Advice needed on best bookshelf / stand mounts for £400?

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

After an enforced absence, I am now able to dust off my old hifi again and get back in the world of real music!! Problem is I have no speakers!

I have some old components, approx 10 years old, which consist of:

Arcam Alpha 6+ amp
Marantz CD 63 SE cd player.

How do these compare with today's kit? I know they were fairly okay in their time, but that was a while ago now! (think they were about £300-£350 each in their day, to give an idea on quality).

The way I see it, I have two options...

- Buy some new speakers to use with my current cd/amp, up to max £400,

- Or would I be better off getting rid on e-bay, and spending up to £500 on a complete new system. These would obviously be cheaper components than mine were originally, but have things moved on? Is today's budget kit better than my old gear?

Speakers under consideration are:

- Monitor Audio Silver RS1
- B&W 685/686 (not seen these yet, or even know prices)
- Dynaudio Audience 42
- Kef iQ 3
- Quad 11L2
- Epos M5

So guys, being out of the loop for a while I need some help in shortening my shortlist!

- Any of them not worth considering?
- Any that my amp wouldn't be able to drive?
- Any worthy contenders I've missed?
- Any a particularly good match for my kit, which has quite a soft/warm sound already?

Sorry for the long post, but any help/advice would be most gratefully received!

Cheers,

Andrew.

 

[Simon Lucas]

Morning Speaker Spanker.

I'm confident your Marantz/Arcam bits with some new speakers will sound better than chucking £500 at a new system. Budget kit is definitely better value now than ever before, but your stuff has a wee bit more class than anything your money will buy today. I'm assuming they're both working ok and don't need an expensive service.

As far as speakers go, your list is sensible. I'm a big fan of the Epos M5s and they'd work a treat off your Arcam amp. They're not the best-looking speaker around, though, and some of the finishes are a bit sudden. If I were you, I'd wait for our September issue (on sale July 26th - not long now!) - our First Tests lead off with the new B&W 685s.

Oh, and it would be negligent of me not to bang on about speakers stands. You need some. Proper ones.

 

[Anonymous]

Simon,

Many thanks for the reply, I'm glad to hear my old gear isn't obsolete!

I shall pop out and audition as many on my list that I can find!

Cheers,

Andrew.

PS - Stands are sorted!

 

[Anonymous]

Hello again,

Well after listening to most of the speakers on my list over the w-end, I was deeply impressed with the Epos M5. However, I also listened to the Epos M12.2 and fell in love with them! They offer everything that the M5 do, but do so on a larger, grander scale, and to my ears sound wonderful, and just what I was hoping I'd find.

My question is whether my amp will be able to drive them? (Amp is an old Arcam Alpha 6+)...

I still have to listen to the Dynaudio, but they're going to have to be very special indeed to beat the Epos!!

Thanks for your advice,

Andrew.

 

[Simon Lucas]

Alright there?

Good work this weekend listening to all those speakers. The Epos M12.2s aren't a particularly taxing or demanding loudspeaker, so your Arcam shouldn't have any difficulty driving them.

I can't help but notice that the M12.2s are more expensive than anything else on your list. Does this mean that you'll be considering AVI Neutron IVs and Dali Ikon 2s as well?

 

[Razz]

[quote user="Speaker Spanker"]

Well after listening to most of the speakers on my list over the w-end, I was deeply impressed with the Epos M5. However, I also listened to the Epos M12.2 and fell in love with them! They offer everything that the M5 do, but do so on a larger, grander scale, and to my ears sound wonderful, and just what I was hoping I'd find.

My question is whether my amp will be able to drive them? (Amp is an old Arcam Alpha 6+)...

[/quote]

Great choice Andrew! I think the Epos' are the best choice for your system... Well done! Let us know however how the Dynaudios compared to them - I'm really curious...

Good luck,

Razz

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies!

