Advice on older bookshelf speakers to replace Tannoys

[JRH64]

Hi

My setup is: Nad 3130 amp
Arcam cd73 cd player
Tannoy mercury m2 speakers
Arcam ir dock for playing lossless and 320 mp3 via ipod classic

I have had the Tannoys from new and really like them but im getting back into my music after a while off. Im thinking of upgrading the tannoys for something a little better.
I do like the older british hifi. I know its a budget system but can anyone recommend a significant better bookshelf speaker over the tannoys. Ive spent ages looking at speakers from the same era but im still at a loss. Or do i need to consider something more modern? Epos els-3 or 5 for example.

Any advice is much appreciated

 

[Integralista]

Hi, from my experience, I can recommend to consider Q Acoustics 3020 Bookshelf, or their smaller sister 3010, even this older generation is very good. I drove them with my classic Rega Brio amp and they are not so critical in selection of amp. They just need some space behind them (30-40cm), not good to push them to the wall. If your NAD is in good health it shall work without issue. As alternative, Dali has released their "junior" HiFi small bookshelf Dali Kupid last year. They are a bit like Q Acoustics 3010 with a bit bigger midbass driver. But they really sound great. Here in Slovakia they are selling for 319 Eur pair. I heard them in Bristol HiFi Show this year. Amazing sound from such a small box. Than I see you have older but very good dac from Arcam and iPod Classic. I have still my beloved iPod Classic 160GB and use him in the garden with JBL Boombox, sounding still very good.
I am not so sure if you already have some sort of streaming in your system. I was many years Analog guy, with CD player. Now I got a small Bluesound Node 3rd Generation and this small streamer is stunning. Bluesound just need better Dac to be connected. Dac inside Node is nothing special. The moment when you will use USB or Coax output from Bluesound into your Arcam irDac, the sound will improve a lot. If not investigated such possibility by you yet, I really recommend to try such streaming. BR.

 

[Gray]

Any advice is much appreciated

Make sure you listen to any new speakers if you can, ideally with your amp, in your room.
Your Tannoys have descriptions such as 'warm', 'forgiving' and 'laid back' (forgiving speakers are unforgivable to me - but you might be shocked by the neutrality of some speakers).

 

[Al ears]

Hi

My setup is: Nad 3130 amp
Arcam cd73 cd player
Tannoy mercury m2 speakers
Arcam ir dock for playing lossless and 320 mp3 via ipod classic

I have had the Tannoys from new and really like them but im getting back into my music after a while off. Im thinking of upgrading the tannoys for something a little better.
I do like the older british hifi. I know its a budget system but can anyone recommend a significant better bookshelf speaker over the tannoys. Ive spent ages looking at speakers from the same era but im still at a loss. Or do i need to consider something more modern? Epos els-3 or 5 for example.

Any advice is much appreciated

To be fair nobody here can you what is going to sound better to you with your system in your room with your ears.
No idea how you have those speakers placed or what your budget is.
If you have spent ages looking at old speakers you're going in the wrong direction
Going second-hand is a minefield as you need to get to a decent dealer who should allow you to home audition when buying new.

 

[JRH64]

Thank you all for the replys. I will take onboard what you suggested. I think your right re: old speakers. You dont really know what your getting. Mine have been owned from new and never seen high volumes. Could you explain exactly what a neutral speaker is?

Thank you

 

[Gray]

Could you explain exactly what a neutral speaker is?

It's one that neither noticeably emphasises nor reduces any particular frequency.
Whereas some speakers colour the sound in some way - which some people prefer.

 

[JRH64]

Thank you

 

[gasolin]

Q Acoustics 3020 MK I has very bright sharp highs, as much as B&W 600 first and second version and not alot of bass

 

[good_enough]

Thank you all for the replys. I will take onboard what you suggested. I think your right re: old speakers. You dont really know what your getting. Mine have been owned from new and never seen high volumes. Could you explain exactly what a neutral speaker is?

