£4k speakers? What do people recommend listening to?

Forests are nearly £5k, next down are the double bisons £4.4k, single bisons £3.3k. But agreed recommended with Naim amps.

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These were on my list to replace my Evokes. That was before we discovered that my 30 year old Linn Keilidh’s backed up by a Rel T5/x was the sound I was looking for😊

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The, Kudos Cardea C20’s are now discontinued which is a shame as they were an excellent speaker and would have been on my upgrade list when the time came the Super 20A’s are stIll in production and are even better than the C20’s but at £5,700 new here in the UK they are way over budget.

This, look at the Spendor A series. Rear ported but usable close to a wall. Probably better with 6 inches away but sold as not needing to be away from a rear wall.

Best speaker I have ever had at home and I have had a few (including Avalons at £15k new)

I di find the passives to be more forgiving of placement, probably because the 250 I’d a less powerful amp than the ones feeding the bass drivers on the active version.

I would absolutely put them on the shortlist to audition.

As for end game speakers, no that would be the active 50 for me😉

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I have a similar system to you and was seeking speakers for a similar price / room layout / music taste back in 2020. I bought a pair of Audiovector floorstanders (SR3s). They have small rear ports behind the tweeter and a downward firing bass port with a clever diffusion base.

I have them 22cm from a solid rear wall and don’t have a problem with unwanted bass reinforcement at all. They have a narrow front profile and fit our living space well. I also have AV speakers from them. You can see our system here: Post 6367

This model has been replaced by the R3, the least expensive version now retails at just over £5k that may be too much for you but an Audiovector dealer may have the older model available. I’ve heard them and they are well worth seeking out. Lots of options for subsequent tweaking!

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Me, too, but I don’t have room for them.

Roger

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Nor me I suspect :cry:

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FWIW, bass reinforcement is nothing to do with the rearports, downward firing ports, front ports, or indeed any ports at all! With bass being omnidirectional, bass reinforcement is simply to do with speaker output and wall proximity. The legitimate concern with rear firing ports is interference with the airflow if the rear of the speaker is very close to the wall.

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+1 for the ProAC speakers…

I am biased since I have used ProAc D2D speakers in the past and for the past few years have used ProAC D30RS speakers in my system which is very similar to yours. Hopefully you have a dealer close by and can arrange to have a home demo. Good luck with your decision!

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Funny you mention them… my appointment is booked! :joy:

Yes, they’re on my list.

Harbeth Compact C7ES- 3XD on TonTrager stands.

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Obviously I’m not the op but I’m considering Harbeth speakers what makes these stands so special compared to the others?

Hello dmu,
I realy don’t know.But they are specialy,and only made for Harbeth.And they look nice.

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Only my opinion

As you can already see you’re going to get many suggestions of what people chose for themselves. What’s most important is what sound you like. So auditioning is the most important part unless you don’t mind losing money going through the journey of owning many speakers.

Having said that in the past couple of years I’ve home auditioned or owned

Audioplan Kantata
Dynaudio Heritage
Kudos 505
Kudos Super20A
Audiovector r1 arette
Audiovector sr3
Borresen Z1 Cryo
Harbeth SHL5 XD

Store demoed a few more like Kudos 606, Audiovector R6 and a few others.

At the end I much preferred the Harbeth 30.2 XDs to my surprise. In the list of speakers I auditioned there were some that were far more expensive but they just didn’t do it for me like the 30s. So make your short list and then audition the Sh*t outta your choices. :grin:

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I’m guessing I’ve probably answered this question before but I’ll answer it by comparing some of the speakers I auditioned.

The kudos sound is just not for me. Too bright in my system. Boxy mids and a very defined and dynamic bass but that’s it really. It didn’t do the emotional aspect of the music for me.

The treble on the Borresen Z1 is sublime with the AMT tweeters. Same with the Audiovectors. These two speaker brands were comparable in sound. But again I wasn’t tapping my feet or having as much fun.

The Harbeths just deliever everything I want. They sound more natural than the others. Almost like they aren’t trying too hard to impress. The midrange is much more open. More airy sounding than all the others. I also prefer the mids on the Harbeth 30 XDs than the HL5 XDs. The kudos are actually revealing more information than the Harbeths but somehow with my system the Harbeth 30s were always a more enjoyable listen. The 30s don’t
have wallops of bass and the AMT tweeters on the Borresen and Audiovectors exhibit sweeter treble with more information. But somehow the way everything comes together with the 30s is just right for me. With my Naim system they have the right amount of bass, treble, openess, speed and so on. Btw they sound very different depending on the stands they are on.

Mine are currently on rock Solid Burmese Rosewood stands and they’re the best stands I’ve ever heard. You get the speed of metal frame stands with the bass weight and organic tone of wooden stands.

I’ll attach a photo just because I want to :grimacing:

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I’ll be interested in how you get on. If you have qobuz, make yourself a playlist now, you’ll be able to play it on the ndx once Andy lets you on to the WiFi.

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The speaker test list is already made… :sunglasses:

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