Lively speakers!

[zoldar]

From 2012 I will finally have enough room for Floorstanding speakers.

Am looking for reasonably bright, dynamic speakers. They should present a large soundstage. Bass should be solid, not boomy but certainly "present". The middle should be as transparent as Lady Gaga's outfits. At times they should be able to play realisticly loud. The Graaf GM50b tube amp is not a whimp but the speakers should not dip into 2ohm-amp munching -86db territory.


Shortlist
Triangle Genese Quartet
http://www.audiovideo2day.eu/image.php?img=mei_2010/quartet-horizontale-2.jpg

PMC Twenty.23
http://www.supersonido.es/productos/imagenes/producto10404.jpg

Monitor Audio Gold GX200
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2304/5706970650_23d3cd95b7_o.jpg

Any suggestions?

[technobear]

Zu Essence

[Reid Malenfant]

If you can find a pair in good condition secondhand then get an audition of a pair of Yamaha NS1000 or NS1000M ;) Or the 2000 come to that at the right price...

They'd fit your description & would probably be a match made in heaven with the Graaf amp :)

David Price summed them up pretty well when he said they sound like an electrostatic with a subwoofer & super tweeter ;)

[DSJR]

NS1000's aren't floor standing.... Not going to comment on them otherwise...

KEF and B&W do some highly competent floor standers, both new and used. used, I loved the CDM-7's at the time and some of the KEF's can thrill as well, but you need to be careful as both companies went to horrible excess depending on time-period and model..

Not sure of these would be quite your thang, but Spendor S6e and S8e should be considered, as they're so smooth on the one hand, yet sound good on acoutic instruments as well as harder rock. The Graaf should drive these easily too (I used Chord Odyssey and Naim A5 with the "S" series to advantage)

[Reid Malenfant]

NS1000's aren't floor standing....
They don't exactly stick to the ceiling either :eyebrows:

The guy wants exciting speakers, you heard of a stand?

[zoldar]

Thanx for the suggestions. Those Yamaha's look, well, they look great. The do have an exceedingly low WAF rating, if my judgement of my wife is correct. And I'm looking for floor standers.

I did have B&W CDM-7 SE and they sounded very good with the Graaf. The problem is Triangle. These speakers are so much more dynamic and the highs cut the sky in half compared to the alluminium tweeters of B&W.

I did some scouting at dealers these weeks.

PMC Twenty.23
A very different PMC speaker from before. These things sound open, and detailed and sharp. The new tweeter does wonders. The chewwy, chiselled hewn from a rock Bass is still there. Great speaker. Limited in loudness. Must try the 24.

Monitor Audio GX200
What a great tweeter! Detail to die for. It's lively too. Mids very nice and open, you can see david gilmours hands glide on his guitar. Never course or sharp though. Swamped by larger rooms though with its small drivers. Must try GX300. Fabulous speaker.

Triangle Genese Quartet
Highs and mids on steroids, speed and other substances. The only speaker that makes me believe someone is actually striking a snare drum or cymbal. It can make you whince, it can make you go: are you #$$%# kidding me? The mids are exhibitionisticly open. Voices come with intonation, breath, spit and uvula. The Bass goes deep but lacks slam. It simlpy cannot hold sway against the high and mid. Sub needed imho. Wonderfully alive speakers. Rough diamonds.

[DSJR]

Haven't cared for many of the later MA's I've heard. They all sound "hashy" at the crossover point to me and 6" approx metal cone drivers all take off (supposedly hidden by the crossover but...) right in the mid treble. if you want to see how vicious this can be, take a look at some of the current metal-cone Scans on their site. A gentle rise can be easily dealt with, but the resonant peaks of their metal versions are huge.......

[jandl100]

Hmmm. :hmm: ... Zoldar wants bright forward speakers. Which is fair enough as he seems very definite about the decision. :) Also, my experience of Graaf amps is that they are a little on the warm and cumfy side of the fence, so a brightly balanced speaker can give good synergy.

Have you considered Martin Logan hybrid electrostatics? They are very detailed and can often provide a forward and exciting balance.

But it seems to me that you are heading towards a Monitor Audio speaker. ;)
If you like 'em, ignore what anyone else might think - it's your system! -and go for it! :thumbsup:

[John]

If you can hear the speakers in your room before purchase

[zoldar]

Zu Essence

Now that looks promising for tube amplification. Thank you for bringing it to my atention. Reading up on this one.

This is shortlisting. I will have to listen at home where the final result will be much more dependant on the room and amp combination.

[technobear]

I owned Triangle Celius Esw before Zu Druids. The Triangles were very good but the Zu's took it to the next level.

One characteristic of the Triangles is they take an age to break in. The Celius needed 500 hours before the bass came through fully. The pair you heard may not have been fully broken in.

[freefallrob]

JBL's, lively and dynamic.

Something like...http://uk.jbl.com/jbl-product-detail-uk/ls60bg.html

[goraman]

http://www.tektondesign.com/products.html

Lores or Pendragans.

The pendragons are monsters but the reviews are awesome if you can afford them. $2,500 U.S.
I own the Lores and they are fantastic very similar to Zu Omens but far less money and the Lores come with the Audax gold super tweeter. $999.00
With ether speaker your amp will rock the house when needed 98db.

[technobear]

WLM Diva

http://www.wlm-loudspeakers.com/WLMDivaengl.html

Also, various Tannoys would fit the bill. Depending on the style you like: Turnberry, Dimension 10/12, DC10T.

[julesd68]

There is a pair of Audio Physic Virgo 3 in the trade classifieds.

I had a pair of older Virgos last year that did everything right apart from the presentation was a bit too "upfront" for me - they might suit you well.
Great soundstaging and very well defined bass.