What’s your Hi-Fi set up? spec and pictures please
Discussion
I would be very careful swapping those speakers too.
They are amazing speakers for the money, and they work with some truly high end gear and get better and better.
I still have a pair of Bronze BR2 speakers. I took them in part ex against some Harbeths, which I ended up with after Scansonics, Focal 1028 BE, Spendors, and a few others.
I used them plugged into an old Marantz amp sat under the TV for ages, then when I had a system swap around and was without anything I grabbed them and an older Marantz PM7003 amp to use as a stop gap. That was 18 months ago. No intention of swapping them. The silvers are meant to have a slightly sweeter, more refined top end, so can only be better.
I think the problem is we never get to truly see what a speaker is capable of because the speaker is what many upgrade first, it is the bit you really hear change with. However, years ago I was at Arcam and we were playing around with amps, mono, biamping, bridging etc. and also had loads of speakers. What blew me away was just how good and how much better some of the cheaper speakers sounded when you went overboard with amps.
I mean £300 speakers with £10k of amps, and a sound that just made you giggle it was so good.
They are amazing speakers for the money, and they work with some truly high end gear and get better and better.
I still have a pair of Bronze BR2 speakers. I took them in part ex against some Harbeths, which I ended up with after Scansonics, Focal 1028 BE, Spendors, and a few others.
I used them plugged into an old Marantz amp sat under the TV for ages, then when I had a system swap around and was without anything I grabbed them and an older Marantz PM7003 amp to use as a stop gap. That was 18 months ago. No intention of swapping them. The silvers are meant to have a slightly sweeter, more refined top end, so can only be better.
I think the problem is we never get to truly see what a speaker is capable of because the speaker is what many upgrade first, it is the bit you really hear change with. However, years ago I was at Arcam and we were playing around with amps, mono, biamping, bridging etc. and also had loads of speakers. What blew me away was just how good and how much better some of the cheaper speakers sounded when you went overboard with amps.
I mean £300 speakers with £10k of amps, and a sound that just made you giggle it was so good.
I originally bought the MA's as I was after a budget system with a load of features and I went to demo a load of kit. I settled on a Yamaha RN-602 which is great and I still use it in my home office setup but the amp/streamer and speakers cost just over £1100 all in. The MA's were the best speakers I auditioned although I did like the Dali Zensor 7's too. Fast forward and my new amp is 10x more expensive than my original amp so naturally, you think you need better speakers to match. You really don't!
Interestingly, I have the Yamaha in my office with some 30 year old Tannoy 632 profile bookshelf speakers and I'm really not impressed. I find the amp quite transparent so it must be the old Tannoys. I'm after a budget set of bookshelf speakers and looking at the QA 3020i, Elac Debut's and Dali Skeptor's but I might be better off just getting some used MA bronze 2's instead. I need to do some more auditioning.
Interestingly, I have the Yamaha in my office with some 30 year old Tannoy 632 profile bookshelf speakers and I'm really not impressed. I find the amp quite transparent so it must be the old Tannoys. I'm after a budget set of bookshelf speakers and looking at the QA 3020i, Elac Debut's and Dali Skeptor's but I might be better off just getting some used MA bronze 2's instead. I need to do some more auditioning.
Funnily enough I also run some Dali Zensor 1s in my office out of a NAD desktop amp. They are honestly also superb. Prefer them to the Q Acoustics 3010s or whatever it was I had before. They sound much bigger and more impressive than they look. I'm listening to them right now and they are sweet little speakers
I've often heard it said that most people are unaware how capable budget speakers can be because they generally get paired up with budget electronics. It's always worth making sure the quality of your signal is spot on before attempting new speakers because just people will likely be surprised how good their speakers can actually sound but I get it, it is counter intuitive to think this way!
I've often heard it said that most people are unaware how capable budget speakers can be because they generally get paired up with budget electronics. It's always worth making sure the quality of your signal is spot on before attempting new speakers because just people will likely be surprised how good their speakers can actually sound but I get it, it is counter intuitive to think this way!
Edited by TameRacingDriver on Tuesday 4th May 11:45
It’s good to see this thread get a bump. My turn to share ...
