Denon DM38 DAB and Tannoy Mercury V1's - good pairing?

[MartinM]

I'm looking at the above combination to replace my old bargain basement separates bought from Richer Sounds circa. 1993. Both seem to have positive reviews but does anyone have any experience of either, particularly as a pairing?


As you can see, my budget is ~£300 so any suggestions of alternatives might also be useful.

Thanks
Martin

[liquidken]

The Denon is the one to beat in this area and has been for the last 15 years or so. Superb bit of kit.

The Mercury's can be a little soft sounding, so it depends on your musical tastes. The Denon does fair better with slightly livlier speakers such as Mission in terms or accuracy and presentation, though.
Providing you avoid any speakers metal dome tweeters which accentuate the top end far too much with this sort of system, you'll be fine.

[MartinM]

Thanks for your considered reply. The system will be used for a range of things but mainly pop/rock/electronica plus maybe a bit of audio from the TV with films etc. Can I ask which Missions you're referring to? Also, I see Superfi are doing a deal with the DM38DAB and Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 speakers for £280. What do you think of the Wharfedales?

Cheers

ETA: Just had a quick look at the specs. The Mercury V1s seem to have the best frequency response 45 - 25,000Hz vs Mission M31i @ 65 - 20,000Hz and the Wharfdales @ 50 - 24,000Hz. Also, the Missions are rated at 88db sensitivity while the Tannoys and Wharfedales are 86db. How important is this?

Thanks
Martin

Edited by MartinM on Wednesday 13th April 13:44

[liquidken]

The M31i's are a good speaker. I used the old M71's with a DM30 as a second system about 8 years ago and it was a fantastic combination.

Frequency ranges and sensitivity are all well and good, it's how they sound to you that matters. I'd suggest you grab a few CD's and having a little demo at your local soundsmith boutique to see what grabs you.
All the speakers you've mentioned are very capable so you need to identify which sounds the best combination to you. Don't forget to consider the environment you'll be using the system in, too.

[MartinM]

Thanks again for your advice. I'll try and arrange a listening sesh soon. I'm currently erring towards the Wharfedales now having read the WhatHiFi review and I think they look bloody lovely in the wood finish too!

[amir_j]

Running a Dennon DM383 with Tannoy F1 customs on stands mainly connected to a tv

Its fine but as you would expect from speaker spec you miss out on the low end so I also have a much needed sub connected to the dm38 as a 2.1