Amp & speakers choice - £2500 budget

[admin_exported]

Hi

I would like some advice on the best I can get for my money please. I'm not bothered by the size of traditional style speakers, and I'm interested in peoples views on whether the Kef 3005 & 5005, or B&W mt20 & mt30 style of speakers give as good quality performance for movies, as I have a seperate cd setup, as the usually larger traditional style package?

As for an amp, Onkyo or Denon? I have a denon 2930 upscaling dvd, and will be getting SkyHD so I'm not too concerned with upscaling or HDMI switching, just sound quality. Obviously, the more I spend on the amp, the less I have for speakers... (I already have most of the interconnects that I need)

I don't live anywhere near a place I can trial equipment so any advice and/or suggestions on which kit would be gratefully received. I have a normal sized, fairly accoustically soft living room.

Current kit - Yamaha AV2, Tannoy M4 main, MC centre and Definitive Technology bipolar rears. QED speaker wires.

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Hi

I have heard and was impressed on the Onkyo 875 paired with Monitor Audio RS6 av set up last week.

Am going to listen to the RS8 on the fronts on Thurs, not heard anything to get close to them on music (MA RS6) for balance, depth, attack for the money.

Around £2200!! (Wilkingson Hi Fi)

 

[Gerrardasnails]

If you have space and aren't worried about your speakers looking slinky and on the wall, you can't go wrong with RS6av (and they look fantastic too). I don't have the subwoofer and I am using MA R90 rear speakers but the sound is just stunning. Go to www.ssav.co.uk and call your local branch they have been doing a great deal on the Monitor Audio range - I got my RS6s for £450 and my RSLCR for £185 and my rear R90s for £175.

 

[Anonymous]

I've been a bit of a KEF fiend in the past and would definitely say that the smaller style speakers such as KEF 3005 do not touch decent traditional good quality larger "Hi Fi" speakers for depth and quality of sound - simply due to their size. Thats not to say that the Kef 3005s are not good - they are. But if its sound only you're interested in, you can easily get larger speakers for half the price which would out perform the smaller style speaker packages IMO.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the feedback, it's as I thought, you're paying for style over quality for the smaller speaker packages.

The Monitor Audio range does sound promising, but what amp to pair it with? I've been reading the Onkyo's run hotter than most, which would be a concern because I have lots of kit quite near each other. I have read lots of good things about the marantz SR8002, but would this be a good match to my denon 2930 and the MA speakers? Or would the Denon 3808 be a better suitor? I've always had a soft spot for Yamaha amps (I own an AV2 now) but from what I read Yamaha's would not be a good match for the MA speakers.. Anyone have any views on this please?

Thanks again for any feedback and/or suggestions.