With a budget of around £400 and having done some research are the B&W 607s the best out there? Pairing them with a Rotel RA04SE and PJ 1Xpression Carbon.
Best bookshelf speaker?
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abacus
Well-known member
What is best for one person is the worst for another person as people have different hearing and preferences.
Go to a dealer and listen to a few in your price range (You can use reviews as a guide to whittle down the number) and choose the one you like the best.
Buying without hearing (No matter how good the reviews and other people’s opinion are) is a recipe for dissatisfaction, but you may be lucky. (The odds are though that you won’t)
Bill
Go to a dealer and listen to a few in your price range (You can use reviews as a guide to whittle down the number) and choose the one you like the best.
Buying without hearing (No matter how good the reviews and other people’s opinion are) is a recipe for dissatisfaction, but you may be lucky. (The odds are though that you won’t)
Bill
chris661
Well-known member
In the budget stand-mount form factor, the Behringer B2031A are the ones to beat. They've impressed the likes of Linkwitz (RIP) and Earl Geddes, who both did a lot of work into cutting-edge audio.
Chris
Chris
SteveH72
Well-known member
Speakers shape the sound of a system more than any other component, barring room acoustics, and are, therefore, a very personal decision. The 607s are highly regarded and B & W pair well with Rotel, being stable mates, but they may not be to your liking. Go and listen to a few to get an idea of how they sound to you. You should be able to listen to Dali speakers alongside.
gasolin
Well-known member
insider9
Well-known member
Gasolin, out of interest. Have you compared your findings against this reviewer? Reviews are only helpful if you hear things similarly to person reviewing. Otherwise they're completely useless.
I don't really like any of todays book shelf speakers that are currently on the market in that price range nothing has has the drive of 20 years ago, there all too small. With Rotel and if you don't mind going second hand, currently on the big E there are pair of mission 701's going for less than a meal for 2 at Waitrose. Those would give any of todays 400-500 speakers a serious run for there money. The upper registers are little soft but as the rotel will be pretty punchy at the top end that will balance out the system nice. There also easy to drive giving you bags of head room 90DB sensitive i believe i remember correctly.
I still have a pair of 700's matched to a Marantz pm7200 in a bed room system and the sound that comes out of that, hmmmmm chefs kiss. nothing for the i payed for that 20 years ago even comes close to matching it.
I still have a pair of 700's matched to a Marantz pm7200 in a bed room system and the sound that comes out of that, hmmmmm chefs kiss. nothing for the i payed for that 20 years ago even comes close to matching it.
Al ears
Well-known member
They're all too small because bookshelf means bookshelf....
Standmounts are a different kettle of fish and can be any size. Modern speakers correctly set up will decimate older speakers of the same size in my humble opinion and will not need the added expense of upgrading for some time.
HAHAHA you pulling hairs mate, Standmounts and bookshelves are one and the same thing, sorry but id never put any "bookshelf" on an actual bookshelf ironically there actually too big for that in nearly all cases, most with rear ports to boot and then there's the weight 6-10kg for some. £15 vs 500 for lesser build and performance from a newer model its a no brainer to me .
Decimate LOL that's a strong word! More like marginal gains, Tech really hasn't changed much in 20 years they can sell it to you any way they want, lastest lube in a tweeter to keep it cooler Oooooooo magic throw away the old! it doesn't make older designs any less fantastic, in fact, it makes them more so as they're now so cheap.
Heck, most Modern designs use off the shelf tweeters/woofers designed decades ago and then just put customer order livery on them (ie cone colour) and then design the box around them to work. No budget speaker has custom woofers inside. All mass-produced stamped baskets and there's nothing wrong with that they're trying to hit a budget.
As I mentioned they might be a little less airy and the sound staging might be a little vague in comparison but 485 quid better come on! But if they're in a bookshelf who cares your never going to notice those attributes anyhow.
But for the sake argument look for the smaller700 instead front-firing "bookshelf" Probably pick them up for a tenner. Maybe some kef Cresta 1 or 2 for 20-30 quid. Don't really get your comment on "upgrading for some time", these "older speakers" as long as they've been looked after will outlive us.
My old 701s are 22 years young this year (dam i feel old now) and still going strong in a family members system, ill suspect they'll go for another 20 years.
I mentioned what mentioned as an option as most on forums can't spend your money quick enough ( and im not impressed with what you get for the money these days), they're actually might not be any newer speakers that actually fits his/her needs. Ignore or follow my advice I don't care but for 15-40 quid Id certainly try it out. but don't fill people heads with nonsense.
Decimate hahaha that has made me laugh.
Al ears
Well-known member
You are, as always, entitled to your own option.
You may have old speakers going strong but that doesn't mean they are anywhere near modern equivalents in the majority of cases. I do however still retain my original Heybrook HB1s because I like the sound they produce but I wouldn't compare them to a modern equivalent because there wouldn't be a comparison.
For what its worth I believe there is a difference between bookshelf and standmounts and its all down to size, you couldn't put many JBLs on a bookshelf yet they come with stands and are described by the manufacturer as bookshelf purely to distinguish them from floorstanders
Squall Leonhart
Well-known member
I have opened up many speakers to examine parts and I dont think they all use of the shelf parts from other manufacturers. The general design is the same obviously, in the same way that TVs are. But newer TVs have various enhancements and refinements and so do speakers imo
Mike Hunt
Well-known member
I see from a few of your posts that you seem to like the B2031A.
Around 10 years ago, I set up a little recording studio on a very tight budget. I had to buy synths and midi controllers and mics, etc. and, of course, a decent set of nearfield monitors and a decent set of headphones. For the headphones, I opted for the AKG K240DF. At 600 ohm, they take some driving, but they're probably the best headphones I've ever owned, and I still use them to this day.
For the monitors, after doing a LOT of research, I purchased a pair of 2031As, which I'm also still using to this day. For the price, I don't think they can possibly be beaten. I auditioned loads of monitors before going with the Behringers (I used to spit when I heard the Behringer name mentioned), and to buy something I liked as much as the 2031As would have cost me 10X the price.
I'm generally not a massive fan of Behringer products, but pound for pound, I think these are probably the best active monitors money can buy.
gasolin
Well-known member
chris661
Well-known member
Agreed.
One of the things I've found with them is that, sat next to a HiFi speaker, if you turn the volume up the active monitors just keep getting louder until you hit the red lights. HiFi speakers can get congested/shouty pretty quickly, indicating distortion is rising. One of the reasons for that is that the tweeter is still receiving out-of-band content: if you feed bass into a tweeter, it'll sound unhappy pretty quickly.
Passive speakers tend to use first- or second-order filters, while active speakers will usually use 4th order filters. The result is that the out-of-band signals are cut off much faster with the active speakers. The tweeter is better protected, and you get a cleaner sound as a direct result.
Add in the EQ switches for near-wall/corner placement and HF balance, and I don't really understand why people are still buying conventional passive speakers.
Chris
Update.....bought a pair of Dyna Audio Emit M10s off eBay for £270....listened to them 1st against the B&W 607 and they knocked spots of them....then went home and saw a pair on eBay that were less than a year old so just bought them thinking what is there to loose. They are great and at £270 I think I got a bargin!
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