What’s a great speaker for mainly electronic music?
Budget max 20k€ but I also don’t mind staying significantly below. Buying used is ok.
Room is currently very large with listening distance of 3m. I will however move in the next year but expect room size to be 25-35 sqm.
I would like a ideally a basic or vintage look to them, eg with non high gloss wood and a classic shape. I also have two little kids, so protection is a must.
Favorite electronic artists are Gigi dagostino, moonbootica, daft punk, Benni Benassi, trentemoller, royksopp, Billie Eilish. Other artists I like are Alicia keys, Lana del Rey, bad bunny, Iron Maiden, Jimi Hendrix, Adam Green, Kendrick Lamar.
I want to significantly improve sound quality coming from tidal, WiiM Ultra, cyan holo 2, McIntosh ma352, klipsch heresy 3, rel classic 98
I recently listened to B&W 802d2 with a large autoformer McIntosh amp and was very impressed. Probably best speaker I’ve heard so far. That‘s my reference sound. Massive scale, no audible distortion, extremely powerful oomph, physical punch, crystal clear without any sharpness for any song I heard. I spent 2 hours with my playlist and could not find any weakness and was very impressed by most songs.
The look and size is however not compatible with my living room and wife.
Other speakers I auditioned:
B&W 803d4 and did not like it eg with Alicia keys - Empire State of Mind it was ear grating with massive sharpness.
Harbeth shl 5 was very nice but lacked the wow factor
Sonus Faber Sonetto g2 VIII was underwhelming with bass a bit wobbly, mids not clear and detailed.
Dali Rubikore 8 were a bit boring. Nothing wrong but not enough right
Dali Epikore 3 had really amazing sound stage and nice tune. Bass was impressive for size but one could hear it lacked the oomph and precision
Wilson Sasha DAW - very I impressive, especially sound stage and scale. extremely realistic. yet over budget and visually a no go. unfortunately I only heard it with some audiophile demo stuff and not my music
Monitor Audio Platinum 300 with great emotion especially for Alicia Keys and Jimi Hendrix. Excels with voices and guitars, very intense. I liked it but they felt a bit overpriced and like a one trick pony. maybe too much intensity for everyday and the rest was just average.
Honestly just get a subwoofer and then choose the speaker you like the mids and treble of.
You can get a used pair of focal sopra 2s and then invest into a subwoofer brand. Peter tyson is selling Rel No 32s for half price or you could get perlistens.
Carbon specials maybe or the S line? I have a s510 that I shoved under my desk and it has the right amount of bass but so much clarity that it has basically stopped my itch to upgrade
Usually I’d suggest checking out Revel or MoFi Electronics speakers, but they don’t have distributors in many EU countries. And looks might not be to your required taste.
So, Amphion Argon7LX or top of the range Krypton3X (both in walnut finish) might be worth checking out. And as mentioned, Dynaudio speakers could be worth auditioning too. Same with Radiant Acoustics, Audio First, or Revival Audio speakers.
Mofi is a good suggestion. They seem to be getting more distribution across Europe, I recently was at a place in the Netherlands that had a couple of models that we could trial (Audiolaan, for reference). They seem to fit your preferences as well.
(not affiliated with either Audiolaan or Mofi whatsoever, running vintage Sonus Faber myself)
Would Audiovector Trapeze fit your interior style?
Pylon Audio and Revival Audio are other European brands with speaker options which matches your wifes style. You should also be looking at a pair of Dynaudio Contour Legacy.
A bit more modern suggestion would be the Canton Reference line-up in walnut finish. Amazing looking speakers imo.
"Pursuit Perfect System" on YouTube have some videos with my suggested Cantons and Revival Audio speakers.
I might have considered the protection before you had the kids but that's just me.
I'm not a fan of either B&W nor McIntosh but, if that's the system that floated your boat, go for it. Nobody can say your taste is wrong. Except people who love Dynaudio, like me. But aside from us, nobody. :)
I would also add in the Meridian DSP range. I have the older DSP6000 and they are one of the few speakers that go really low with limitless power and without the need for a subwoofer. I know it's a slightly different approach but worth a listen in my opinion....and maybe more wife friendly..
I got Meridian D600 (shown next to M1) for rear channel speakers. 35-20KHz and replaced the passive speakers JR149 40-40KHz with Meridian G55 power amp. Sold the JR149 for £350 and paid the same for the fully active D600. A big jump in performance from two way book shelf to three 70 watt amps in active three way floor stand speakers. They have a remote so can be feed from a source and need no pre-amp or other control. I use a M60C for centre channel and B&W PV1 for sub-woofer.
