XXHighEnd

For personal reasons I decided to change my system. I will keep my music Pc and the NOS1 but the speakers and amplifiers will be other models. I would like your opinion to build a system that takes the best of the music Pc and the NOS1. Although I personally want to lower the economical level of my system, the possibilities are stratified at three different levels to help also others that could be considering a new system around these two components.

The question is: What are, in your opinion, the best amps and speakers to pair with the Music Pc, (XXHighEnd Pc or other pc), and the NOS1 in the following three levels?*.

- Budget level (up to 10,000€)

- Middle level (from 10,000€ to 20,000€)

- Cost no object level (from 20,000€ and up)


Thanks in advance,

Juan

*Prices are for the total amount of amps plus speakers. We can think also on second hand components

Hey Juan,

Such a question on a forum which is more or less under control of myself can only urge for not-so-objective answers from my hand. But I think you know what my answer will be (including amps :yes:).
It depends a bit on whether you are obliged for VAT - I think you are not ?

But by all means and please, let others have their voice as well.

Kind regards,
Peter

Thanks Peter, I´m quite sure there won´t be objective answers to this question and I´m sure also about the best speakers you would suggest :). By the way I´m not obliged for VAT.

As I said I´m interested  about what any one could suggest in each category although I am mostly interested in the low budget one.
This could be an idea of what I´m thinking about: Gainclones mono blocks and horn speakers, nothing new isn´t it?. What I don´t know is what horn speakers I could buy for around 6.000€ (second hand), I´m not sure even if horn speakers could be the best choice as I have not experience at all with horn speakers. We all know, however, that horns and Gainclones have a lot of fans here.

Best regards,
Juan

Juan, this is incredibly cheeky of me and I'll ask for forgiveness in advance...

For €6K, you (or anyone else on this site) can have my Swing MkII speakers (they were €23K new, ex VAT). They're not perfect, but they do so many things well that I doubt there are better speakers for this sort of money. Certainly, they have a 'liveness' to their sound that I've only heard from ultra-high sensitivity speakers. (These are 114-115dB/W!) They have built-in gainclone bass amps, so you just use them as you would any other passive speaker. The only downside is that I have no packaging material, so ideally they would need to be collected in person from my house.

If I had space in my home office/studio, I would definitely be keeping them. But alas I don't, and I need to make way for my new horns in my main room. So they've got to go.

Anyone interested, just send me a PM.

Cheers, Mani.

PS Peter, of course, if I've over-stepped what you deem acceptable, let me know or just delete this post.

Thanks Mani, I´ve sent you a PM  ;)

Juan

Hey Juan, on the small budget end I've found a BD-Design 30wpc gainclone coupled with  Triton II speakers to be an incredible combination. Not sure what the price of a new, special order GainClone is from BD-Design but the speakers are only 3,000 US. Here's a link:

http://www.goldenear.com/products/triton-series

Hi Brian, thank you for the information, the Triton II looks interesting. I can´t see any gainclone in the BD-Desing web. Where have you seen that combination?

Juan

Hi Juan,

Maybe Brian has these speakers himself (I don't know and his post is not 100% clear to me either) but the amps he has. Bd-Design does not sell them anymore but I think I can arrange something for you. For special persons we always can :yes: ...
By the time you like me to, drop me an email.

Regards,
Peter

Yeah I have the speakers. It's a pretty incredible combo for the price. If your local stereo store has them you should give them a listen. One thing though, given the price of the speakers, they are rarely set up well at the store.

Thank you Peter and Brian,

Brian, there is not a seller here in Spain for the GoldenEar speakers. So my only chance would be to trust your ears  :)

Peter I´ll PM you.

Kind regards,
Juan

Yikes, trusting my 57 year old ears is something you must do at your own risk!  :) Unfortunately, in audio, as in so many things, one man's roof may be another man's floor  (Thanks Mr. Simon.). But I will say that over the course of the last year I have listened to about a dozen very high end systems, and I always came  back to my system pleased that it seems to stand up to the "very best." 

Brian, your 57 vs my 63... hmmm I think I still can trust you  ;)

I´ve been reading a while ago the last TAS review of the GoldenEar Triton Seven, I wonder if you have listened this speaker and if so I´d like to know how you compare it with the Triton II. The review say wonders of the Seven.

The truth is that I still have to think on what speakers to choose. Along the years, I´ve experienced different kind of speakers like monitors, electrostatics, classic Tannoy or the last VR-9SE. The ones that I never had are horns and I am quite curious about it. Of course they are in other price league but perhaps I could find a good opportunity in the  second hand market... who knows!. What seems to be a real bargain are your Titan II, at least for what I read and for what you said about your sound here in the forum. I congratulate you and appreciate your information.

Kind regards,
Juan

Hey Juan, I haven't heard the Triton 7, but I think the II's are supposed to be their best speaker. Also, I'm not sure a GainClone would be best with the 7 because they their efficiency is 89db. The II's are 91db and I am playing most music between -16 a -10 db on XX volume control.

Brian, those Gainclone seems to be pushing hard to move the Titan II, you must have great music there, I´m sure. On my side I think that I´m going in this occasion to take the route of the horn speakers and if I´m lucky I think that I´m near of getting a good pair.  :)

Juan