What bookshelf speakers?

[arun1uk]

Evening all,

I'm planning to upgrade the front speakers for my 5.1 setup, so what front speakers would you recommend for £200 max?
I'll be using them for normal TV/movies, but also with the aim to improve music payback quality.

So far I've looked at:

Q-Acoustics 2010i - not much depth but very good price
Q-Acoustics 2020i - much better, rich and full sound
Monitor Audio BX1 - very nice sound, great for music
B&W CM1 - Outstanding but out of my price range....

The limiting factors are price (£200 max) and the size of the speaker. They cant be bigger than the ones I've listed.

Any recommendations? Appreciate the help.

Thanks

[arun1uk]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It's a difficult one, so wanted to see if I hadn't missed out any obvious brands...
I listened to the Bx1, but I know I can pick up a pair of Bx2s for just over 200 (New). They sound great but might be a tad too big. I also checked out the Mission MX1 and Tannoy Vector (?), but haven't had a chance to listen to them yet.
CM1s really were amazing, fanatic depth for such a small package!

Anyone got and Dali gear?

[stargazer30]

Op the CM1s are the best but you didn't mention what amp your using. Given your budget I suspect your amp won't be anywhere near what's needed to get the best out of B&W speakers. As a guide B&W usually pair with AV amps costing around £1000 upwards or a stereo amp of £500 upwards. I've ran the q-acoustics and still do in the bedroom, very nice speakers for the money. The MA BX1s come highly rated too. So I recon one of those two for a budget setup.

[arun1uk]

stargazer30 said:

Op the CM1s are the best but you didn't mention what amp your using. Given your budget I suspect your amp won't be anywhere near what's needed to get the best out of B&W speakers. As a guide B&W usually pair with AV amps costing around £1000 upwards or a stereo amp of £500 upwards. I've ran the q-acoustics and still do in the bedroom, very nice speakers for the money. The MA BX1s come highly rated too. So I recon one of those two for a budget setup.

I'm running a Yamaha RV-V373, so not the most powerful however I'll be upgrading to a 673 in the next few months so I'm after something that can scale up. I'm not after high end, so would consider this a "budget" setup...

Going to listen to the BX2 and 2020i at Seveoaks this afternoon.

Any more thoughts, please let me know!

[mk2 24v]

I got a set of Morduant Short Aviano 2, and was and still am impressed by them.
Can be got for 200quid from Richer Sounds as well

[Madril]

Bought a couple of Monitor Audio BX1s as a gift for my father. They're paired with his RX-V365 and I like them a lot. Good budget speakers.

[stargazer30]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

First rule of home cinema amps - ignore the power output figures, they lie. Take a look at a high end amp like the Arcam AV amps that often pair up with B&Ws and check the size of the PSU in them vs the yammy, it'll be about twice the size and a tyrodial high current job. The Yammy will drive the CM1s but you won't get the full potential out of them. They won't sound much better than the MA's on that amp so save your cash unless you plan to upgrade your AV amp.

[kingston12]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I have got the previous B&W M-1s and have just swapped the front pair for CM1s. I'd love to get the centre as well, but it won't fit in my current room will have to stick with the M-1 there.

I knew the CM1s would improve the 2 channel music performance, but it really is night and day. I now run them in direct mode from my AV Receiver without the sub which I never thought I would be able to do with speakers of this size as I do like a good amount of bass. Obviously, these don't go as low as the sub/sat combination, but there is still plenty of bass and the presentation and detail is excellent.

I am also pleased with the surround sound performance as I was worried that by improving the 2 channel sound I would be taking the balance out of the 5.1. It certainly doesn't sound worse with the CM1s in place, and if anything the integration is a little better! I think it would be perfect with the CM centre and keeping the M-1s as surrounds.

[GingerWizard]

Have a look at some wharfdale diamond 9's.

[kingston12]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I didn't either, mine are about 25cm from the back wall which is the furthest they could go without looking ridiculous. I am going to experiment with the two levels of bung supplied, but I certainly don't find the bass over-powering as it is. I'd really like a pair of speakers that can be used right up against the back wall, but I have never found a pair I like the sound of.

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I have got the same issue (actually slightly worse as mine are the old version M-1s which would have less resale value!) From memory the speakers cost £125 each and the stands were £200 a pair so that is £450 of which I am likely to get very little back!

How much of your use is music compared to films? For me, the upgrade was essential as I am listening to a lot of music and the CM1s have really improved that side of it. For films, it sounds slightly better as well, but that would not have justified the outlay on it's own. I guess that adding the CM centre would bring it up another big notch, but then that is more money still!