Thank you

In principle a 'neutral' speaker would have an entirely flat frequency response between 20Hz (or whatever the lowest it could produce) and 20Khz - it would add or subtract nothing at any frequency. Your listening room might introduce a 'boom' at a particular frequency or what-have-you, but the speaker itself is just putting out what gets put in.

No speaker does this precisely, and reviews that take care (like this one of the speakers I own: https://www.stereophile.com/content/monitor-audio-studio-20-loudspeaker-measurements) will pick up on 'dropouts' or peaks (often caused by case or driver resonances) across the spectrum. WHF doesn't do this by the way which is why its reviews are a chocolate teapot as far as I'm concerned.

So you pick your poison. It's why listening is so important.

 

[gasolin]

If you want neutral go for neumann (active speakers) https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/neumann_kh80/

 

[Al ears]

If you want neutral go for neumann (active speakers) https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/neumann_kh80/

Now why did I see that coming?? 🙂
The rest of your system is rubbish so go buy some active speakers that will also not perform well in your listening room....

 

[JRH64]

Thanks again for the help/advice

 

[Fandango Andy]

Hi, from my experience, I can recommend to consider Q Acoustics 3020 Bookshelf, or their smaller sister 3010, even this older generation is very good. I drove them with my classic Rega Brio amp and they are not so critical in selection of amp. They just need some space behind them (30-40cm), not good to push them to the wall. If your NAD is in good health it shall work without issue. As alternative, Dali has released their "junior" HiFi small bookshelf Dali Kupid last year. They are a bit like Q Acoustics 3010 with a bit bigger midbass driver. But they really sound great. Here in Slovakia they are selling for 319 Eur pair. I heard them in Bristol HiFi Show this year. Amazing sound from such a small box. Than I see you have older but very good dac from Arcam and iPod Classic. I have still my beloved iPod Classic 160GB and use him in the garden with JBL Boombox, sounding still very good.
I am not so sure if you already have some sort of streaming in your system. I was many years Analog guy, with CD player. Now I got a small Bluesound Node 3rd Generation and this small streamer is stunning. Bluesound just need better Dac to be connected. Dac inside Node is nothing special. The moment when you will use USB or Coax output from Bluesound into your Arcam irDac, the sound will improve a lot. If not investigated such possibility by you yet, I really recommend to try such streaming. BR.

Definitely not Q Acoustics 3010. I have them in my AV setup, and they are excellent, but I have six of them and centre speaker + sub to do the heavy lifting. I have tried them in 2.0 and they are too thin, absolutely no bass.

 

[Fandango Andy]

Hi

My setup is: Nad 3130 amp
Arcam cd73 cd player
Tannoy mercury m2 speakers
Arcam ir dock for playing lossless and 320 mp3 via ipod classic

I have had the Tannoys from new and really like them but im getting back into my music after a while off. Im thinking of upgrading the tannoys for something a little better.
I do like the older british hifi. I know its a budget system but can anyone recommend a significant better bookshelf speaker over the tannoys. Ive spent ages looking at speakers from the same era but im still at a loss. Or do i need to consider something more modern? Epos els-3 or 5 for example.

Any advice is much appreciated

Let me caveat what I say by first warning you I really like Tannoy Speakers, I have R3 in my main system and M1 in my bedroom.

M2 are great speakers, if you want to change them, I would ask myself what characteristic do you want to change, or improve upon?

British of the era and better than what you have I can only really think of something BBC monitor derived so Rogers LS3/5A or Harbeth HL-P3ES or P3ESR.

