Compact speakers required. Up to £750.

[chebby]

I want ideas for sub £750 ...

...wall mountable / bookshelf-able, compact, sealed cabinet / infinite baffle (if at all possible), real wood veneered, speakers that don't need acres of space behind them (a few inches from a wall will be ok).

Must sound good at lowish volume levels as well as moderate volume levels (I don't 'do' loud so don't worry about that).

Should sound excellent with predominantly 'spoken' material which will include BBC R4, some R2 and R3, radio plays (including many very well recorded ones), documentary, comedy etc.

Should sound at least 'ok' with music but that's not a deal breaker. (My musical demands will not include 'prog', heavy-metal, symphonic classical or opera and will be mostly fairly light and fairly infrequent or incidental.)

Not averse to second-hand (same budget) but - for that money - must be in impeccable nick.

My idea (and there is only one of it) is a pair of these kits from Stirling Broadcast for £488 + £20 p&p.

They will be listened to across the width (about 14.5ft wide x 22ft) of a small - medium-sized living room from about 8ft - 9ft distance. (A bit more if wall mounted or on top of our shortest book cabinets.)

Options for lighter coloured (real) wood finishes would be a bonus, but not essential.

Stands are not an option. I already have a pair of barely used, gloss black 'Partington Trophy' stands taped up in bubble wrap in a cupboard under the stairs and fully intend to never use them in the living-room! Stands are ugly things.

My decision (before anyone starts pointing fingers at any - non-existent - female pressure on this matter).

Ta.

 

[BenLaw]

ATC SCM7.

 

[audipheonix]

Spendor ls3/5r2 perhaps compact & sealed. comes in light colours. Musical too.

 

[altruistic.lemon]

I'd go for the LS3/5a clones as you suggest. Falcon Acoustics also make clones - I'm using one of their crossovers in my take on the classoc BBC design. Voices sound excellent - I'm listening to the Lord peter Wimsey stuff on iplayer, and it's magis. Shame about theplot...

 

[Cynic-al]

Neat Iotas, look really nice in the flesh and very small.Heard them this afternoon on the end of a Naim nait xs2. Absolutely superb with vocals.

 

[drummerman]

These Stirling Kits look absolutely fabulous!

I want a pair.

No mention of frequency response or similarities to the originals?

regards

 

[Cynic-al]

Guru junior if wood veneer is a must

 

[audioaddict]

not sealed chebby but cm1s look the dogs bits are very compact and sound lush with my 603 with just about everything

 

[CnoEvil]

Would you consider Audio Note AX2 or Role Audio Kayak: http://www.audioflair.co.uk/loudspeakers-2/ I have no idea how suitable they'd be in a room that size, as they are both nearfield monitors...probably a rubbish idea, but they should both sound natural.

Reviews: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue20/audionoteax2.htm

and http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue33/roleaudio.htm

 

[JamesMellor]

I know its really , really not cool to buy or sell stuff on this forum , but I have to ask , how much would you want for those unused stands ? I'll open at 40 quid and I'd collect

 

[plastic penguin]

Perhaps a pair of Spendors http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/spendor-sa1-loudspeakers-/271290416099?pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item3f2a2b3be3

Could you not employ the MS Pearls?

 

[steve_1979]

Obviously I've never heard them and they won't be available for another month or two but the AVI DM5's would seem to fit the bill. Maybe you could pay Ash a visit and demo the preproduction DM5's to see what you think.

 

[hoopsontoast]

ATC SCM7 (or SCM10), Rega R1/RS1, Spendor S3/5R or SA1 would all do the trick

Acoustic Energy AE1 too, although ony have experience with the larger AE2.

 

[Ben123]

+ for the B&W CM1. Gorgeous looking speakers. Fantastic sound. Well under budget (500). Only downside is rear firing port but you do get the port bungs to tailor the bass to how you like it. Ive used mine backed up against a wall and had no problems using the bungs.

All the best.

 

[manicm]

Chebby, disregarding your affinity for wood, would you consider a 2.1 system like the CA Minx I had? As I learnt the sub must go in a corner if you can accept that, but oh the sound!

 

[davedotco]

Neat Iotas, look really nice in the flesh and very small.Heard them this afternoon on the end of a Naim nait xs2. Absolutely superb with vocals.

No wood finish, otherwise ideal I would think.

I usually find any of the LS3/5a derived speakers to sound 'boxy' and 'closed in' at low levels, particularly on music.

