Floor Standing Speaker Recommendations

Floor Standing Speaker Recommendations

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Anthony Micallef

Original Poster:

1,122 posts

194 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
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I currently have a Marantz CD player and amplifier with a Pro-Ject Carbon record deck. Want to get a pair of floor standing speakers to go in a room that's approx 18ft long by about 8-10 feet high. The floor is wooden with stone walls and a lot of glass one side so can feel quite echoey. Have up to £400 to spend.

Has anyone any recommendations?


LotusMartin

1,112 posts

151 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
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Not Cambridge ones from Richer Sounds. Shockingly bad frown

pmanson

13,374 posts

252 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
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Richer Sounds had a set of Dali floor standing speakers playing the other day when I was in (Source was a record deck / Cambridge amp IIRC) - i'm not really an expert but I really liked the sound!

Might be worth chatting to them about the room and what you're looking for

Belle427

8,854 posts

232 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
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The tannoy eclipse 3 look good value, slightly over budget the q acoustics 3050 look good too.
Both seem to have good reviews.


castex

4,935 posts

272 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
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I'd be looking at Yum (need stands), and Yummer (don't, but will take over your room).

RobDickinson

31,343 posts

253 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
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Anthony Micallef said:
Has anyone any recommendations?
Rugs, large soft furnishings, large canvas prints or artwork.

Then go listen to some speakers.

Also might help with what amp you have and what music you like?

ahh missed the marantz amp. what model/power etc?


Edited by RobDickinson on Thursday 30th June 22:27

castex

4,935 posts

272 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
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Actual good advice from Mr Dickinson there.

Anthony Micallef

Original Poster:

1,122 posts

194 months

Friday 1st July 2016
quotequote all
RobDickinson said:
Anthony Micallef said:
Has anyone any recommendations?
Rugs, large soft furnishings, large canvas prints or artwork.

Then go listen to some speakers.

Also might help with what amp you have and what music you like?

ahh missed the marantz amp. what model/power etc?


Edited by RobDickinson on Thursday 30th June 22:27
Thank you for your replies so far. The room does have a fairly large rug in it and a sofa but that's leather. The amp is a Marantz PM6005 http://www.richersounds.com/product/amplifiers-rec...

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 1st July 2016
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Well worth going to AVForums and using their classifieds section for both speakers and amp. Tends to be well looked after, and much of the amp and speaker tech doesnt change significantly year on year so you can get the next level up used kit for the price of new lower level kit.

Floorstander wise I recommend Monitor Audio Bronze or KEF Q500/700's. KEF Q500's sound amazing, but a very clinical speaker, so pair well with Marantz amps which are slightly warmer. They are capable of handling up to 130 watts are quite slim, and have come down a lot in price so check out open box/return specials on Sevenoaks sound and vision, superfi, richer sounds websites. If you can find them there, or used on AV Forums, then they are a speaker that were worth all of their £700 price tag a few years ago.

Monitor Audio are excellent value for money as well, you really get more than you pay for with them. The bronze range is their entry level, but still delivers a superbly made speaker that sounds good with a lot of different kit. Nice warm, forgiving speakers in my experience (have Bronze 1's, so the smallest of the lot), that can be paired easily.

The reality is at that price point you can go and listen to all sorts, but room layout, furniture, amp, source, and positioning will all make so much of a difference you're almost as well off just finding a good make/set you like the look of, since when you get them home from the audition room you'll wonder if they're the same speakers. If you will be putting them close to a wall then look for front ported ones, or one with passive radiators.

Also check out the Q Acoustics stuff. Always well reviewed and again good value for money.

Edited to add, B&W make very fine speakers, some excellent ones here for £400: https://www.avforums.com/threads/q-acoustics-q7000...


Edited by anonymous-user on Friday 1st July 16:21

Crackie

6,386 posts

241 months

Friday 1st July 2016
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New only or would you consider used ? Speaker performance has moved on very little for decades so £400 will buy you something like these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KEF-Reference-Series-Mod...

There are several other pairs of KEF reference at or near budget but there should also great speakers from Tannoy, Monitor Audio, Mission. B&W, Acoustic Energy, AVI, Spendor etc.

Edited by Crackie on Friday 1st July 16:32

wormus

14,496 posts

202 months

Friday 1st July 2016
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Second hand is the way to go. Get yourself some late 90s ProAc studio 150s. Beautiful speakers that get better with age. I got some and a center speaker for £600 from eBay in perfect condition. Very, very detailed and work well with warmer amps like yours. You won't be disappointed.

Edit: I run mine with a 300 watt BK Sub and it sounds ace.

Edited by wormus on Friday 1st July 19:54

clived

577 posts

239 months

Saturday 2nd July 2016
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Have a listen to the Q Acoustics 3050 - within your budget and pretty good for the price. Let us know what you think!

Big_Dog

974 posts

184 months

Saturday 2nd July 2016
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I listened to a few recently before buying the Monitor Bronze 6s they are awesome speakers, imo. Close second in my listening tests was the Bronze 5s need to be used with a sub I would say, as not quite such a defined bass as the 6s.
Worth digging a bit deeper and definitely go secondhand. This stuff has 6 year warrantees so I can't see the used ones being troublesome. I dig deeper after the realisation that the speakers I was replacing I had owned for 20 years.

Crackie

6,386 posts

241 months

Saturday 2nd July 2016
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Anthony Micallef said:
Thank you for your replies so far. The room does have a fairly large rug in it and a sofa but that's leather. The amp is a Marantz PM6005 http://www.richersounds.com/product/amplifiers-rec...
Do you prefer any particular types of music or do you have varied tastes. Do you tend to listen at a higher volumes.

The best speakers are not be genre specific but certain models have limitations. LS3/5a or the Quad electrostatics in the link above might be magical if vocal / choral is your thing but they aren't for built for drum and bass.

The room has very reflective surfaces so the position of the speakers, relative to you and solid surfaces, is critical. If you toe the speakers in, more than is usually recommended, high frequency reflections will have less energy. There are plenty of online speaker positioning guides to use as a starting point but you're likely to have a better result if the speakers' axis crosses in front of the listening position i.e. You should be able to the outside face of each speaker cabinet.


Edited by Crackie on Saturday 2nd July 16:06

red997

1,304 posts

208 months

Tuesday 5th July 2016
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from the room you have described, as it stands, it will definitely tend to make pretty much anything sound quite harsh.
So, I'd be looking for something with a smooth sounding HF
(and trying to loose the brightness of the room where possible - rugs, paintings, throws, furniture etc)

Try and listen to as many as you can - don't rule out Richer sounds - our local one (Watford) is very friendly and will accommodate your every wish to listen to whatever you want, no matter how long it takes.

Dalis might be a good shout here given your room - I've got a set on the home cinema and they are rather smooth sounding; they also sit in the same room as the Linn Isobarik's - which sound totally different !

just use your ears and don't rush into anything

Second hand can be a good idea, but a word of caution - you really don't know how hard a drive unit has been pushed all it's life - I've got a set out sound craft studio monitors that have been given some real stick - from the rear of cones I can can see the rubber surround starting to de laminate... only by removing the drive unit could I see this.

Good luck !