$30K Budget - On the quest for my "end game" speaker

[Recluse-Animator]

https://www.hifinews.com/content/kef-ls60-wireless-loudspeaker

KEF LS60:

 

[srrxr71]

https://7review.com/kef-ls60-wireless-review/

Kef LS60:

I’m wondering. Are those waterfalls basically anechoic?

 

[MarcT]

With that budget, you might try to get a listen to the Vimberg Mino. I'm not sure of their output and measurements, but I have heard them at audio shows in some fairly good size rooms, and they sound incredible. And if aesthetics are important, it's hard to beat these.

MINO – Vimberg

vimberg.de

They are available through https://www.thevoicethatis.com/pages/contact.html

 

[Recluse-Animator]

If I were spending $30k for a pair of speakers they would need to look great as well as sound great. I realize that’s likely THE most subjective aspect of the choice, but one I could not ignore.

Did someone mention great looks?

I'll show myself out.

 

[Doodski]

Did someone mention great looks?

I'll show myself out.

UGH! It looks like a plumber made them. Not too bad although not acceptable.

 

[Recluse-Animator]

Those custom steampunk speakers were made by James Loudspeakers.

https://www.jamesloudspeaker.com/

 

[Doodski]

Those custom steampunk speakers were made by James Loudspeakers.

https://www.jamesloudspeaker.com/

It's like spiders observing!

 

[mglobe]

Those custom steampunk speakers were made by James Loudspeakers.

https://www.jamesloudspeaker.com/

They look like something I would have drawn when I was 12.

 

[MarcT]

Did someone mention great looks?

I'll show myself out.

10/10 on the WAF scale!

 

[mglobe]

10/10 on the WTF scale!

Fixed it for you.

 

[Speaker_tweaker]

https://7review.com/kef-ls60-wireless-review/

KEF LS60:

Measurement "laboratory" is one Paul Miller. His Measurement of a JBL HDI-3800 doesn't bear much resemblance to the EAC measurement, so I wouldn't put much stock in his data.

 

[Recluse-Animator]

Comparing Hi-Fi news with Erin.

 

[Speaker_tweaker]

Yeah seriously. Treat the room first with what you already have.

I think the thing with these controlled directivity speakers is that people are applying them as the next best thing when they cannot treat the room for various reasons. They will do better but not as well as properly treating the room. It’s all a compromise and these are not magic

I disagree with this. If the directivity isn't uniform, either the listening window, early reflections or sound power will have coloration and that can be perceived by the listener

 

[Duke]

If the directivity isn't uniform, either the listening window, early reflections or sound power will have coloration and that can be perceived by the listener

Agreed.

Acoustic treatments have a hard time fixing poor off-axis response. Imo it is more practical to start out with spectrally-correct (or nearly so) off-axis response, and directivity which is a good match for the room situation to begin with, especially if extensive room treatment is impractical for whatever reason.

I'm not saying you can't get "there" either way, and ideally it's not either/or (good directivity vs good room acoustics). But a piano doesn't need a thoroughly-treated room in order to sound good, and one might argue that neither should the speakers playing a recording of that piano.

 

[chorus]

These may have already been listed above:
Active- ATC 50s or 100s,
Passives- Stenheim, Vimberg, Borresen,

No clue how they measure but I have heard them all
along with many others. My ears chose these.

 

[Speaker_tweaker]

Comparing Hi-Fi news with Erin.

That looks better, but the measurements still do not seem reliable in general. It's nearfield bass spliced to quasi anechoic, so no surprise there.

If you look at pierreaubert.github.io you can see Kef reference one meta, Kef R3 and KEF LS50 Wireless II. These have high quality measurements from multiple sources and the agreement is good.

I really don't see any reason to doubt the factory measurements that come out of Kef or Harman.

 

[Speaker_tweaker]

These may have already been listed above:
Active- ATC 50s or 100s,
Passives- Stenheim, Vimberg, Borresen,

No clue how they measure but I have heard them all
along with many others. My ears chose these.

Your eyes probably contributed 50% of the sound assessment unless you chose the speakers in a double-blind comparison test. It's hard to believe, but science tells we cannot be objective in sighted testing.

The ATCs were discussed earlier and it was mentioned there are no available measurements. I pointed out the ATC SCM19 has terrible spinorama data (see here), which gives good reason to question everything they make.

 

[Recluse-Animator]

These may have already been listed above:
Active- ATC 50s or 100s,
Passives- Stenheim, Vimberg, Borresen,

No clue how they measure but I have heard them all
along with many others. My ears chose these.

You can forget Borresen with only 30k.

Borresen M1:

For 6000€ more they will cryogenize your speakers...

 

[Adi777]

Timberg looks like a Tidal speakers, very similar.

@Recluse-Animator
You can forget Borresen with only 30k.

Borresen M1

What do they have that cost so much? Bookshelf speakers for almost 100,000 Euro, with a bandwidth starting from 40 Hz, and probably with a decrease?

 

[MarcT]

Timberg looks like a Tidal speakers, very similar.

@Recluse-Animator
You can forget Borresen with only 30k.

Borresen M1

What do they have that cost so much? Bookshelf speakers for almost 100,000 Euro, with a bandwidth starting from 40 Hz, and probably with a decrease?

Lol, that's because Vimberg is Tidal's "budget" line!