Marantz 2325, what speakers?

[shelbygt]

Just bought a Marantz 2325. Suggestions for speakers? Id like to stay on the smaller side. Do the newer speakers sound good with this older amp?

[blackraven]

Yes, newer speakers will sound good with an older amp. What is your budget and are you looking at bookshelf's or towers?

[shelbygt]

Since I have a small area I'm thinking bookshelf. The old girl puts out 125 watts/channel so I dont wanna melt anything. Believe it or not it's on a houseboat so space is a real consideration. Would probably be forced to run a sub if I wanna pull any bass if I go bookshelf? As far as budget I don't want to skimp but I'm not a Rockafeller either. :-)

[blackraven]

Just remember that bookshelf's need to be on stands to sound the best. Towers may be the way to go on a boat. Also, you may want to run a subwoofer with Bookshelfs to get that deep bass below 50Hz. But here are some bookshelf recommendations-

In the sub $1000 range-

PSB B6's- have a slightly warmer sound, softer top end, full mid range and good bass. I bought a pair of B-stock from Saturday Audio (http://www.saturdayaudio.com)


B&W 685's- good bass and detail with nice air and transparency but top end can be fatiguing a little if your system or music is bright. But this is an excellent speaker

NHT Classic Three's- Excellent speaker, a three way design that does just about everything well.

Martin Logan XT35's- I really like this speaker. Very detailed with excellent resolution and wide sound stage. The folded tweeter is what makes this speaker so good. Best Buy carries it, give it a listen on one of their Marantz receivers and bring some high quality recordings.

Also give a listen to Paradigm Studio 10's.

I have not heard these speakers in person but I almost bought a pair based on their reviews and their sale price-

EPOS EPIC 2 BOOKSHELF SPEAKERS (PR) at Music Direct (http://www.musicdirect.com/p-57507-epos-epic-2-bookshelf-speakers-pr.aspx?source=igodigital&)

For speakers over $1000- take a look at Dyn Audio, Focal, Harbeth, Fritz, Paradigm Studio 20's and S2's. I have not listened to the Harbeths and Fritz in person but people rave about them.

Music Direct sells Dyn Audio and Focal and has excellent prices. I really like Dyn Audio, one of my favorite brands. They tend to have excellent bass and a warmer sound. Just make sure that your Amp can drive a 4 ohm speaker. The Dyns may be my favorite out of the bunch.

Happy hunting!

Larry

[JoeE SP9]

As long as you use some common sense with listening levels you don't have to worry about "melting" anything. You're far more likely to cause harm with an underpowered system.

If the volume you're using sounds strained, it is! Just turn the volume down until it doesn't sound strained.

[topspeed]

The cop-out answer to any speaker question is "Whatever sounds best to you." Captain Obvious declares, "Duh!", although it still doesn't make it any less correct.

Let's assume most early '70's Marantz receivers have a similar house sound, which would mean your 2325 (beautiful receiver, btw) would have a very warm, musical, and somewhat thick sound. It may even be a bit boomy. With 125wpc, you can drive just about any speaker you care to throw at it; dynamic, planar, whatever. Depending on what you listen to, you may want to counter-balance the warmth of the Marantz with something that is a bit hotter on the top end. Monitor Audio Bronze/Silver series, B&W 600 series, or Paradigm Studios would likely work well. If you're looking for a bit more bass, try to locate a used pair of Von Schweikert VR1's which are transmission line speakers and have more low end than anything this size should. I have the VR1's paired with a 2230 and the synergy is highly engaging and musical.

Lots of good choices and recommendations made by others in this thread as well. Hope this helps.