What Speakers for $1,000 Pair

[AudioSQ]

I did look at the BMRs. They are an interesting option, but paying $1000.. I don't want to be one of the first. I would want some feedback from others. I am sure they will be an excellent speaker though.

I've definitely been interested in the Statements, Anthologies... the Curt speakers, but I worry about the open back mid and getting far enough from the walls. My TV would also be right between then.

[oldloder]

$1k is good coin. Did you see Erin's review?

[oldloder]

I didn't realize the Travelers or Finalists had the open back mid like the Statements.

[AudioSQ]

Been trying the Amigas, they aren't as laid back as the Fusions, but in a good way. Vocal clarity isn't as good, but I'm running them with a phantom center and it hasn't been bad. All that to say I think I'd be ok with less efficient domes for HT use.. I think.

This still leaves me favoring the Solstice, but my only concern is I've always thought the Fusions were a touch too laid back. Since it's the same designer I'm wondering if I'll feel the same about the Solstice or if the Fusions are extra laid back to avoid the association of horns being harsh.

The wild card is still the 1099 as it will be an upgrade for HT use, and probably better for music over the Fusions, but not sure if it's really HiFi. I've just spend too much time over at that AVS.

[djg]

AVSforum, go big or go home.

[AudioSQ]

Yeah, if I don't add two 18s or 21s to my system they might kick me off the forum.

[tvrgeek]

Don't know the Morel drivers, but they are well respected. Spec sheet ( advertising) looks good and they have a big fan following. I consider a TL to be an obsolete hack job, but some still love them. Sale price that includes knock down cabs and shipping is quite a good deal.

I ran phantom center for years in both my living room and HT. But in both cases, the mains were at ear height and within a couple of feet of the screen, room treatments so very good imaging. In my current HT, the mains have to be near the ceiling ( doors in the way) so a center was a must.

"Laid back" You are now looking at real hi-fi so they should have very little character of their own. They should do as told. Nothing more, nothing less. The better a speaker is for music, the better it is for HT. Sound is sound.

[djg]

It's an MLTL actually.

[tvrgeek]

Those are a 4 OHM speaker. I STRONGLY suggest not to drive them from an AVR if it is a class AB. The distortion can be 10 to 100 times worse. Physics. I do not know about new class D amps or if newer AVRs are using them. Some good, maybe ( I have not heard one I can stand). Most not. Not blowing up is only one spec for an amplifier.

[djg]

The four Jeff Bagby designs I've built all are very nice. The Continuums I just finished are truly superior sounding. He had some talent. A builder of a pair of Continuum IIs with a Morel tweeter said in my build thread that they were nicer sounding than his two pair of Continuums.

So there's that.

[DanP]

Jeff Bagby has several top-notch designs out there - the Continuums, Testarossas and Spirit Winds among my favorites. With that said, the one time I heard the Solstice, I did find them a little laid back and they are towards the bottom of my list of favorite JB speakers. Full disclosure, I'm not a huge fan of those Morel woofers (the Morel tweeter is exceptional though) and the one time I heard them, they were built by a DIYer whose skills I wasn't familiar with, so it's possible the kit assembly did not do the design justice.

[AudioSQ]

Jeff Bagby has several top-notch designs out there - the Continuums, Testarossas and Spirit Winds among my favorites. With that said, the one time I heard the Solstice, I did find them a little laid back and they are towards the bottom of my list of favorite JB speakers. Full disclosure, I'm not a huge fan of those Morel woofers (the Morel tweeter is exceptional though) and the one time I heard them, they were built by a DIYer whose skills I wasn't familiar with, so it's possible the kit assembly did not do the design justice.

Shoot, and I thought I had this decided. Now you have me doubting myself.

The Continuums are smaller than I want to go and the Testarossas too spendy.

[djg]

Jeff B. did design those bass bins for the Continuum and Kairos. IIRC.

https://meniscusaudio.com/wp-content...ay-Writeup.pdf

[AudioSQ]

I have subs, so it's not about the bass. They're just less efficient than I'm looking for. I have always wanted a pair, just not for something that will be part of the home theater.

[DanP]

See if you can get some opinions from others that have heard them. A one-time listen is often not enough and it sounds like they fit some of your other criteria.