I’m a sucker for everything matching so, from top to bottom have the following (all from Cyrus) CD7, Stream Xa, AV Master 8.0, Cyrus 7, PSX-R (for the Stream Xa), Smartpower Plus (centre speaker), Smartpower Plus (rear speakers) and a Stereo 200 (front speakers). Front speakers (one visible in the shot) are Cyrus CLS-70s, centre and rear are Arcam Muso and there’s an Arcam sub hiding off to the left. Cyrus Hark rack (took me a long time to acquire the necessary number of shelves and hence only really “finished” this set up with a few eBay purchases when we moved back to the UK recently) for the equipment and Cyrus/Arcam stands for the speakers. Will not be everyone’s cup of tea but I really like the look of the half size, silver boxes ... and once you have a few you have to stick with them if you want it to match
I’m a sucker for everything matching so, from top to bottom have the following (all from Cyrus) CD7, Stream Xa, AV Master 8.0, Cyrus 7, PSX-R (for the Stream Xa), Smartpower Plus (centre speaker), Smartpower Plus (rear speakers) and a Stereo 200 (front speakers). Front speakers (one visible in the shot) are Cyrus CLS-70s, centre and rear are Arcam Muso and there’s an Arcam sub hiding off to the left. Cyrus Hark rack (took me a long time to acquire the necessary number of shelves and hence only really “finished” this set up with a few eBay purchases when we moved back to the UK recently) for the equipment and Cyrus/Arcam stands for the speakers. Will not be everyone’s cup of tea but I really like the look of the half size, silver boxes ... and once you have a few you have to stick with them if you want it to match
JerryDXB said:
It’s good to see this thread get a bump. My turn to share ...
I’m a sucker for everything matching so, from top to bottom have the following (all from Cyrus) CD7, Stream Xa, AV Master 8.0, Cyrus 7, PSX-R (for the Stream Xa), Smartpower Plus (centre speaker), Smartpower Plus (rear speakers) and a Stereo 200 (front speakers). Front speakers (one visible in the shot) are Cyrus CLS-70s, centre and rear are Arcam Muso and there’s an Arcam sub hiding off to the left. Cyrus Hark rack (took me a long time to acquire the necessary number of shelves and hence only really “finished” this set up with a few eBay purchases when we moved back to the UK recently) for the equipment and Cyrus/Arcam stands for the speakers. Will not be everyone’s cup of tea but I really like the look of the half size, silver boxes ... and once you have a few you have to stick with them if you want it to match
Nice setup but what's the sticky thing on the right?I’m a sucker for everything matching so, from top to bottom have the following (all from Cyrus) CD7, Stream Xa, AV Master 8.0, Cyrus 7, PSX-R (for the Stream Xa), Smartpower Plus (centre speaker), Smartpower Plus (rear speakers) and a Stereo 200 (front speakers). Front speakers (one visible in the shot) are Cyrus CLS-70s, centre and rear are Arcam Muso and there’s an Arcam sub hiding off to the left. Cyrus Hark rack (took me a long time to acquire the necessary number of shelves and hence only really “finished” this set up with a few eBay purchases when we moved back to the UK recently) for the equipment and Cyrus/Arcam stands for the speakers. Will not be everyone’s cup of tea but I really like the look of the half size, silver boxes ... and once you have a few you have to stick with them if you want it to match
TameRacingDriver said:
Funnily enough I also run some Dali Zensor 1s in my office out of a NAD desktop amp. They are honestly also superb. Prefer them to the Q Acoustics 3010s or whatever it was I had before. They sound much bigger and more impressive than they look. I'm listening to them right now and they are sweet little speakers
I've often heard it said that most people are unaware how capable budget speakers can be because they generally get paired up with budget electronics. It's always worth making sure the quality of your signal is spot on before attempting new speakers because just people will likely be surprised how good their speakers can actually sound but I get it, it is counter intuitive to think this way!
I've also got some Zensor 1s. I've used them with a few amps and they are fantastic. I auditioned them vs a number of other speakers Inc QA3XXX (can't recall which ones) and they were just a bit better. A sweeter sound I'd say. I've often heard it said that most people are unaware how capable budget speakers can be because they generally get paired up with budget electronics. It's always worth making sure the quality of your signal is spot on before attempting new speakers because just people will likely be surprised how good their speakers can actually sound but I get it, it is counter intuitive to think this way!
Edited by TameRacingDriver on Tuesday 4th May 11:45
hwassall said:
Finally built it all out: Townshend Elite Rock 2 turntable, Musical Fidelity X-A1 Amp, 2 x XA-50 monoblock amps, X-LPS phono pre-amp, X-Ray CD player, X-Can V2 headphone amp and Kef IQ-5 speakers. The Echo Dot actually does a semi-resonable job of streaming music into it all as well!
Snap - ish....
CeramicMX5ND2 said:
My system is modest and minimal, consisting of..
Marantz CD6004 CD Player
Marantz PM6004 Amplifier
Monitor Audio Bronze 5 Speakers
Chord C-Line Interconnects
Van Den Hul "The Clearwater" Speaker Cable
Marantz CD6004 CD Player
Marantz PM6004 Amplifier
Monitor Audio Bronze 5 Speakers
Chord C-Line Interconnects
Van Den Hul "The Clearwater" Speaker Cable
Very similar to my system, I'm on a PM6006UK instead and a DAC instead of a CD player but otherwise it's pretty much the same and I'm very happy with it, great sound for a fairly modest budget.
My currently rather untidy set up.
