Stereophile class A

Magnepan 1.6 QR
I think maggis are the sweetest sounding speakers, although not loud, nothing beats the definition for audiophile quality sound.
But then again, Dahlquists?

check out the Paradigm line

Class A for under $2k? Used on Audiogon.

And I don't think anything Paradigm makes is in Class A, unless you include their subwoofers.

Class A is a type of amplifier, not a speaker.
Speakers are not rated that way, only amplifiers.

i thought most A. subwoofers are class D anyway

Stereophile is a magazine and they have a list of what is called "recommended components" divided into Class A, B, C, and D, with categories for speakers, subwoofers, and electronics.

For speakers:

Class A is predominantly over $5k bookshelf speakers $10k floorstanders; high end Dynaudios, Revels, etc, although a few lower priced speakers like the Usher Be-718 ($2795) managed to sneak in.

Class B are midrange speakers, usually under $10k floorstanders, under $4k and under bookshelf speakers, although there are some expensive designs that don't make the cut.

Class C are typically high performi♦ng budget ($2k and under) speakers.



I believe most subs are Class A/B still. BASH is one of the popular cheap class D amps they use in a lot of HT subs these days, but it's plagued with reliability and sound quality issues, which is why you don't really see it in anything but extreme budget subs.

most klipsch subwoofer use class D amplifier.

same goes for Bowers and Wilkins.

i don't think either company produces a subwoofer that Stereophile would put into their recommended components.

im guessing klipsch, bowers and wilkins and some others, are made for HT instead? right?

funnily JL Audio Fathom f212 is recomended by stereophile.

How is that funny? While it's no doubt overpriced, but it's one of the better subs out there. It's basically an F113 with 3db more output. The JL subs do not produce a lot of SPL (It's a 220lb sub in a small sealed box) but their extension is among the best. >90db output at 12.5 Hz is incredible. Car audio and home theater are much different markets but JL got the gist right when the transitioned to HT, although they are charging you $6,000 per sub. Similar performance can be achieved with a $1500 sub like the SVS 13.





Klipsch subs are for pure SPLs. You can see here output falls dramatically below 50hz but it keeps up very high SPLs overall. The reason for this is Klipsch speakers have high sensitivity/output so they have to design their subwoofers in the same fashion to keep up with their mains. Klipsch works well to fill a large seating area on a budget but the overall sound quality is lacking due to lack of response above 13KHz (horns are very directional) and non-existant low bass.

http://home.comcast.net/~frank_carter/Nousaine.htm

As far as B&W...I don't think anything they make is competitive in the subwoofer department.

At the price range you mention nothing will be competitive with the very expensive speakers that Stereophile magazine rates as "class A". However I would suggest you listen to the Revel F12 towers ($1500) or Revel M22 mini monitors ($2000). If you can stretch to $2500 the new Atlantic Technology AT-1 tower would be another great choice (works great with Adcom amps). These represent great bang for the buck.