 

[JRH64]

Hi

I do really like the tannoys, i know they were a budget speaker but still a good sound with plenty off bass. I sometimes feel that they are maybe missing some detail if that makes sense. Yet i played 3 rush albums the other day and they did sound good. Maybe its down to certain albums being too busy . Tried some miles davis jazz and that too sounded really good, again not too busy, you can here everything. Having not been able to realy listen to anything else i just asumed due to there age they were a bit outdated and maybe something else could improve the sound.
Theres a no hifi shops near me anymore so the days of going into town on saturdays and browsing the hifi shops are long gone. Even more reason to ask peoples advice. What i forgot to mention is at the moment due to the other half not wanting stands cluttering the living room ive had to shelf mount them above ear level . I know its a no no but im stuck at the moment. Maybe a pair thats not too fussy near a wall might help. Im taking onboard all the advice and its much appreciated. As well as all the above mentioned speakers i have also looked at the Elac Debut 3 63 which has good reviews. Again nowhere to listen to them. So many new speakers too choose from plus the vintage ones, if you can find a looked after pair, its all confusing.

Thanks again

 

[Al ears]

Hi

I do really like the tannoys, i know they were a budget speaker but still a good sound with plenty off bass. I sometimes feel that they are maybe missing some detail if that makes sense. Yet i played 3 rush albums the other day and they did sound good. Maybe its down to certain albums being too busy . Tried some miles davis jazz and that too sounded really good, again not too busy, you can here everything. Having not been able to realy listen to anything else i just asumed due to there age they were a bit outdated and maybe something else could improve the sound.
Theres a no hifi shops near me anymore so the days of going into town on saturdays and browsing the hifi shops are long gone. Even more reason to ask peoples advice. What i forgot to mention is at the moment due to the other half not wanting stands cluttering the living room ive had to shelf mount them above ear level . I know its a no no but im stuck at the moment. Maybe a pair thats not too fussy near a wall might help. Im taking onboard all the advice and its much appreciated. As well as all the above mentioned speakers i have also looked at the Elac Debut 3 63 which has good reviews. Again nowhere to listen to them. So many new speakers too choose from plus the vintage ones, if you can find a looked after pair, its all confusing.

Thanks again

Understood. Did you mention a maximum budget??
is there now a height or depth restriction then, if they are going on these shelves of yours?

 

[Gray]

Maybe a pair thats not too fussy near a wall might help.

It might.
So sealed box or front-ported models might be a wise choice.
Rear ports too close to the front wall can result in overblown bass (and has caused me to reject otherwise good speakers).

@Al ears has asked about your budget and size requirement above - major influences on your choices.

As it happens, I've been listening to several pairs of older speakers lately, (having inherited a large hi-fi collection from a major hoarder).
One little pair that impressed me most, for its even balance, was the JPW Mini Monitor - a sealed box design....older speakers don't have to sound 'outdated'.

Set your budget.
Know what sound you want.
Make sure you get it. (If you're buying new, insist on a home loan).

 

[JRH64]

Budget is around £300 .ish
I used to have the mini monitors a long time ago. They were good for a really small speaker.
Im taking it all in thanks again.

 

[Jasonovich]

Dali bookshelf speakers are amazing sounding for their price. Richer Sounds have many that will suit your budget. Pick a speaker you like, try it at home if you like keep, if you don't, send it back.

If you have Richer Sounds branch near you, worth popping in and having a listen.

Bookshelf Speaker Deals - Buy Standmount Speakers | Richer Sounds

Shop Bookshelf Speakers in pairs and singular Satellite Speakers with Richer Sounds. Find unbeatable prices online and in store today.

www.richersounds.com

 

[JRH64]

They have the Dali Kupids but dont stock the elac debut 3 range for comparison.
Thanks again

 

[Fandango Andy]

Budget is around £300 .ish
I used to have the mini monitors a long time ago. They were good for a really small speaker.
Im taking it all in thanks again.

That sounds like a tall order for the budget. You describe your Tannoy as budget, but if you take the cost new and adjust for inflation it's around your £300 budget.

Maybe something second hand from a higher price bracket is the way to go.

Having said that, take a look at Triangle Borea BR03. I have never heard them, but the larger BR03 are great and enough to make others in the range worth a listen.