Looking for speakers around $5k - Forte Sounds?
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New member Username: Petergibbons75Post Number: 1 Registered: Apr-06 | Some of my audiophile friends have told me that I can get a great deal by ordering speakers factory direct online as opposed to buying through a hi-fi audio shop. With this advice in mind, I have (temporarily, perhaps) suspended my quest for a pair of Dynaudio Contour S5.4's and tried to dig up some good deals on the information highway... In my search for a pair of speakers around the $5k mark, I stumbled upon a company I have never heard of before - Forte Sounds (www.fortesounds.com). I think they only have one product, the Triathlon Loudspeakers, which they list at $4,750/pair. If anyone knows anything about this company or their speakers, I'd really like to hear about it. Their website has a lot of information about their speakers and they look stunning, but I can't help but feel a bit weary without some audiophile's opinions. I was also checking out the Linbrook Super Towers from Tyler Acoustics on AudiogoN (http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?spkrmoni&1149090105) - a company I also know nothing about. If anyone knows of some other good speaker deals (I'm looking for something around $5,000/pair), please let me know! Thanks for the help. Rob |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 8147 Registered: May-04 | $5,000 before dealer profit? |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 1984 Registered: Dec-04 | Why, in heavens name would you limit your choices to a product only costing that amount? GreatWhiteNorthAudio have a pair at 4995$ that can ship tomorrow. |
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Silver Member Username: Rysa4Post Number: 455 Registered: Jul-05 | I wouldnt spend that money on something unless I had fully auditioned it. That said, I like the Dynaudio Contour series very much personally. Those would be a good choice. |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 8152 Registered: May-04 | "Linbrook Super Tower loudspeaker system! (pictured in premium anigre and rosewood!) This system uses 4 Seas 7" magnesium mid bass drivers and a Seas Millennium tweeter in a 2 way design. . They sound huge! They have a very beautiful soundstage with really tight punchy bass! Very high resolution! Available with either black or gray woofers. List price $7200pr, factory direct price $5200pr. ... " They appear to have no dealer network. So what exactly does "list price" mean, if they are only sold factory direct for $2k less? I think I'd ask them for the name of someone who paid list price before I believed anything else they said. |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 8153 Registered: May-04 | Do we possibly have another vendor trying to run up hits on their web page? |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 891 Registered: Feb-05 | speakers for $4-5 grand that I would reccomend auditioning: Magnepan 3.5r Martinlogan Vista Martinlogan Vantage Von Schweiekrt VR4jr Joseph Audio RM25si Gallo Acoustics Reference 3.1 Dynaudio contour series (to second the rec.) Klipschhorn these speakers all have a different sound to them, and some are less than the stated $5k by a good margin, on the order of a thousand less. But cheeck these out if you can, because it will give you an idea of speakers that are available at this price point and even below. I am not going to tell which speakers are less expensive, but those that are in there will possibly exceed your expectations on what a speaker should sound like. Some of them I really love, one of them doesn't really move me like the others (regulars should know which one it is). check them all out if you can. But, most importantly, decide with your EARS and not the recomendations that we throw out. What may sound astonishingly good to one of us may sound like a squalk box to another :-) |
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New member Username: Petergibbons75Post Number: 2 Registered: Apr-06 | First of all, thanks a lot for all the input. I'm going down to the local Hi-Fi House this weekend to check out some more options (hopefully some of yours as well)! The guy I talked with on the phone also told me to look into B&W speakers. Thoughts on these? also... My apologies if this is a stupid question, but being a newbie in this whole audiophile thing I'm curious to know - does the loudspeaker industry not follow the 'you get what you pay for' ideology? I noticed that a number of Gavin's (as well as others') suggestions were well under my $5k mark. As an electrical engineer, I feel that I may be overestimating the relationship between cost/specs and actual sound quality?? |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 914 Registered: Feb-05 | Yes, There is something called "the rule of fives" in the audio community. The Rule of Fives goes like this: For five times the cost of one good product to another good product, you don't get five times the improvement in performance. Instead, you get a fraction of that, oftentimes about one-fifth or less. Speakers in the price range that most of us have been suggesting hit that magical sweet-spot before the diminishing returns become too great to make them a sensible purchase. Can most of us hear the difference between a $3k and a $5k speaker? If they are designed properly, it may be difficult to justify the extra cost. In the case of the MartinLogan Vista, it is essentially the same speaker as the Vantage, but with a passive bass reinforcement system and a smaller (8 inch vs. 10 inch) woofer. They supposedly sound strikingly close with the exception given to the bass power. Also, B&W makes GREAT speakers! |
