Wife Acceptance Factor low = advice sought

[MickeyFinn]

I'm looking for some recommendations on speakers for a system that I'm putting together.

I intend to upgrade an entire stereo system - as a gift - for a woman I know. She's a big music fan but her current system leaves much to be desired (oh yeah, and for reference, she thinks L-65 Jubal's are large) so clearly the "acceptance factor" of say a pair of 43xx monitors is so low as to be completely out of the question.

She's been hearing me spew-forth on the virtues of my JBL's and vintage equipment for some time now so I need the end result to be impressive.

For the whole system (amp, pre-amp, speakers and CD player) I would like to stay under say $4k.

Oh yeah, and I'm thinking that I like the Oppo DV980H as the CD player which I can get for about $225.

Any suggestions?

[Tom Brennan]

What's her taste in decor?

[MickeyFinn]

Ummm, I don't know what you would call the decor... perhaps "contemporary." The house dates to the 1930's and her stereo is in the living room which has hardwood floors and which is otherwise furnished with relatively modern furniture.

[Rusnzha]

L16, L19, L46, 4301 (8" 2 way) from 70s. Use with 70s Receiver. Woofer surrounds are an issue on these and may need replacement.
L1 (6.5" 2 way) from early 90s
S38s (8" 3 way) from around 2000
LSR 28P (8" 2 way, self powered) These are current and will help you use up your budget a lot faster than the other speakers mentioned.

All of these are way smaller than an L65 and should be up to the job when set up right. They all sound good with vintage receivers and you can precisely dial in the bass. The increments on the tone controls of a digital receiver are too large to be useful with any of these speakers. The Outlaw Audio 2150 receiver would be an excellent choice also.

[rdgrimes]

L96 or L112 with minimum 200 WPC amp of your choosing. You can do this for WAY less than $4K. Be sure to include stands for the speakers.
If she listens at lower volume, the L112 or even L150A will deliver better bass. L150A might qualify a "too big", but actually has the same footprint as the L112.

[Mr. Widget]

L96 or L112 with

I thought of those too as well as 4313Bs, but they are all still big brown boxes in the opinion of most people these days.

I'd suggest looking for a nice pair of mini-monitors and a high quality smallish sub. I can't think of any JBL products that would fit the bill as well as numerous British products. You can find a suitable JBL sub, but none are as stylish as a REL and most of the smaller ones don't sound as good either.

When JBL went this route they came up with the L212... an excellent design, but not really small or very high WAF by today's standards.


Widget

[Robh3606]

I would look at L20T3 or 4406's and a sub. Small compact and they can sound surprisingly good.

Rob

[Tom Brennan]

Ummm, I don't know what you would call the decor... perhaps "contemporary." The house dates to the 1930's and her stereo is in the living room which has hardwood floors and which is otherwise furnished with relatively modern furniture.

Maybe she'd dig some Martin Logan stats. Our condo is done modern and mid century and my wife digs the ML Vistas the most. They take up little room and because the diaphragms are transparent (more than is apparent from the photo) they can either "disappear" or stand forth depending on your mood. They are making a design statement though, love or hate.

They were $4000 new but used ones in nice shape are much cheaper.

And they sound great too; first rate clarity and the big spooky 3D image thing too; much better sound IMO than cone and dome box speakers, IMO only big horn systems match stats.

[grumpy]

How long have you been married?
Isn't this sort of like buying your wife a BBQ?
If you include her in the hunting/gathering process,
you might actually succeed in pleasing her with the gift.

[SEAWOLF97]

If you include her in the hunting/gathering process,
you might actually succeed in pleasing her with the gift.

I think Grumpy is on to something there .....

Have started taking the OL out with me on CL safari's ....she loves talking to new people and ignores me and price negotiations. Even helps me unload the stuff ... when she is part of the process , then the intellectual ownership is partly hers....(and leaves little room for complaining in the future )

[Robh3606]

He didn't say he was married to her.

Rob

[midlife]

L46s are very reasonable in size and sound great! If you can go larger than the 46s but don't want to get big L96s are very good.

[BMWCCA]

L46s are very reasonable in size and sound great! If you can go larger than the 46s but don't want to get big L96s are very good.

And the L112s are only an inch-or-so larger in most dimensions. So the escalation begins!

[rdgrimes]

L46, L86, L96 and L112 are all surprisingly similar in size, but not in weight.

They may be "brown boxes", but with a re-finish and new grill cloth they look wonderful in older homes with wood floors. A lot more "at home" than the newer "modern" speakers. Let her choose the grill cloth.

Lot's of choices, I agree with letting her pick from a good selection of speakers and building the system around her choice.

[Regis]

Let's not forget the L series (L7, L5, L3, etc). I'm picking up a pair of L7's and a pair of L5's today. These have a whole lot of WAF, as they're only 9 5/8 inches wide. If you go the L5 route, you just need a pair of nice subs to supplement the low end (the Velodyne HGS series fills this bill, very, very well).

The L series is relatively modern looking in their Black Ash finish as well. Overall, they occupy very little 'visual' real estate, but deliver on the performance. Naturally, with the L7, Sir Ti Dome's notes on correct placement is necessary to acheive good results.