Musical Fidelity A308 Pre and Power combo
Musical Fidelity A308 CD
Yamaha RX-V3067 AV Amp
Kef Refence 203/2 Speakers
Monitor Audio Bronze Centre speaker
Montor Audio Studio Gold Reference 10 rear speakers
REL Storm Subwoofer
Bluesound Node 2i streamer
And some lamps I made from some drums and, on the other side, an old tripod!
Looks a bit of a mess just now but it sounds amazing with a really a good recording.
Looking at the pic I think I need a bigger TV - current is a 55 inch
Musical Fidelity A308 Pre and Power combo
Musical Fidelity A308 CD
Yamaha RX-V3067 AV Amp
Kef Refence 203/2 Speakers
Monitor Audio Bronze Centre speaker
Montor Audio Studio Gold Reference 10 rear speakers
REL Storm Subwoofer
Bluesound Node 2i streamer
And some lamps I made from some drums and, on the other side, an old tripod!
Looks a bit of a mess just now but it sounds amazing with a really a good recording.
Looking at the pic I think I need a bigger TV - current is a 55 inch
Quick update from me. For the month of May I’m keeping it simple. The Nait 2/ Kan is accompanied by a Rega RP8 and my 2 half size Sony spinners, The D-88 discman and the PS-Q3a record player.
D-88 in action, when it decides to work!
D-88 in action, when it decides to work!
Edited by Itsallicanafford on Wednesday 5th May 18:47
A few changes since I last posted on the thread back in 2018.
The Garrard 301 has been swapped out for a Systemdek Signature. I've had the Systemdek for a while, but back in 2018 it was in storage. We'd just moved into a new house, and I couldn't summon the energy to unbox and hoist the 65kg lump onto the top of the stand. It's currently fitted with an SME 312S arm, but it sounds better with the 12" Audio Origami PU7 it came with. That however is U/S at the moment, because one of the cartridge tags has come loose, and the internal wiring in the arm is, for me anyway, impossible to solder. It'll have to go back to Johnny 7 for repair.
The other major change is to the Music Store/Streamer. I bought a InnuOS ZENith to replace an ageing Naim HDX. It's a good sounding bit of kit. Better than the Naim? It's different. On balance, to my ears, better different. That feeds into the Naim NAC252/NAP300/ Supercap combo via a TeddyDAC.
Still using the Naim Superline powered by a Teddy Supercap. Speakers are Quad 2805's.
The Garrard 301 has been swapped out for a Systemdek Signature. I've had the Systemdek for a while, but back in 2018 it was in storage. We'd just moved into a new house, and I couldn't summon the energy to unbox and hoist the 65kg lump onto the top of the stand. It's currently fitted with an SME 312S arm, but it sounds better with the 12" Audio Origami PU7 it came with. That however is U/S at the moment, because one of the cartridge tags has come loose, and the internal wiring in the arm is, for me anyway, impossible to solder. It'll have to go back to Johnny 7 for repair.
The other major change is to the Music Store/Streamer. I bought a InnuOS ZENith to replace an ageing Naim HDX. It's a good sounding bit of kit. Better than the Naim? It's different. On balance, to my ears, better different. That feeds into the Naim NAC252/NAP300/ Supercap combo via a TeddyDAC.
Still using the Naim Superline powered by a Teddy Supercap. Speakers are Quad 2805's.
JerryDXB said:
It’s good to see this thread get a bump. My turn to share ...
I’m a sucker for everything matching so, from top to bottom have the following (all from Cyrus) CD7, Stream Xa, AV Master 8.0, Cyrus 7, PSX-R (for the Stream Xa), Smartpower Plus (centre speaker), Smartpower Plus (rear speakers) and a Stereo 200 (front speakers). Front speakers (one visible in the shot) are Cyrus CLS-70s, centre and rear are Arcam Muso and there’s an Arcam sub hiding off to the left. Cyrus Hark rack (took me a long time to acquire the necessary number of shelves and hence only really “finished” this set up with a few eBay purchases when we moved back to the UK recently) for the equipment and Cyrus/Arcam stands for the speakers. Will not be everyone’s cup of tea but I really like the look of the half size, silver boxes ... and once you have a few you have to stick with them if you want it to match
This Looks a great set-up, always fancied a Cyrus set-up on a Hark rack, enjoy!I’m a sucker for everything matching so, from top to bottom have the following (all from Cyrus) CD7, Stream Xa, AV Master 8.0, Cyrus 7, PSX-R (for the Stream Xa), Smartpower Plus (centre speaker), Smartpower Plus (rear speakers) and a Stereo 200 (front speakers). Front speakers (one visible in the shot) are Cyrus CLS-70s, centre and rear are Arcam Muso and there’s an Arcam sub hiding off to the left. Cyrus Hark rack (took me a long time to acquire the necessary number of shelves and hence only really “finished” this set up with a few eBay purchases when we moved back to the UK recently) for the equipment and Cyrus/Arcam stands for the speakers. Will not be everyone’s cup of tea but I really like the look of the half size, silver boxes ... and once you have a few you have to stick with them if you want it to match
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