/blogWP/index.php/2019/01/27/room-eq-wizard-awesome/
I'm also open to any tips for improving things.
They are sensitive, but many speakers are. Even doing the work they never quite seemed to have as good a midrange to me. The ribbons tweeters had good treble, but the midrange was a little lacking versus electrostats I favored. The big hump around 100 hz you show might be helped by altering the distance to the wall behind them. The backwave reflects off the rear wall and then is in phase with the front wave at some frequency. Careful spacing can partly cancel the natural Maggie hump in the low end and maybe fill in some of a dip. There is a weaker interaction with where the speaker is in relation to the total room length as well. Somewhere around 65 to 70 inches from the rear wall is likely near the right spot.
 

MRC01

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Their voltage sensitivity seems average, and their efficiency is lower than average. They need more power than most other speakers.
The 100 Hz spike seems to be a room mode. Big tube traps took a 6 dB bite out of it and I took another 4 dB with EQ, now it's close to linear.
Dipoles are quite sensitive to the rear wall distance. The 3.6/R bass hump you mention seems to be centered around 50 Hz. In this room, by experimentation I find the rear wall distance affects 35-75 Hertz, and not coincidentally 50 Hz is near the 1/2 octave point between them. Their current distance gives the smoothest response I can get in that range.
 
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umbro

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I can chime in as well. I like Tannoy Revolution XT8F. Awesome 3D sound.
 

GoMrPickles

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Aww boo, they only have the CBM-170 and the Sierra-1 from Ascend.

I auditioned both the LS50 and the Sierra-2. If you’ve never heard a true ribbon tweeter in action, I would invite you to go have a listen.
I picked up a pair of Sierra 2s for $750. Let's see how they sound :)
 

GoMrPickles

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Waiting for impressions! What is your current set?
Marantz AV8802A (dangit), Anthem MCA-50, Paradigm Studio 100 v2's. I expect a, um, audible difference.

(The SO's rule is that I can buy whatever speakers I want, but they can't look like dementors from Harry Potter.)
 

GoMrPickles

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Waiting for impressions! What is your current set?
Quick update. I set these up on top of my existing speakers and played a couple of tracks over Spotify via the Marantz. EQ and room correction from the Marantz is off. I have tried Audyssey, which is questionable anyway, and it made the Studio 100s worse for TV/movies (5.1), if anything. I probably won't be able to try Room EQ Wizard until after I move in a month or two.

All that said, the Sierra 2's sound pretty bad. Maybe they're revealing issues with my source material (it's Spotify), maybe I'm used to the response of the Studio 100's... I don't know. I'd expect the RAAL ribbon to sound bright compared to the 20-year-old Paradigm tweeter, but it sounds muffled, like someone put a blanket over it. I'd expect less bass, and there IS less bass - but also less everything audiophiles talk about.

I know the AV8802A measured poorly here; I should be able to set up a test with some lossless FLAC sources -> USB -> SMSL SU-8 replacing the processor. I can also play the same tracks over Spotify on my laptop and the receiver, and see if I can detect any differences there.

One possibility is that the Sierra 2's reveal issues with the 8802A that the Studio 100's do not. I really don't know.

ETA this plot:
1552948746351.png

The Studio 100s do indeed have a bass peak aound 60 Hz (boom), while the Sierra 2's have a flatter response. And the Studio 100s do have a peak at 20 KHz that might be what I'm used to hearing. (Measurements from Stereophile for the Studio 100, and from Ascend for the Sierra 2.)
 
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Roen

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That's disappointing. =(

Could just be to each their own. Waiting to hear impressions from lossless sources.
 

andreasmaaan

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Quick update. I set these up on top of my existing speakers and played a couple of tracks over Spotify via the Marantz. EQ and room correction from the Marantz is off. I have tried Audyssey, which is questionable anyway, and it made the Studio 100s worse for TV/movies (5.1), if anything. I probably won't be able to try Room EQ Wizard until after I move in a month or two.

