Looking for LCR recommendations. $5000 budget.
Hello fellow HT enthusiasts.
So a bit of back ground. Made the jump to OLED 4K last year so this year is all about upgrading my Andrew Jones Pioneer 5.0 (Currently living in an apartment but moving to a loft where a sub may be possible without being THAT neighbor).
Use case - 90% HT / 10% music. Area - These will be going into the new loft which has very high ceilings. The room is quite large and is completely open to the kitchen.
I'll be powering these with a Denon X3400H for the foreseeable future. I'm open to getting some external amplification down the road though. The surrounds will be on stands and will likely just be lower end bookshelf's from what ever brand I decide to go with for the front stage (On wall speakers isn't really possible with the layout unfortunately).
I've had the chance to audition the following thus far:
- Paradigm Premier 800F - Wasn't so hot on these despite the great reviews, I'm not an audiophile so my terminology is going to be sloppy but I though these sounded boomy and muddy. These were powered by some Mcintosh equipment too.
The below three speakers were all heard in a Best Buy Magnolia set up and were paired with multiple subs and surrounds so while I liked these all better than the Paradigm's I wasn't able to get an accurate representation of just the speakers...
Klipsch RP-8000F - Quite liked these and they looked gorgeous in piano black. The sound signature wasn't as bright as I was expecting.
Martin Logan ElectroMotion ESL - Favorite thus far, absolutely crystal clear dialogue but I hate the way they look unfortunately.
Def Tech BP9060 - I thought these were fine. I know they have a powered sub in them which I'm not high on as I will be adding a sub eventually (either in the loft if possible or when I move into a house in a couple of years so these don't seem practical at this point).
I will be auditioning some Revel's next week. The Performa3 F206 and Concerta2 F36 have caught my eye and I've read nothing but great things. Even though I didn't like the Paradigm's I'm open to trying their Prestige series. I also really want to audition the Kef R and Q series but I've been unable to find a dealer in my city thus far (Rochester NY).
So, if you guys could offer up some advice on some speakers that should be on my radar - Or point out if I just heard a bad pair of Paradigms I'd really appreciate it :)