Any home audio tower speakers come out recently worth checking out? $2k-$4k range..

I posted here a while back.. April i think, when I had first started my search for home theater system. Thanks to a lot of great info provided I ditch everything I was looking at and really started focusing on more quality stuff..

With that said, i currently have everything for my system, except the main room speakers and sub... I have been quite busy the past month and had to put it on hold. Some stuff I was looking at when I last auditioned, was:

Dynaudio (a few diff. models)
*liked what I heard
PSB Synchrony Two's & Imagine T's
*the T's didnt sound clear enough to me
Paradigm Studio 60's (auditioned in home)
*OK, but the finish seemed a bit cheap
B&W Cm-9's (auditioned in home)
*way overpriced imo, prob. because of the name

I wanted to see if there have been any tower speakers in the $2k-$4k range that have been released recently and might be worth trying to audition?

I dont get any of those audiophile mags nor do I belong to any audiophile forums, so I am kind of behind on whats been happening.

Sound & Vision just reviewed the Thiel Audio SCS4T and they liked them a lot, even giving them a 9/10 for performance. They are $3,690 which they say is not the best value.

Also, I would recommend joining AudioKarma or some audio forum.

I was wondering if you had pulled the trigger. If you have a local Revel dealer, check them out. They are probably the best price/performance out there, and their voicing would seem to agree with your preferences.

--Andre

Originally Posted by A Y

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I was wondering if you had pulled the trigger. If you have a local Revel dealer, check them out. They are probably the best price/performance out there, and their voicing would seem to agree with your preferences.

--Andre

Checked out the F32? (I think that was the model). Sounded good but were ugly as sin imo. The Dynaudio were probably my favorite sounding, however, (as I may of mentioned in my previous thread), due to a number of issues, I must place the center and rear channels 'in-ceiling' and Dynaudio does not make an in-ceiling option that has the directional mount system or tilting tweeter...

One dealer said it wouldn't really matter if the in-ceiling center and rears were timbre matched with the L&R towers, but I think i'd like them to be all the same company.

Dynaudio can be good. In this range however, if you can do a panel speaker the Magnepan 1.7s are terrific.

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

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Dynaudio can be good. In this range however, if you can do a panel speaker the Magnepan 1.7s are terrific.

the 1.7s are far too large for the room, mainly because it is not strictly a listening room but rather a Tv/Family room etc. The 1.7's would block windows and look horribly out of place.

Originally Posted by pg600rr

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Checked out the F32? (I think that was the model). Sounded good but were ugly as sin imo. The Dynaudio were probably my favorite sounding, however, (as I may of mentioned in my previous thread), due to a number of issues, I must place the center and rear channels 'in-ceiling' and Dynaudio does not make an in-ceiling option that has the directional mount system or tilting tweeter...

One dealer said it wouldn't really matter if the in-ceiling center and rears were timbre matched with the L&R towers, but I think i'd like them to be all the same company.

Yes, the F32. The center must absolutely be timbre-matched to the front L&R. It's less important for the rears, but still noticeable.

Dynaudio is OK, but not in the same league as Revel, but one must make compromises.

--Andre

Originally Posted by Artisan Fan

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Dynaudio can be good. In this range however, if you can do a panel speaker the Magnepan 1.7s are terrific.

You may also want to look at the Clairaudient 2+2s which are amazing but slightly above your range.

I'm a big fan of Dynaudio - I have the Contour S3.4 towers and love them. I bought them new in 2003 and have not grown tired of them.

I know you stated the you are looking for towers but just for the heck of it do yourself a favor and try out the Dynaudio C1 if you can. It's an incredible speaker and you won't miss not having a tower. You can find them used in between $4-5k (try audiogon.com). New they are around $9k I think. I heard them years ago and I still think about them.

the von schweikert vr-33 is ugly and huge, but is getting great reviews

What about the PSB Synchrony Two's?

The PSB Imagine T's were one of the 1st speakers I feel in love with when auditioning, that was until I started hearing other options. Dealers seemed to praise them for their transparency, but to me the vocals almost sounded a bit muted and when listening to NIN (or other rock) for example, they didnt seem to really shine..

Also when comparing to other speakers such as the Dyn's I tried (dont remember the model but it is new) they didnt seem to have the same detail and oomph in the mids.

With that said, I have an option to get the Synchrony Two's for almost the same as the Imagines, but have yet to hear them in person...

COuld they/will they sound that much better than the Imagine's? I thought they used similar drivers but maybe I am wrong. I know the Synchrony One's get great praise...


Only concern is that these were released a few years ago and I really dont want to buy if a 'newer' version/model is on its way.

If you willing to go Internet direct, there are, the Salk SongTowers which run around $1900 for the basic model. For a couple a hundred more, a large selection of custom finish options is available. The ribbon tweeter upgrade may be worth looking into as well. There are also the newly released Ascend Towers. These cost the same as the basic SongTowers in the standard bamboo finish. Both Salk and Ascend assemble their speakers in the US and are known for offering products having excellent performance for the price. If you're willing to do some reading, check about the Speakers sub forum on AVS.

Originally Posted by A Y

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Dynaudio is OK, but not in the same league as Revel, but one must make compromises.

--Andre

I completely disagree. Dynaudio at the same price point blows away Revels. But audio is subjective of course. Not saying Revel are bad, in fact that are great speakers, but Dynaudio has a better overall sound when compared at the same price point. I have heard several of each brand at multiple price points.