This is a hypothetical question based on some of the questions I have seen here where the answer “What music do you listen to so I can give you an answer” kept popping up.
Let’s say I have 2000Eur and I am the type of person that listens to music ranging from ambient, slow jazz, vocal, up to dubstep, drum and bass and brutal death metal, in a random order.
I actually have a random songs playlist that I shuffle and it has happened to play a song from Mgła after a song from The Dave Brubeck Quartet.
What kind of active active speakers, speaker amp combo would you recommend in this case and why?
Genelecs, make it 2000e per speaker, then the really good ones start to be available. Plus the preamp/dac you need.
Sonic Reference, why take go for less if this option is available.
Bad thing is you might find those “good old songs” you have liked not to be so good anymore. You notice errors and flaws… when all the detail and dynamic is there.
Almost lost my mind this weekend when friend told me to listen one of Chris Jones album and he was not singing right at the center… Thought my settings where off… so cocked them all so that he was center. Later to figured out… Every other singer in all the other bands… was now left… so the f-up was (intentionally made?) in the Chris album or it’s recording.
A tad more than the 2000 euros but the ProAc Response D2Rs are a banging pair of speakers for all around listening once positioned on a good solid pair of stands.
I’ve not heard many speakers lately but from reviews Tekton is building a rep for being a good all-around speaker company. Their Double Impact towers are a bit beyond 2000 Euro and have been widely well reviewed. Their small Impact Monitors put the same driver array tech in a smaller package for <2K.
I too listen to a wide variety of music similar to what you mention, but i have a preference to how my speakers sound. I could tell you what I have and that I love them, but that may not work for you. Some speakers are laid back and may not give you what you want playing certain genres of music, while others are very revealing. Do you have a preference to a certain sound signature?
With your budget, you could get an Amplifier that allows to hook up two pairs of speakers (and maybe even a subwoofer) so you have the right speakers available.
Hmm… pretty tough.
Dynaudio Evoke 10 and IOTAVX SA3
Not too bright or unforgiving on crappy recordings, high quality enough to make Jazz fun, amazing vocals, punch bass with good control and a lot of transparency to make metal sound good.
But I would highly recommend stretching the budget for Evoke 20 to get more bass and make them great in bigger rooms.
You could go Dynaudio LYD-8, dark mode and push the bass. Even though they are a softer Monitor you would probably still need some EQ. It wouldn’t be as pleasant, fun and relaxing as the Evoke but a different kind versatile with EQ.
Harbeth BBCs would be my no limited budget pic. Super HL5 and 40.2 will play fast bassy electronic music as well as Jazz. They should probably be paid with a fairly neutral amp with smoother trebel like at least an Exposure 3010 S2D to get the most versatility out of them. Graham BBCs aren’t as versatile but I personally would sacrifice some genres to have them excel at other I care more about. BBCs are basically famous for presenting a deep look inside the recordings without picking it apart for it’s flaws.
