Best combo with DENON RCD-N10

antonchechins

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Jun 22, 2022
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Good afternoon,

Please advise best combination to DENON RCD-N10:

1) Klipsch R-51M;
2) Q Acoustics 3020i;
3) POLK Audio ES20;
4) Elac Debut B5.2

Room 12 sq.m music: Progressive metal/heavy metal/all kinds of metal.
Thx a lot!
 

Witterings

Well-known member
Not an exact match but I have the Denon RCD - M39 and upgraded to some B & W 607's a while ago but they are bright.

I've got the Elac 5.2's on trial at the moment which are much warmer all round and far greater bass although a couple of tracks it can be quite overpowering ... I'm not sure if that's the amp / pairing as on another system the same tracks aren't so bass heavy but overall they're absolutely superb, hearing detail I've not noticed before and sound like a much bigger speaker than they are.

I've a pair of Dali Spektor 2's tomorrow on trial as well and I may try the Elac's with the amp I mentioned on the other system / amp to see if it's the M39.

I bought a cheap £9 speaker switch which works brilliantly and you get an immediate comparison which is chalk and cheese from having to swap the speakers over.
 
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manicm

Well-known member
Good afternoon,

Please advise best combination to DENON RCD-N10:

1) Klipsch R-51M;
2) Q Acoustics 3020i;
3) POLK Audio ES20;
4) Elac Debut B5.2

Room 12 sq.m music: Progressive metal/heavy metal/all kinds of metal.
Thx a lot!

Try the Monitor Audio Bronze 50 - I've been eyeing these for my mum's RCD N10 too.

Having said that be aware of the Denon's limitations too - it's probably closer to a true 25w per channel into 8ohms than the stated 60w. But it's 6ohm compatible, which is why I suspect the Bronze 50 will pair very well with it, and the speaker has an excellent frequency response too on paper for the price.
 
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Difficult to say really depends on your ears, the room also as size is not everything, and 12 sq m is pretty meaningless. Length and breadth might be more useful
If it were me I would go with the most efficient speaker on your list of actually go and audition some.....
Can you get to audition any ?
 
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gasolin

Well-known member
Not the Q Acoustics 3020i,they are surpose to be the worst of the 3000 series lacking bass, 3030i is much better

Polk Signature Elite ES20 i have heard is very bassy and not the most refind in the highs, soundstage as i remmeber wasn't that great

Elac Debut B5.2 is good personally i don't like front portede speakers

Dali Spektor 2 as metioned, can be a little to unnaturally soft in the upper midrange,lower tweeter, very low sensitivity 84 db https://www.i-fidelity.net/testberichte/hifi/dali-spektor-2/seite-5.html

Consider wharfedale diamond 12.1 or Mission LX 2


 
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That’s a big space, 36sq m., so you’re not going to fill it with loud metal easily. Pace gasolin I don’t find 3020i to lack bass at all, but they are quite deep (size, not bass response) and need good stands. I own a pair.

Klipsch are the obvious choice on reputation, sensitivity and your music tastes. But you definitely need to hear as many as you can. And we don’t know what prices they are in your location, which is a factor in competitive market.
 

antonchechins

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By the way many ppl do recommend Elac Debut B5.2 .... need to test them...
If we consider price:
Elac Debut 5.2 is EUR 209.90
Klipsch R-51M is EUR 219
POLK S20 is EUR 330
Q ACOUSTICS 3020i is 336.11 ...
i tihnk the winner is Elac Debut 5.2 is EUR 209.90
 
By the way many ppl do recommend Elac Debut B5.2 .... need to test them...
If we consider price:
Elac Debut 5.2 is EUR 209.90
Klipsch R-51M is EUR 219
POLK S20 is EUR 330
Q ACOUSTICS 3020i is 336.11 ...
i tihnk the winner is Elac Debut 5.2 is EUR 209.90
They’d be my first choice at that price. But you may prefer the character of one of the others, and that’s impossible for us to know.
 

Witterings

Well-known member
Hi mate, how is going on the testing of Dali Spektor 2 plus DENON? Thx in advance

I've had a quick play today and I'll try and give as much detail as I can ... my musical taste runs from everything from some Classical to Streisand to Black Sabbath, Metallica, Dream Theatre, Porcupine Tree, Genesis, Black Sabbath and Led Zep and everything in beteween inlcuding "Good" pop artists / albums.

