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RE: Speakers for classical in a large room.

"I find my current speakers (Fried Studio Valhalla) perform well with simple music -- pop and rock music usually sounds fantastic. They are powerful and punchy. However, I feel that with more intricate classical material, the subtlety and refinement necessary is lacking. I don't get drawn into the music the way I'd like to be. I want to hear instruments spread out (this may speak to the room itself) and generally I want everything to breath and not be so forced. I've tried adjusting placement of the speakers in many configurations and nothing seems to improve."

For what you describe, I suggest you try Magnepan 3.7's. I listen to 98% classical (though not quite in as large a room, but not a bedroom shoebox either) and fine that Magnepans excel particularly those parameters (I use 3.6's). You may want a subwoofer.

Other people are describing some very nice speakers, but they are going on the assumption that "big orchestra sound" means that you are looking for low-effort high-SPL. (I recommend that you listen to those types as well)

With a sufficiently powerful amplifier (at least 200W into 4 ohms) & a reasonable subwoofer, I feel that the modern MG 3 series are perfectly fine in overall output for nearly all classical, including romantic symphonic in reasonable domestic accomodations. They are really really good in just those areas which you're discussing---and this is what makes a really good classical orchestral speaker: effortless and natural decoding of complexity.

Issues:

a) they're tall and big and flat, though they do look modernist
b) being dipoles they have less output to sides and ceiling than regular speakers so the liveness of the room in those directions might not be as much of an issue
c) being dipoles they radiate lots to the back, and you *will* need some kind of acoustic diffusion (random reflections) behind them.

Check out this guy's blog. (He is Socrates7 here and originally posted how he was looking for 'full-range speakers for orchestral', and *originally*, thought planars were right out and would not consider).

For more info go to the Planar Asylum subboard.



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