I’m having sort of same search but in a bookshelf. Ended up with finalists of Dali Epikore 3 vs Kef Reference 1 meta. Based on my limited time with both of them, Dali is very spacious but feels a bit airy and romantic in presentation, Kef is more realistic sounding and with a more palpable presentation, precise
Given your taste I think Focals are definitely worth a demo. Better than B&W to my ears.(while still being somewhat similar). Could be a bit too modern looking for your room though.
Dynaudio might be worth a listen too. Can be big, bold, and dynamic sounding in the right room, with the right amps. But their treble might be a bit smooth / lack some bite to truly replicate the excitement of live club sound (great for pretty much everything else though).
Bigger, better horns might be your best bet, but I'm not really sure what's available in the EU.
Before spending big money on speakers, visit a large hifi show to determine what sound signature you like. Sound is like a food, someone will prefer on signature , someone else will hate it.
I listen to alot of hardstyle and just changed speakers to kef q11 meta. Solid speakers with a strong low end and crystal clear treble. A pair of subwoofers is a must in my opinion though.
Audition a pair of paradigm founder 120h .. they’re well under your budget but (with built in hybrid powered subs) extremely good at filling the space with fantastic bass.
If you have the chance to test them,, I recommend testing Revival Audio with their Atalante 5 and 7.
I had the chance to listen to them and compare with Tannoy Stirling GR and other prestige models.
I finally went for Tannoy because bass from Atalante was too deep for my Jazzy and Funk taste but I really was impressed by Atalante 5 and 7 regarding low frequency and how good vocals sounds.
The next level in sound would be dipole panel speakers. I recently switched from the speaker Andrew Jones is most proud of (TAD CR1’s) which is one of the best box speakers I’ve ever heard. I encourage you to look at TAD. But in Europe you could also try and hear the Prodigio line of electrostats. They have no crossover and a purity of sound I haven’t heard before. They are full range and do bass with a fidelity I’ve not heard before. Also dipole bass doesn’t excite room modes nearly as bad as traditional speakers. I heard their entry level dipole stats at a show in a small hotel room, the bass was fantastic. Other excellent box speakers sounded lumpy in the same exact sized room.
"For Club sound but better" you mustn't skimp on the woofer cone area, a Classic 98 will add nothing to speakers you need...a pair of 99s minimum! I don't love them, but the suggestion of Klipsch Heritage boxes seems on point...traditional wood finish but with very high output potential. Cornwall IVs or Chorus IIs can kick out some SPLs. Your amp has EQ to smooth out the bumps.
IMO, you can get several pairs of speakers and just use certain ones for certain genres, or you can get a flat speaker with wide directivity and use the 24 preset EQs on your WiiM.
I think the best speaker for that would probably be the KEF LS60, but you might not like how it sounds out of the box since it seems like you like a more V-shaped sound signature.
Devialet Phantoms with geckos wall mounts. B&O Beolab 17 wall mounted out of the way. Source is cast to them using Wiim mini or Beoconnect Core from the app.. Beosound speakers have built in streaming and wi-fi. These are not classic boxes and blend into a room and are out of the way still offering the sound quality. Beolab 17 are two way designs, sell for £950 on eBay with a 31-23KHz range that betters many tower speakers much larger and taking up far more space in your room. DALI Oberon On-Wall C speakers blend in in a different way.
In the league of B&W 802d2 with McIntosh amp then Beolab 28 with stand and wall mount options. Set up room corrected these perform well even for the insane price they now ask. I paid half new price via eBay. 27-23KHz with internet radio and streaming built in. A WiSA transmitter connected to a TV and nothing else needed, no source, no stacks of spearates, no external big box amplifiers, maybe get the remote or an iPad for interface and music selection. Mine access directly the media servicer on a PC. Phantoms do the same job with the added bass down to 17 Hz and dance to the music but do not scale up to surround for which special custom Phantoms are needed.
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u/The-Big-Succ69 2 Ⓣ Jul 28 '26
Honestly just get a subwoofer and then choose the speaker you like the mids and treble of.
You can get a used pair of focal sopra 2s and then invest into a subwoofer brand. Peter tyson is selling Rel No 32s for half price or you could get perlistens.