That said building the Sterling kits look like a lot of fun (dont forget to upgrade the internal speaker wiring) and I doubt you would lose much if you had to move them on.

Be a nice little project that you could report on in here.

 

[DocG]

Guru junior if wood veneer is a must

If they sound anything like the QM10two (which is what the reviews suggest), they must be superb. Compact. Wallnut veneer. Designed to be used close to the wall. A little over budget at £795, but I think you should give them a try, if any of these dealers (bottom of the page) is within reach!

 

[chebby]

Thanks everyone for all the ideas.

PP, no I will probably sell the old MS20i Pearls because I have had JPW Sonatas as 'spare' speakers for some time now.

The JPWs will do fine in the same role as spares and may get used in a second system quite soon.

To the chap who wants to buy my Partington Trophy stands: Sorry, despite never wanting them in my living room, I might need them one day in our spare room / office, so I am hanging onto them for now.

The Spendor S3/5R2s are an obvious contender, but I had a dismal session with their predecessors in a local hi-fi shop a few years ago. Since then I have realised that I had a dismal time listening to anything in a hi-fi shop! So the Spendors are certainly not out of the question and look perfect, albeit a little over budget.

Steve1979, (Thanks.)

Whatever I end up choosing will have had no shop demo beforehand (unless one can be arranged in my home) for the reasons given above. So my eventual choice will be a bit of a 'stab in the dark'.

Sorry for not replying until today. Busy day.

I will look into all the other suggestions and look at specs, optimum positioning advice for each model and reviews etc.

 

[chebby]

Duplicate post

 

[cse]

Can I ask why you are changing from your current Rega speakers?

 

[chebby]

Can I ask why you are changing from your current Rega speakers?

Because they would look stupid sitting on top of two book cabinets and would be too heavy for wall brackets

Seriously, I would like to claim back the space my floorstanders take up. Not just their 'footprint' but the space to either side of them, and the space behind and between them. It's disproportionate.

 

[drummerman]

... Thanks everyone for all the ideas. PP, no I will probably sell the old MS20i Pearls ...

.

Really? - Is that an aesthetic issue decision?

Imho, that is one of the best speakers available I've heard for very little money (if you can get one in good condition). They are not perfect but some cabinet bracing and damping plus an internal re-wire (the former more important than the latter but why skimp at that stage) makes them truly astonishing budget speakers. Have you compared yours with the RS3?

I am not familiar with the newer Rega RS3 but when I had the R3's at home, there was no comparison to my ears. The MS20iPearls bettered the R3 especially with regards to a large, deep, wide and high soundstage with real depth. They sound good at both low and high volume and can soak up a lot of power considering the reasonable efficiency. The R3 sounded more 'dynamic' but in the end I found it was because of their rather forward (and ultimately fatiguing) balance.

They especially shone with a Naim XS system.

Even though mine spend time in their boxes they do come out ever so often. I couldn't get rid of them.

regards

 

[Richard Allen]

I want ideas for sub £750 ...

...wall mountable / bookshelf-able, compact, sealed cabinet / infinite baffle (if at all possible), real wood veneered, speakers that don't need acres of space behind them (a few inches from a wall will be ok).

Must sound good at lowish volume levels as well as moderate volume levels (I don't 'do' loud so don't worry about that).

Should sound excellent with predominantly 'spoken' material which will include BBC R4, some R2 and R3, radio plays (including many very well recorded ones), documentary, comedy etc.

Should sound at least 'ok' with music but that's not a deal breaker. (My musical demands will not include 'prog', heavy-metal, symphonic classical or opera and will be mostly fairly light and fairly infrequent or incidental.)

Not averse to second-hand (same budget) but - for that money - must be in impeccable nick.

My idea (and there is only one of it) is a pair of these kits from Stirling Broadcast for £488 + £20 p&p.

They will be listened to across the width (about 14.5ft wide x 22ft) of a small - medium-sized living room from about 8ft - 9ft distance. (A bit more if wall mounted or on top of our shortest book cabinets.)

Options for lighter coloured (real) wood finishes would be a bonus, but not essential.

Stands are not an option. I already have a pair of barely used, gloss black 'Partington Trophy' stands taped up in bubble wrap in a cupboard under the stairs and fully intend to never use them in the living-room! Stands are ugly things.

My decision (before anyone starts pointing fingers at any - non-existent - female pressure on this matter).

Ta.

If you're interested Chebby, I've got a pair of SM35Cs here at the works. £450.00 if you want em. 5 stars in WHF ( for whatever that's worth ). They're either Oak or Beech. Can't remember.