I bought the Elacs because I had the 607's, Genesis was one of my favourite bands as a kid but a lot of their recordings are a bit "sharp" on the top end, this became really noticeable with the 607's going from one room to another with multiroom playing ... the other system has Wharfedale 9.1 speakers and an SMSL AO200 amp.
The Elac's take that "edge" off but it does come at a cost and whilst they sound like a much "fuller" speaker the vocals / mids come across as a bit muffled in comparison.
The second you plug them in you instantly want to tweak the treble one click and drop the bass the same for the majority of songs.
That said I'd heard some subtle bass lines, fingers running over the strings and detail I've never heard before but they do seem very song selective.
I put Barabara Streisand - Guilty on which was what 1st track that me think they were too bass heavy / muddy and maybe I should look at other alternatives. I found the same with Judie Tzuke - Welcome To The Cruise but if you play something that is incredibly well recorded like Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana or Man in The Mirror and i kid you not, they are completely sublime ... I mean absolutely incredible.
Last night I played Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell through the Elacs and again found them quite bass heavy, must try some Led Zep and see how they

The Dali's in comparison, if you're listening to a DJ or news reporter on the radio you'd much be listening to it through these than the Elacs.
Music ... there's a noticeable difference in the lack of bass in comparison so this may depend whether you're running a sub as well.
The perfect speaker would be something in between.

Biggest problem comparing the Elac's on a back to back is everything else then sounds tinny next to it, this included my Wharfedal 9.1's which tonally / range seem perfect but their clarity could be improved.
Maybe look at as someone suggested their 12.1's or the ones I'd have looked at if I had the depth for them is their 12.2's.

I may back to back the Dalis to the 607's over the weekend if you want to know how they compare let me know but they weren't on your list.

If I had to make a decision between the 2 now I'd go with the Elac's, I'm using a WiiM Mini Streamer for my "critical" music and I believe they're going to update it to include an EQ which means I can soften the bits I think are a bit too much and bring out the bits that are slightly lacking .... ceratinly none of the other speakers I've tried at this size will offer that range and fullness of sound to be able to do that.

Hope that's of help.
 
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antonchechins

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If I had to make a decision between the 2 now I'd go with the Elac's, I'm using a WiiM Mini Streamer for my "critical" music and I believe they're going to update it to include an EQ which means I can soften the bits I think are a bit too much and bring out the bits that are slightly lacking .... ceratinly none of the other speakers I've tried at this size will offer that range and fullness of sound to be able to do that.
Hope that's of help.
Thanks a lot for your thoughts, ideas and core factors useful to make a final decision. As i understand ELAC's is one of the best choice if we speak about processing of difficult strong riffs/overloaded music as they do this procesing very accurately/precisely. Additional plus is that ELAC in their history manufactured speakers from HiEnd segment and brought its experince to the so-called 'budget segment' of this HiFi market not meaning less quality.
I think the short list currently looks like

1) ELAC Debut 5.2
2) DALI Spektor 2
3) Wharfedale diamond 12.1
4) Mission LX 2

Thank you What Hi-Fi community for helping improve my short list, i think the final choice must be done
after finding and testing all 4 if possible, depending on my ears.
 

robdmarsh

Well-known member
I am a big Elac fan but in my opinion the Elac debut b5 (original edition) was a much better speaker than the 5.2. I'm not just saying this, I had both and got rid of the 5.2 pretty sharpish. It has none of the magic or charm of the original b5. I think there was a corporate thing behind the design which was not there with the first version which I think was all Jones. And in fact, I believe that Andrew Jones was much prouder of the original debut models than the mark 2 versions. It was the mark 1 that caused such a stir when they came out in 2015 and I only reluctantly parted with my b5 when I found the Triangle Titus, a speaker costing three times as much as the b5.

If you can find a pair of b5 second hand, I would go for them over the 5.2 every time.
 

Witterings

Well-known member
I am a big Elac fan but in my opinion the Elac debut b5 (original edition) was a much better speaker than the 5.2. I'm not just saying this, I had both and got rid of the 5.2 pretty sharpish. It has none of the magic or charm of the original b5. I think there was a corporate thing behind the design which was not there with the first version which I think was all Jones. And in fact, I believe that Andrew Jones was much prouder of the original debut models than the mark 2 versions. It was the mark 1 that caused such a stir when they came out in 2015 and I only reluctantly parted with my b5 when I found the Triangle Titus, a speaker costing three times as much as the b5.

If you can find a pair of b5 second hand, I would go for them over the 5.2 every time.

Do you recall what the differences were between the 2?
 

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