To be honest, my budget is £400, I can get the Epos 12.2 for that, but doubt I can get either the Dali or AVI for that!

You are a bad man for suggesting I listen to them !!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies!

To be honest, my budget is £400, I can get the Epos 12.2 for that, but doubt I can get either the Dali or AVI for that, as they're another £100 on top.

Simon, you're a bad man for suggesting I listen to them !!!! I guess there is always something a bit more expensive, a bit better, but I have decided that £400 is top whack for me!

I shall listen to the Dynaudio and look and see what prices I can find the Dali/AVI can be had for....

Oh dear, here we go!!

Cheers,

Andrew.

 

[Simon Lucas]

It's a slippery slope, Spanker.

Good on you for setting a strict budget, but a hunt around is always a good idea.

Keep me updated.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi there!

Well I have to admit that I'm extremely confused, haha!!

At the w-end I listened to some more:

- Dynaudio Audience 42, very disappointing, not a patch on the Epos 12.2 - found them very boxy sounding.

- Monitor Audio Rs1, much more like it.

- B&W CM1, how does something so small sound so big!

- Focal Chorus 806v, very impressive!

I still want to listen to the Dali Ikon 2, however am now trying to remember how any of these sound compared to the Epos 12.2, which I was deeply impressed with!

However, what has really thrown the cat amongst the pigeons is that I got my old hi-fi out again to make sure it still worked, and brought down an old set of Sony SS-176E floor-standers that were banished to the loft for being too big and black!

Well these were only £200 in their day, but to my confused ears they sound fantastic! More impact on bass drums, larger sound-stage, deeper bass, nice separation, decent imaging, crisp treble, I've been enjoying them all afternoon instead of gardening! I realise that I'm not getting maximum detail with these speakers, but overall the sound is great!

After listening to speakers costing well in excess of twice the price of these, (plus the cost of stands), I was expecting the Sony's to sound average at best, and was only really using them to test my amp/cd were still okay, and to check the speakers still worked before putting them on e-bay to clear the way for my new speakers!

So what am I to make of it all?

- Are the Sony's really any good after all? How come they're not disgraced against newer, much more expensive competition?

- Is my listening room better than those in the hi-fi shops?

- Is my old amp/cd combo better than the Arcam Solo I've been using? (unlikely!)

- Does bi-wiring make a big difference? (I've got the Sony's bi-wired, but none of the new contenders have been)

- Are the Sony's masking poor recording on the cd's that I've been using to demo? Have the newbies been more revealing, unfairly showing them in a poor light?

- Or are my poor ears just giving up!

Would I be better off looking at a new set of floor-standers instead to give me the sound I want? I see the Monitor Audio Rs1 have big brothers! I think what I need to do is listen to the various contendors at home to compare like for like exactly, but none of the shops I've been to have been keen on the idea of home demos. Are there any in the Surrey/Berkshire/Hampshire are that are willing to allow this?

Any advice gratefully received!

Cheers,

Andrew.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Can't answer all of those questions, but we did give the Sony speakers an Award one year. I remember it well because I was dragged across the room at the Awards do by my lapels, pinned to a wall and accused of singlehandely destroying the British speaker industry.

Well, the British speaker industry is still going, I now have a jacket without lapels for such events courtesy of a Bangkok tailor, and the Sonys are still stonking speakers. I suggest you enjoy them, and spend all that money you've just saved on some more music.

Have fun...

 

[Anonymous]

Hello Andrew,

Thanks for your quick reply! I'm glad to know that I wasn't hearing things! I'm deeply impressed with the Sony's sound. However keeping them isn't an option unfortunately, as they don't fit the decor! I will however keep them in the loft, as they're worth more to me than I could get for them on ebay. They'd make a great set of bedroom/music room speakers, but I'm not going to get away with them in the front room!!

So any ideas of shops that allow home demo? Especially, Epos/Monitor Audio/Dali. Any ideas on floorstanders? Monitor Audio Rs5 / Br5? Do they generally sound bigger than standmounts? I know that might sound an obvious question!