All that said, the Sierra 2's sound pretty bad. Maybe they're revealing issues with my source material (it's Spotify), maybe I'm used to the response of the Studio 100's... I don't know. I'd expect the RAAL ribbon to sound bright compared to the 20-year-old Paradigm tweeter, but it sounds muffled, like someone put a blanket over it. I'd expect less bass, and there IS less bass - but also less everything audiophiles talk about.

I know the AV8802A measured poorly here; I should be able to set up a test with some lossless FLAC sources -> USB -> SMSL SU-8 replacing the processor. I can also play the same tracks over Spotify on my laptop and the receiver, and see if I can detect any differences there.

One possibility is that the Sierra 2's reveal issues with the 8802A that the Studio 100's do not. I really don't know.

ETA this plot:
View attachment 23813
The Studio 100s do indeed have a bass peak aound 60 Hz (boom), while the Sierra 2's have a flatter response. And the Studio 100s do have a peak at 20 KHz that might be what I'm used to hearing. (Measurements from Stereophile for the Studio 100, and from Ascend for the Sierra 2.)

Can you explain how you took the measurements that gave these plots?
 

steve-z

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I can recommend a couple of floorstanders both from the Q Acoustics stable, my current main speakers the Concept 40s which I’ve had for the last 6 months and the ones I had previously the 3050’s, which would suit depends on your room size, the 3050’s are more suited to larger rooms, in my 12’x13’ living room they had a little too much bass for my liking, the Concept 40s are perfect for my room but at a higher price point. Both are very sensitive (90-92dbw) and easy to drive, mine are gloss white and look stunning.
15BEE50A-BE85-423B-BA63-EAD8C646CA97.jpeg
BC9CFFFB-23AC-4C10-86C3-4339E2ABA70D.jpeg
 
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daftcombo

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I can recommend a couple of floorstanders both from the Q Acoustics stable, my current main speakers the Concept 40s which I’ve had for the last 6 months and the ones I had previously the 3050’s, which would suit depends on your room size, the 3050’s are more suited to larger rooms, in my 12’x13’ living room they had a little too much bass for my liking, the Concept 40s are perfect for my room but at a higher price point. Both are very sensitive (90-92dbw) and easy to drive, mine are gloss white and look stunning.View attachment 25353

Nice setup, but (and I'll be out of the subject here) if I had a TV with a sunny bow-window behind just like that, I couldn't watch a program more than one minute before getting a headache. That kind of setup is terrible for the eyes (unless you close the curtains of course).
 

steve-z

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Nice setup, but (and I'll be out of the subject here) if I had a TV with a sunny bow-window behind just like that, I couldn't watch a program more than one minute before getting a headache. That kind of setup is terrible for the eyes (unless you close the curtains of course).
I don’t find it a problem generally, tbh I normally only watch TV after 6pm when the sun is out of sight of the bay window, use it mainly as a monitor for my MacMini to access my iTunes library, my main digital music source.
 

daftcombo

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I don’t find it a problem generally, tbh I normally only watch TV after 6pm when the sun is out of sight of the bay window, use it mainly as a monitor for my MacMini to access my iTunes library, my main digital music source.

Good for you. It must really depend on people.

It took me two years to understand why I had headaches almost everyday. I went to the doctor, took different kinds of medecine which did nothing except give bad side-effects.
One day I changed the place of my screen, and put it 90 degrees with the window.
Never had headaches anymore.
It's been 12 years now.
 

steve-z

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Good for you. It must really depend on people.

It took me two years to understand why I had headaches almost everyday. I went to the doctor, took different kinds of medecine which did nothing except give bad side-effects.
One day I changed the place of my screen, and put it 90 degrees with the window.
Never had headaches anymore.
It's been 12 years now.
Main reason why the TV is where it is, is I use my hifi for movies as well as music, plus the room layout would make it very difficult to have it in a different position. Both the Concept 40 and 3050’s are both excellent with movies.
 
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