[Kustomize]

I built the Zaph ZA5.3T in 2018. Didn't like them, they measured bad, they sounded bad.
In the past few years I have always been against them, but that was my own fault ( apologies to John Krutke).

A month ago, I rebuilt the cabinets.

It turns out, my crossovers were done wrong this WHOLE time. I made so many threads thinking that the speakers are bad. But honestly, they are REALLY amazing speakers. They literally destroy Paradigm Monitor 6000fe/se or whatever towers in comparison, and I compared them to the Bose 901 5th Series as well. Everyone agreed instantly, that the Zaphs were vastly superior! I then went on to compare them to the B&W CM9 S1. Okay, this is where it was hard to judge. Different rooms, different amps. But, I tested the same music. Honestly, B&W sounded better. But I KNEW, that my Denon AVR is of NO comparison to the Rotel 200watt/channel stereo amp that was powering the B&Ws. Mine is a 4 ohm design, there is no way my AVR would power it cleanly. They still sounded very close, very detailed speakers!


If you want higher sensitivity, you can definitely go for the Zaph 5.5T variant, You have subs, so bottom end is taken care of, this will go as loud as you can probably stand.


And it has a matching center too! I have it too!

If you want to go for the Zaph 5.3T TMM version. You can also consider Michael Chua's design.

https://ampslab.com/blog/2020/04/02/swift-25/

here is Zaphs

http://zaphaudio.com/ZA5/


I made a few sample videos of my Zaphs playing. You can check my channel!
Recorded from an iphone, so yeah!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ji5DJjyVuY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um3yNkcFBCg


ASR also recently tested the bookshelf version, Zaph 5.2

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/zaph-audio-za5-2-diy-kit-speaker-review.12086/


Although it wasn't recommended due to the lack of bass, it still scored very nicely among its competition which were speakers even above $2000 USD.

That was only the bookshelf, we are talking about the tower here!

You can get the completed kits from madisound for all the speakers I mentioned!

[rpb]

Been trying the Amigas, they aren't as laid back as the Fusions, but in a good way. Vocal clarity isn't as good, but I'm running them with a phantom center and it hasn't been bad. All that to say I think I'd be ok with less efficient domes for HT use.. I think.

This still leaves me favoring the Solstice, but my only concern is I've always thought the Fusions were a touch too laid back. Since it's the same designer I'm wondering if I'll feel the same about the Solstice or if the Fusions are extra laid back to avoid the association of horns being harsh.

The wild card is still the 1099 as it will be an upgrade for HT use, and probably better for music over the Fusions, but not sure if it's really HiFi. I've just spend too much time over at that AVS.

Any speaker xo can be revised to dial in how laid back, or how forward the sound is! Much cheaper than new speakers.

[AudioSQ]

But not as much fun.

[AudioSQ]

I'm legit tired of reading about different speaker projects.. never thought I'd say that. Currently leaning towards the CSS Criton 2td. Any more opinions on those, especially compared to a similarly priced Bagby design or the Helix Done MTM? I do appreciate all the feedback so far.

[tvrgeek]

I had not seen the CCS kits. On paper, they look quite good.

[nigelb]

I just finished these for a friend. They are a modified CSS P215. I turned them into a floor stander by altering the dimensions and packing in some bracing, baffle width kept the same. The printed crossover boards that came with it made the soldering very easy for anyone who isn't used to assembling crossovers. The bottom part odf the cabinet is hollow and could be filled with kitty litter, however I made the bases out of cold rolled steel (14 lbs each !), painted with Rustoleum rattle can. Rolling the side veneer was easier than I thought using 10ml paper-backed and Heatlock iron on glue.
How do they sound? Well I won't comment personally except to say they are very good, not just for the money. My friend told me that in the two weeks they've had them the whole family have been listening every night to all the music they didn't bother playing any more. He also told me it was the best gift he'd ever received. So, totally worth it IMHO.

[fpitas]

Any speaker xo can be revised to dial in how laid back, or how forward the sound is! Much cheaper than new speakers.

Yes. And there's nothing wrong with those CSS Criton 2tds you're looking at. But I suspect you may still play with the crossover to get what you want.