Thanks again for your help!

Andrew.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Not sure on shops allowing home demo - you'll have to check local retailers and ask around. I guess I'd probably go for the RS5s...

Or find a local cabinet-maker able to reveneer the Sony speakers to suit your decor. Just a thought...

 

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

Just a quick thought, but has anyone heard the B&W CM7 floorstanders? I love the sound of their little brother CM1 stand-mounters, and if they have a similar sound on a larger scale, then they could be exactly what I'm looking for, as I prefer the slightly warmer sound compared to the Monitor Audio speakers that I've listened to.

Also, how would they compliment a Cyrus set-up, as I have my eye on upgrading to this in the future.

Many thanks,

Andrew.

 

[the record spot]

Sony had a good rep with speakers a while back - I saw a pair of their (might have been SS176E) Brooklands speakers go - I remember they were well recommended about ten years back and the ones I saw on Ebay were in mint condition. Think they went for about £45 in the end which, given their write-up and original RRP (£300 in their day I think), was a bargain by any other name.

If hey sound good to your ears, stick with them and enjoy!

 

[Anonymous]

No opinions on B&W CM7 anyone?

 

[Anonymous]

I can remember hearing them next to the Dali Ikon 2 (Hobo Hifi Special Edition...NOT recommendable!) and the Focal 816V, and frankly couldnït be bothered with them. I heard them very briefly, as they are over my budget (even the 816ïs and the Ikonïs were at that time), so I guess I didn't pay to much attention. But then, if they would have sounded great, they would have left a good impression, right?

 

[Anonymous]

Well hello everyone!

Just thought I'd resurrect my one and only thread on this forum! It has been over a year since I started this thread. I've been enjoying listening to music again with my old gear, but a couple of curious things have happened in the Spanker household!

1. Somehow the 'big black' Sony floorstanders were accepted back into the front room without complaint! Not sure how that happened, but I'm keeping quiet!

2. I seem to have been a victim of an e-bay burglar!! I went out for a night on the tiles, (and a few sherberts), and I woke up in the morning to find the blighters managed to sneak into my house, hack into my ebay a/c and win me an Arcam A85 amp, and THEN had the cheek to make themselves a bacon sandwich, and left the kitchen in a right mess before sneaking out!! (Strange that I do remember looking at hifi auctions before I went out!!)

So being the honest chap I am, I bought the amp and brought it home!

Now just after I've made one purchase that I didn't need, my CD playing is starting to jump, skip, get stuck, and generally misbehave! As well as that, the draw is making a terrible screeching / squealing sound, that sounds like a small family of rodents have chosen to set up home inside!

What are my options? Can it be repaired / serviced? It's a 10 year old Marantz CD63 SE, so it has served me well! Is it economically viable? I was thinking of upgrading the player in the near future anyway, to get the most out of my new amp, so it's not a complete disaster if it's toast!

So does anyone have any suggestions for players that would compliment my A85? I've noticed that 2nd hand Arcam CD82/83 seem to go for silly money on the 'bay'. However, I'm more nervous about buying a 2nd hand cd player than amp. Are my fears misguided?

Can anyone suggest any other players other than the Arcam ones mentioned? I listen to a WIDE range of music, I will be upgrading the speaker in due course, so compatibility with the amp is my main consideration! Do Cyrus players sound good with Arcam amps? I've always liked their stuff, and I like the upgradability aspect! My budget would be approx 300 pounds (ish!)

Thank you all in advance for your advice and contributions!!

Andy.

PS - Beware of the ebay burglars! If you go out drinking, make sure you disable your pc before you go out!! ;-) The same thing happened to a friend of mine recently, and the buggers won him a 1954 Martin Baker ejector seat, 2 kilos of toffee, and a canoe!! Seems I got off very lightly indeed!!