Bookshelf speakers, budget £1000

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fr0g

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John Duncan said:
Nice. Liking the red leather...

LV2-E-rot.jpg

2 pairs, one red, one yellow and you have a great tongue twister :)

But yes, they have an interesting finish :)
 

hoopsontoast

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Something like the Genelec monitors? They start with the 6010a at around £400/pair and they have built in eq designed for desk use, and nearfield usage.
 

steve_1979

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Some questions to the guy who started the thread - What is your total budget? What are you using as a source? Do you already own an amplifier that you intend to use?

I suggest that you have a listen so some active speakers before you make your choice. Actives usually sound a fair bit better than similarly priced passive speaker and amp combos.

The £858 Acoustic Energy AE22-04 are very good for the price and have plenty of low end bass without needing a sub. http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/acoustic-energy-ae22-04-active-active-studio-monitors-left-and-right-pair--57632

The £1031 Adam A8X have plenty of bass and a nice treble which is ever so slightly recessed but without losing any detail. http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/adam-a8x-active-studio-monitor-pair--83367

These £1210 Dynaudio BM6A are also outstanding value and they also include a free DAC/preamp controller. http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/dynaudio-bm-6a-mk2-and-tc-bmc-2--72080

The £2158 Event Opals are some of the best speakers I've ever heard regardless of price. Well worth a listen if you can afford £2K and don't mind the looks. http://www.dv247.com/studio-equipment/event-opal-pair-and-event-calibration-software-kit--92906
 

steve_1979

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Craig M. said:
http://www.whathifi.com/review/avi-adm91

i would definitely buy these with the matching sub. active speakers with built in pre and dac.

I'm not too sure if you would really need to use a sub in such a small 3m x 3m room? I suspect that a good pair of 6.5" or 8" bookshelf speakers would be sufficient provided they have good bass. I do agree that the new uprated version of the ADM9's would be a very good choice though.

John Duncan said:
or the Xeo 3 wireless...

I haven't heard the Dynaudio Xeo 3 yet but they do look very nice (and similar to the ADM's). Both are smart looking active bookshelf speakers with an included DAC and preamp. On paper the only big difference between them are the Dynaudios are wireless and the ADM's are much more powerful and use a larger 6.5" bass driver.
 
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Anonymous

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I think either the AVI ADM9T's or the AVI Neutron 5.1 system could be ideal for you. The former are fantastic speakers that have very tight bass, great mids and a lovely crisp but non fatiguing treble, they sound incredibly natural and will work fine at close proximity too.

The Neutron system i've not heard, but it's very highly rated and at £800 for two speakers, a subwoofer which contains three amps, one for each speaker and one driving the sub, a preamp, DAC and remote control, it's amazing value for money.
 

chebby

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Quad 11l actives for about £500 (brand new, warranty, reasonable P&P from Germany, superb finish).

I almost 'pulled the trigger' on these last week (to plug into the aux out connections on my Marantz).

These will be excellent in a 3m x 3m space.

The original passive Quad 77-10l speakers were designed and built by Spendor and the (also passive) Quad 11l speakers were superb. No subsequent Quad 11l variant (11l2 or 11l Classic has received anything like as good reviews since.

The 11l Actives will not need any seperate amp (as their name suggests) and leave you almost £500 out of your budget to improve whatever source you are using.
 

drummerman

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steve_1979 said:
... Actives usually sound a fair bit better than similarly priced passive speaker and amp combos.

Unfortunately, not all actives are created equal. A quick visit to your local Pro Music Store will confirm that quickly.

If only things were that easy ...

regards
 

chebby

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John Duncan said:
So some may be less than one million times as good as passives then?

IIRC that 'million times better' referred only to AVI actives vs ATC passives. (And only to mid-range capability.)

The quote was...

"As someone who's very familiar with the ATC sound, I'd say that the mid range on the ADMs is a million times better"
 

relocated

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I would have chipped in to recommend the AVI ADM9T [newly improved so don't know the current last letter etc.] but it seems that lots of people, well a handful anyway, got in before me. Does seem a bit of a gift for us ADM 9 enthusiasts though???

In the interest of balance; other properly active speakers are available from other manufactureres but I can't be bothered to name them.
 

steve_1979

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drummerman said:
Unfortunately, not all actives are created equal. A quick visit to your local Pro Music Store will confirm that quickly.

You're quite right there my petal. ;)

Of course some actives are better than others but the good ones are always a fair bit better than passive speakers. Even mediocre actives are usually better than passives IMO.

As always my advice to anyone who's interested in getting some new speakers is have a listen to a few different active monitors at a pro-audio shop and make up your own mind.
 
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chebby said:
John Duncan said:
So some may be less than one million times as good as passives then?

IIRC that 'million times better' referred only to AVI actives vs ATC passives. (And only to mid-range capability.)

The quote was...

"As someone who's very familiar with the ATC sound, I'd say that the mid range on the ADMs is a million times better"
So, if someone else said that the mids of the ATC passives were night and day better than the mids of the AVI actives, and they were both right, who'd be the most wrong?
 

fr0g

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steve_1979 said:
drummerman said:
Unfortunately, not all actives are created equal. A quick visit to your local Pro Music Store will confirm that quickly.

You're quite right there my petal. ;)

Of course some actives are better than others but the good ones are always a fair bit better than passive speakers. Even mediocre actives are usually better than passives IMO.

As always my advice to anyone who's interested in getting some new speakers is have a listen to a few different active monitors at a pro-audio shop and make up your own mind.

Hmm can't agree there. Too many sweeping statements, you've been listening to a mad scientist too much.

"but the good ones are always a fair bit better than passive speakers" - I would agree if you said "better than their passive equivalents"

"Even mediocre actives are usually better than passives IMO." - Again, for too general, which and which? A mediocre set of actives sounds just as mediocre as a mediocre set of passives. I've heard great passives and awful actives and vice versa.

As you say a visit to a pro shop will confirm this...some of the monitors are quite awful sounding, some are fantastic.

I agree of course with the sentiment though, and for purely music listening I probably wouldn't buy passives again. Properly sorted actives are better value sound per pound.
 

steve_1979

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fr0g said:
Too many sweeping statements

Now what fun would forums be if we didn't occasionally indulge in vast sweeping generalisations. ;)

fr0g said:
you've been listening to a mad scientist too much.

Yes but always with a pinch of salt. I promise.

fr0g said:
"but the good ones are always a fair bit better than passive speakers" - I would agree if you said "better than their passive equivalents"

Yeah that's pretty much what I ment to say.

fr0g said:
"Even mediocre actives are usually better than passives IMO." - Again, for too general, which and which? A mediocre set of actives sounds just as mediocre as a mediocre set of passives. I've heard great passives and awful actives and vice versa.

What I should have said is "Even mediocre actives are better than the majority of equivalently priced passive/amp combos."

fr0g said:
As you say a visit to a pro shop will confirm this...some of the monitors are quite awful sounding, some are fantastic.

I too have heard some actives that are so bad they make you cringe. But the fantastic ones (Opals and Quested) are better than any passive speakers that I've ever heard.

fr0g said:
Properly sorted actives are better value sound per pound.

With this sentance you have, as usual managed to sum it up better than me. :)
 

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