Confusion,confusion,confusion!

admin_exported

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Aug 10, 2019
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I am a newbie aiming on an entry level hifi stereo system mainly for record playing.

I have locked on the Rega RP1 to spin my disks (would settle for a second hand mkII also but it is difficult to find one i a descent price were i live).

For amplifier i am seriously considering the Rotel RA-04SE since it not only acclaimed by everyone but also it appears that it has a good phono stage. Moreover i don't see any strong competitor at its price range (Marantz 6003? HK 980?).

The tricky part is the pairing with speakers. I have auditioned the Rotel with Dynaudio 2/6 (using a digital source passed through a DAC) and i must say it was pretty impressive. The only objections i had was that the voice sounded too upfront and that in higher volume the sound started to blur a little.

So I started looking for other options at the price range and it seams there are a lot! KEF Q100? Monitor Audio BX-2? Diamonds 10.*? BW 685? Or should i try for a floorspeaker (monitor audio BR5?) at that price? CONFUSION!

I don't thing i can audition all the combinations (some of the speakers are not sold by the Rotel retailer) so i have to narrow them down! SO what better place to ask for tips than here? [:)]

P.S.: any thought for an alternative setup on the same budget are more than welcome [:)]
 
A

Anonymous

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Hmm..nobody to help here?

Anyways, today i auditioned the rotel 04se with the KEF300 and i have to say that pair didn't go well together. Crunchy sound, they somehow lost the transitions. Dynaudio 2/6s did much better ..but now i start to think that maybe at that price (550 euro!) I can get a decent floorspeaker that the rotel can drive...

I think the Wharfedales (Diamond 10.1,10.5?) and the Monitor Audios (BX-5, BR5) are in turn. This time with my Rega RP1 as input :)

I look forward to any other suggestion!
 
algo:

Hmm..nobody to help here?

Anyways, today i auditioned the rotel 04se with the KEF300 and i have to say that pair didn't go well together. Crunchy sound, they somehow lost the transitions. Dynaudio 2/6s did much better ..but now i start to think that maybe at that price (550 euro!) I can get a decent floorspeaker that the rotel can drive...

I think the Wharfedales (Diamond 10.1,10.5?) and the Monitor Audios (BX-5, BR5) are in turn. This time with my Rega RP1 as input :)

I look forward to any other suggestion!

Sometimes threads, for inexplicable reason, get missed.

Anyway, usually Rotel dealers have B&W speakers. They are pretty much a perfect match; they share the same building in southern England.

Could you tell us the makes you can get?
 

tenergy

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Hola Algo... yes, the B&W 685's should make a great match with your RA-04. That is pretty much conventional wisdom at work. OR, you could try to shake it up a little...maybe some Rega RS-1 bookshelves would please you? I noticed that you are using a Rega TT already, so maybe you could try out their speakers as well. They are pretty musical, punchy and great value for money. I haven't tried them with RA-04's myself, but they should be within your budget and could be worth a try.

Hope this helps!
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
thanks for the reply!

unfortunately i can not get the B&W auditioned in the Rotel saler here in sweden.

i can try wharfedales, monitor audios, KEF, Dynaudio. ELAC...

the B&W saler has NAD, Campridge and Denon amps
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Hmm..no way to audition Rega here..only sold by an online shop
emotion-7.gif
 
algo:

thanks for the reply!

unfortunately i can not get the B&W auditioned in the Rotel saler here in sweden.

i can try wharfedales, monitor audios, KEF, Dynaudio. ELAC...

the B&W saler has NAD, Campridge and Denon amps

Worthwhile testing the Kef and Wharfedale speakers with the Rotel.

Sneaky little trick I learned a while back: (Looks over shoulder) why not have a home trial for the Rotel and then go to the other shop and ask the same for the B&Ws. I'm sure you'll love both...
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
What about Dynavoice: http://www.dynavoice.se/ ? Outstanding value for money, and the equal of most of the speakers mentioned so far, plus they should be readily available since it's a Swedish company.

I heard both their floor standers and their standmounts at the Helsinki show and was quite impressed.

By the way, the blurring you talk about with the Rotel/Dynaudio combination may be because of the amp - I'd suggest auditioning them again with something like the Rega Mira or the Nait5i which should do more justice to the speakers.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Thanks for all the tips!

As I said today I will try the Wharfedales and the Monitor Audios. The ELACs are added the list now
emotion-1.gif
. Any proposal on which of these to check?

If that doesn't work then I either have to take the amp only and try it with the B&Ws, or start thinking about an alternaitve amp
emotion-7.gif
.

Believe it or not the dynavoice can not be found in Stockholm (?!).
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
So..decision made :)

But let's get it from the start.

This time my Rega RP1 was plugged on the Rotel. I started with the MA RX5s.

My fear with floorspeakers was that the base would be too much and blury..well that wasn't the case. It was a nice match with Rotel but lacked some detail and the bass was a little neutral IMO. The highs sounded more soft than in the bookselfs i tried before which was nice. I switched a couple of records. The more trip hop ones (Portishead) sounded ok although not impressive. The problem appeared when i changed to something with more guitars (Red Sparrows, a post rock band) where the stage was not that good. Details where missing, bass was low. I initially thought it was a record problem so i put it aside. I tried also a digital input playing Trentemoller's Moan (a lot of bass and digital highs) with which i had already tested KEF Q300 and Dynaudio 2/6. The highs were smoother than the Dynaudio (KEF was really bad on the highs of this track) but the bass was lacking again so was the detail..

Next was the ELAC (i think BS-203A). Nice looking bookselfs. Played the same songs all over. and all of them sounded more detailed and with more proper middle/bass. Better impression in general again if i had to complain it would be for the highs..

I decided to skip the Wharfedales and try again instead the Dynaudio 2/6 to compare them with what i had just listened. Well guys..this little devils just erased the previous speakers. Same songs but much more detail, wider stage and excellent middle/low. Even the record i had put aside sounded much better! I didn't even notice the highs like i did in the previous audition! That made me suspicious so i turned to the digital source where the highs sounded as i remembered (a little more picky)! I believe that the source had a big influence on that.

VERDICT: Dynaudio clearly outperformed all KEF Q300, MA BX5 and ELAC. Considering the fact that i could get them also with a a 20% discount and 5(?!) years warranty it was a clear choice.

P.S.: Earlier today i auditioned also the B&W 685 paired with a NAD 326BEE. I was impressed by their thirst for power (huge difference with the NAD 316BEE) and the NEUTRAL sound of NAD. As a result the speakers sounded also a little flat but detailed. Unfortunately i couldn't test them with the Rotel and proper input :(
 

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