Decent speaker choices, small-ish room, great amp, suggestions?

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I'm looking for speaker suggestions. I have a Bel Canto S300iD amp (internal DAC), much better than the Cyrus XPD which I tried last week. I currently have Epos M12.2 speakers which are brilliant but are probably holding the amp back at this level. I've read all the reviews etc. with regard to speakers at my price point, few seem to specify which speakers work better in smaller spaces. I'm looking at 2nd hand or very good ex dem deals, my budget is £700 to £900. My room is 4x3m with high ceilings, wood floor with rug, thick curtains, fairly average. The speakers are 2m apart and just over 2m to listening position. They have plenty of room to the sides but one speaker has to be in front of the fireplace so there isn't much room behind it. Music is extremely varied, volumes are low to medium, I like reasonable bass but would value tight bass & detail more highly, I have no preference between floor standers & stand mounts but I'm wondering if a sensitive floor stander might be better at my lower listening levels?

So far I've ruled out ATC's which (I'm told) need space & a bit of volume, also I'm not keen on the looks. Please feel free to suggest anything you feel may suit. Cheers!

 

[the record spot]

Leema Xero, Quadral Pico - £650-ish each. Both enjoyed excellent reviews - the latter especially.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for those, they may be worth looking into. I feel at the price point though(for new speakers) there probably won't be a great deal of improvement of my Epos speakers. I think for £700-£900 2nd hand or ex-demo I could probably get better. I'm interested in the Wilson Benesch Square 1's but have heard they really need to be close to the back wall for decent bass, only one of my speakers would be. I wonder how the bass in the Square 1's compares to My Epos 12.2's?

 

[chebby]

We have a chap here on these forums called 'mikeinbrum' who sold ALL his Bel Canto gear and Epos speakers for a pair of AVI ADM9.1 active monitors (with built in DAC) costing just £1100. That was for a smallish room too.

He made a substantial profit and found the sound much better.

 

[Messiah]

Yeah, get the ADM 9.1s......

(I never had the Bel Canto gear though..)

 

[mikeinbrum]

I had M300 monoblocs and a DAC 3 setup with epos M16 floorstanders. I bought the AVI ADM9.1s as a 2nd room solution for my study. As much as I hated to admit it at the time, they were far and away more enjoyable than my Bel Canto gear. So the Bel Cantos went on ebay, and the ADM9.1s took pride of place until i decided what to do. I have a seperates system in my living room again now..... but the MF A1008 and Dali Helicon 800 are BIG SOUND performers (they are both whoppers in sound as well as dimensions) whereas the AVI ADM9.1s are compact, detailed, smooth and precise.

If you want to keep hold of your Bel Canto amp (and really, it is an excellent amp) then as far as speakers go, I'd be saving for a while to go for a major upgrade. for the money you want to pay, you'll get something better for sure, but it's not going to be all that much better and you may be disappointed for the level of performance increase compared to outlay. Once you reach £1k+ then you're in the market for some serious ex-dem stand mounters that will show your Bel Canto off to its best.

Alternatively do what I did. And get a pair of AVI ADM9.1s. You'll easily cover the cost with the sale of your BC and epos gear and have some left over for some music to play on them. Drop Ashley at AVI an email, he is fairly partisan when it comes to his products but behind the bluster he is only too keen to inform and help.

 

[mikeinbrum]

I have had a quick look on ebay for any suitable matches, and the best i can do for you is this

These would be a great match for the Bel Canto S300. But i'd still have that nagging sense that the AVI solution would be better and would give you £££ back to put in your pocket....

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmm interesting. I've looked at the AVI's before and they might be somewhere to go for the future. For the moment I have too many inputs, both digital and analogue, for them. Also I love the sound of the Bel Canto, it's just perfect for me, extremely detailed without being harsh. By comparison the well rated Cyrus 8xpd sounded somehow muddy & harsh at the same time.

The Monitor Audios look great but at £1300 they're just too much for me at the moment.

 

[mikeinbrum]

I would caution against pitching at a lower spec speaker just because it fits your current budget. Wait and get something that will truly reveal all of your amp's potential.

 

[Anonymous]

I've seen a few £2000+ speakers going for less than a grand of late, this is the sort of level I've been thinking of. Just not sure if any would suit my requirements.

 

[JoelSim]

Proac Studio 140

Proac Response 1sc

Spendor S8e

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers for those. I'm already watching the Spendor S8e's but I think they'll be too big in the bass for my room, same goes for the Proac 140's, feel free to tell me I'm wrong though!

 

[drummerman]

I certainly would'nt 'guess' buy. That pretty much means no s/h of ebay. Dealers ex/dem perhaps. Get in touch with some BelCanto dealers and see what they recommend.

 

[Anonymous]

Every Bel Canto dealer has a different opinion, depends on which speakers they stock of course!

I'm hoping to get some demos in this week, I don't want to buy completely blind, I'm just looking to narrow down the "possibles' list, wondering what experiences people have had with speakers close to the wall etc.

 

[Craig M.]

where have you been told atc need a lot of space around them? not my experience at all.

 

[lordmortlock]

I think Joels onto something with the proac response 1sc suggestion. Its a lovely quick sound - what I ideally wanted but I couldn't afford it. Try and listen to some.

 

[Anonymous]

I think it was in a review I read somewhere, it also said they don't sound great at lower volumes (which I need) and sound better at medium to high levels. Again feel free to let me know if you disagree.

 

[Anonymous]

Just bear in mind that the 1SC is rear-ported. Putting them near a wall might make them sound exactly how you want them, but then again it might make them sound boomy.

 

[lordmortlock]

They sounded good to me at lower volume. Point taken about proximity of wall though.

 

[Craig M.]

superjimbo:I think it was in a review I read somewhere, it also said they don't sound great at lower volumes (which I need) and sound better at medium to high levels. Again feel free to let me know if you disagree.

with regards to lower volume listening, i think it is something you would need to decide for yourself with an audition. i think mine sound good at low volumes, however, i would say that most speakers i have heard seem to have a touch more bass at very low levels, but these levels are below what i would listen at, not that i listen at high volumes, and may be a result of the atc's sounding so clean and tight in the bass. i recently had some dali mentor(?) standmounts on home dem, which where very nice, and sounded pretty good at very low volumes. they needed about 20 cm's behind them. if i hadn't had the atc's to compare them to, i probably would have bought them, but the atc's make every speaker i've heard sound a little bit "wooly". but as has been stated already, you really need to demo for yourself as it's all subjective, however if you see something on ebay you like the look of, then it might be worth taking a punt as you can always sell them on without loss if you get them at a good price.

 

[drummerman]

Small space, small budget ... standmount plus sub. More flexibility, less compromise.

 

[Anonymous]

I've never been a fan of sub-woofers. I don't want or need earth shattering bass, just good bass, tight, reasonably low, but with no risk of booming. That's why rear ports worry me, even my Epos near the wall can boom at times. I might try the ATC's after all. Also considering Wilson Benesch Square 1's and some Sonus Faber stand mounts I can't remember the name of, Focals are front ported. Any thoughts?

 

[Anonymous]

I have just bought a pair of excellent pre owned Spendor SA1s including dedicated stands only 10 months old in mint showroom condition For £950, maybe its worth a thought...........

 

[Anonymous]

Good price, I am planning on trying some of these out but I haven't seen any ex-dem or 2nd hand yet.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes I was pleased with the price thought I would have to pay more, I required closed designed speaker due to room constraints being up against a wall, and they are perfect...