Spent two hours this morning auditioning Monitor Audio RX2, Acoustic energy AE1 classic, Spendor SA1, ProAC Tablette 8, ProAc studio 110. the listening room was about the size of my room at home, 4mX3m.
The first one I audiitoned was MA RX2s. the sound was balanced and detailed, but I found it a bit too noisy and not too natural. Then AE1s, a bit too bright for me and could be harsh at times. When it changed to Spendors, I suddenly felt that I was surrounded by music. The sound of piano and strings was natural, detailed, and just what I wanted them to be. Changed to ProAC Tablettes, not as impressive as the spendors but still better for me than the MA RX2s and the AE2s. The last one was ProAc studio 110s, which were more expensive ones than the tablettes but I did not feel a lot improvements.
So far I like the sound of Spendor SA1s the best. They are also the best goodlooking ones. but they are also the most expensive ones. £1295 is beyond my budget. I am off to audition ATC SCM11 and PMC DB1i this afternoon and will report back here.