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Silver Member Username: DavidpaPortland, Oregon US Post Number: 176 Registered: Nov-05 | Aerial Acoustics model 7B. www.aerialacoustics.com I consider these a bang for buck as well. Compare them, if possible to the paradigm S8s, which are around the same price point, and also the dynaudios. I think you will find the aerials, as well as the dynaudio very pleasing to the ear, and leaps and bounds above most everything else in that range. The Joseph Audio would not be a bad choice either, but still outdone. Im giving you what my ears heard, no guarantee that you listen for the same things as me. |
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Silver Member Username: GmanMt. Pleasant, SC Post Number: 890 Registered: Dec-03 | A very high quality speaker (both in sound and looks)that is bought direct is the Onix Reference 3. They cost between $3,499 to $4,098 depending on the chosen finish. An excellent alternative are the Onix Rocket RS850's at $1999/pr, which are eeasy to drive 8 ohm speakers with a 91.5 db sensitivity. If one has the room and the budget, the Linkwitz Lab Orion speakers are the best I have ever heard. Probably the biggest advantage they have is they are open-baffle and active crossover speakers with top drawer drivers. (linkwitzlab.com) |
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Silver Member Username: EldTexas Post Number: 137 Registered: Dec-05 | Great list to audition from all the recommendations. I would add like to add speakers from Revel, ProAc and Spendor to the list.  For $5K, what did you think about the Dynaudio s3.4? I thought they were an awesome pair of speakers. Happy auditioning, Robert. |
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Silver Member Username: ChitownPost Number: 932 Registered: Apr-05 | "Do we possibly have another vendor trying to run up hits on their web page?" I don't know, but it is a terrible looking website. |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 2034 Registered: Dec-04 | Your right, Stof, it doesn't look like a $5000 product proclaimer. And it played music that seemed like 1980 Soft poorn |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 923 Registered: Feb-05 | LMAO nuck!!! I opened that website and thought I can almost smell the lube. |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 2047 Registered: Dec-04 | I showed our daughter, and she just rolled her eyes. She is a graduate web designer, and does sites on the side, she could not believe that this site was promoting a 'High End' product. Some of her stuff is at 3m and other big places. Kinda cool having a sounding board around for sites. I don't even want to imagine the smell of the lube, Gavin. |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 926 Registered: Feb-05 | THANKS FOR THE MENTAL IMAGE (not gonna tell what it was) ugh... excuse me while I barf. Although, I AM the one that brought it up. |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 2049 Registered: Dec-04 | CLEAN-UP IN AISLE 5!!! |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 8180 Registered: May-04 | Curiously, no one has asked what receiver RF will be using to power these $5k speakers. He hasn't offered. Which of us is less well educated here. Do you get what you pay for? RF, if you don't think that's true, how did you decide on spending $5k for speakers? We could use some additional information about you and your desires, RF. Or, we can just go on suggesting speakers we would like to own. That's always fun! Still smells like a vendor to me. |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 2052 Registered: Dec-04 | And tastes like chicken. WTF cares, until the details are laid out. RF is strangely silent. |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 2053 Registered: Dec-04 | Hellloooo? RF???!!! |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 8204 Registered: May-04 | RF is everywhere. |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 2102 Registered: Dec-04 | So is SuperChicken. And his Wonderdog, Fred. And if anyone can find this cartoon, I will stand dumbfounded(or just dumb). |
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Bronze Member Username: BasicaudioChula vista, Ca US Post Number: 68 Registered: Mar-06 | I love ohm's, i would get for me at $5k, the walsh 300mk2 or the refitted walsh 4 cabinet. Maggies or martin logan is another excellent choice My other consideration would be ESS or ESS connoisseur series from ESS LABRATORIES which uses a different cabinet design from ESS but uses the HEIL. I would also just buy used well taken care of speakers for that price at sites like audiogon. Whatever makes you happy? I'm not familiar with the forte sounds except for just seeing it listed at audiogon. You can also get anthony gallos or dali's for that price range or elac? So if you want my advice, check out the factory direct OHM walsh 300mk2 at www.ohmspeaker.com |
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