Arcam Solo MIni

[BillyE]

I'd like some speaker recommendations to audition alongside the Solo Mini. I'm after bookshelf speakers which will work fairly close to a wall; I'm thinking £300 to £500; I like MOTR music. What should I be listening to.

 

[chebby]

What volume levels do you hope to achieve? How big is the room?

My first instinct is to recommend 'Quad 11L Classics' or Rega RS1s.

My second instinct is to suggest hunting down a good second-hand pair of Spendor S3/5Rs. (But not for loud listening or filling a large room with sound.)

Some new old stock S3/5Rs from here for £599 if you can stretch that far.

 

[manicm]

Try the Monitor Audio BX2 as well.

 

[BillyE]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I don't want to play music too loud - the noise separation between my room and next door is not great. The room itself is about 3m by 3m, so not huge. I've heard the RS3s attached to some Naim kit and liked them, so the RS1s are probably worth a listen. I'm not keen on the look of the Monitor Audio Bronze series, but I was wondering about the RX1s and if they would be a good match.

 

[Anonymous]

When I was demoing various all-in-one systems when I wanted to reduce clutter and get rid of my seperates systems the Arcam Solo Mini was, initially, my number 1 choice along with the Marantz CR603... The Arcam Solo Neo got a good demoing as well but it was just too much £££ for what I wanted!

The Solo Mini is a little belter of a system; I heard it with the Dali Lektor 2's, B&W 685's, Monitor Audio RX1's and 2's, Castle Knight 2's & the QUAD 12L2's (I also demo'd the M/A BX5's and some old stock RS6's, PMC GB1i's, Castle Knight 4's and the KEF Q500's)

The best speakers out of the lot (standmount wise) IMO were the Monitor Audio RX1's and 2's closely followed by the B&W 685's and QUAD 12L2's; out of the floorstanders the best were the PMC GB1i's and the M/A BX5's

The Solo Mini will never give you ground breaking volume but it'll drive the M/A RX1's and 2's very well indeed. The RX2's are definitley worthy of being driven by the Solo Mini; for me they give just that bit better bass response and depth (afterall they do have an 8" driver) but their overall clarity and soundstage is sublime

Bear in mind the standmount speakers mentioned all need a good base under them (i.e. Atacama HMS1 or Partington Super Dreadnought stands (preferably mass loaded with atabites); the RX2's more so as they're a big speaker and will rock the stands if not weighted down (I found that out when I first got the Marantz system with them haha)

Hope this helps