Circa £3000 Floorstanders. Help required for shortlist.

[Anonymous]

SHAXOS:Where have you seen ex dem pl300 anywhere near 3000? Id love to have these on my audition list but theyr just so expensive.

This was about 6 months ago - companies had many PL300s with slight colour variations in them for less than £3K. I saw a pair and honestly didnt notice a difference - brand new boxed. They were however all snapped up within hours, as the PL300s were & still are in high demand. The price point does put them out of reach for most people however. If you find any now for 3K it will be ex-dem models I believe. They are very hard to come by now though. Its always worth the effort if money is tight to ring around and see what you may find...

 

[Anonymous]

Definitely back up Thaiman on the Sonus Faber Cremona suggestion. Utterly stunning speakers as well.

There's also the

Sonus Faber Cremona M
Wilson Benesch Curve
Dali Helicon 400 MkII
PMC OB1i (c£3k new) or PB1i (c£4.5k new)

Second hand, you might get these speakers down from around the £5k rrp to nearer to £3k in a private sale and I heartily recommend you hunt around as opposed to buying a less speaker at full RRP. These are gems. There have been some great suggestions through this thread but I'm a big fan of second hand. I bought my three Helicons for £2950 second hand and haven't looked back.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Vinny7:This was about 6 months ago - companies had many PL300s with slight colour variations in them for less than £3K. I saw a pair and honestly didnt notice a difference - brand new boxed. They were however all snapped up within hours, as the PL300s were & still are in high demand. The price point does put them out of reach for most people however. If you find any now for 3K it will be ex-dem models I believe. They are very hard to come by now though. Its always worth the effort if money is tight to ring around and see what you may find... There are some recently made available which have a darker than expected cabinet finish which are available for the same price.

 

[Andy H]

I was in Sevenoaks in Lincoln a while back and they mentioned this, Don't know if they can still get them?

Might be worth giving them a call

 

[Anonymous]

I got a lend of a pair of dali helicon 400 mk2 and they are amazing I would def recommend you try and hear them as you could get a pair of ex demo or 2nd hand within your budget

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Shaxon
I have Classe amps and I had 804D speakers until very recently. I upgraded from 804S speakers and they were a huge improvement. The 803D's had better, faster and deeper bass and a really great triple and midrange. I listen to a wide range of music and if you like the B&W sound I don't think you'll be disappointed. You should be able to get a home demo for a B&W dealer. I've just upgraded to 802Ds and they are once again a huge step up - the bass is phenomenal and the triple and midrange are much better also. Like you, I've never been disappointed with B&W. Hope this helps

 

[Anonymous]

if I had £3000 for speakers, would look for a decent pair of old Rogers BBC LS3/5A speakers for approx £500-£700+ and use the change for buying music, having a really good holiday or upgrading the amp etc

or even a pair of old IMF series 80 speakers (transmission speakers for approx £400-£500 ...

just my opinion and know that many will disagree

 

[sometimesuk]

From personal experience, my advice would be to find a decent dealer tell them your budget and see what you can come up with.

Whatever you do, don't buy a speaker without listening to it.

I've made the mistake of selling speakers in the past, because I needed to use the money towards a new pair, without deciding on what new speakers I want.

I auditioned 6 different pairs of speakers, and I only "clicked" with one, I knew instantly it was the speaker for me.

I had the chance to get one of the speakers new for half price which has really good reviews, An absolute bargain I'm so glad I didn't buy it, because when I auditioned them, they weren't suited to my system.

The point is, you may buy a speaker that sounds very nice, etc, but it may not click as well as another speaker.

It's more expensive to buy from a dealer, but your paying for the service and can be worth it. It might mean you need to save / borrow more. But if it's the right speaker for you, its worth it.

I personally don't like B&W 805S, but if you like them, personally I think you should definitely audition ProAc and Spendor speakers as well as other B&W models