First time floorstanders

eazyryder

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After many years of using only standmounts, i am looking to enter into the floorstanding speaker arena .
My budget is up to £2000
So far i have been looking into these floorstanders -
Fyne Audio F502
B&W 603
Dali Rubicon 6 (ex demo)
Focal Aria 926
Pro ac Response DT8
Has anyone had any experience of these floorstanders with naim XS2 amplification.
Any other suggestions within my budget would be great too.
 
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I have only heard a couple on your list and not with Naim amplification.
Obviously your room layout will play a major part and I can, as ever, only advise you get to as many dealers as you can and audition whatever you can.
As a further suggestion I suggest you add Dynaudio Excite X34, KHL Kendall, and if you can find them Sonus Faber Chameleon T to your list.
 

emcc_3

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Only heard the focals which weren't for me. The best thing you can do is demo these with your amp, if possible, as everyone's ears are different. Otherwise you will just be going off others personal preferences. On that note😃I would also add the KEF r5s to your list.

I'm guessing as you said your budget is 2k you mean the opticon 6 rather than Rubicon. If so I heard these with my K3 and was impressed though ultimately went with KEF r700s.
 
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eazyryder

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Only heard the focals which weren't for me. The best thing you can do is demo these with your amp, if possible, as everyone's ears are different. Otherwise you will just be going off others personal preferences. On that note😃I would also add the KEF r5s to your list.

I'm guessing as you said your budget is 2k you mean the opticon 6 rather than Rubicon. If so I heard these with my K3 and was impressed though ultimately went with KEF r700s.
Thank you for the reply.
I can get the Dali Rubicon 6s EX demo for around £2k. I should have mentioned that in my original post

Can I ask what you didn't like about the focals?. Most other responses I have had elsewhere have been positive especially with naim
 
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eazyryder

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I have only heard a couple on your list and not with Naim amplification.
Obviously your room layout will play a major part and I can, as ever, only advise you get to as many dealers as you can and audition whatever you can.
As a further suggestion I suggest you add Dynaudio Excite X34, KHL Kendall, and if you can find them Sonus Faber Chameleon T to your list.
I have heard the Dali sound signature is very similar to dynaudio
 

emcc_3

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Thank you for the reply.
I can get the Dali Rubicon 6s EX demo for around £2k. I should have mentioned that in my original post

Can I ask what you didn't like about the focals?. Most other responses I have had elsewhere have been positive especially with naim

It was 2 years ago now but for my ears I found them bass light and the mid-range a little recessed.

In theory the rubicons being a 3k speaker should better the rest but I would still demo as many as you can on your shortlist as the rubicons may not match well with your naim.
 
Thank you for the reply.
I can get the Dali Rubicon 6s EX demo for around £2k. I should have mentioned that in my original post

Can I ask what you didn't like about the focals?. Most other responses I have had elsewhere have been positive especially with naim
If you can get Rubicons for that price I would certainly audition them first assuming you can fit them in your room, they are quite deep.
 
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eazyryder

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If you can get Rubicons for that price I would certainly audition them first assuming you can fit them in your room, they are quite deep.
My room is unfortunately rectangular and around 24ft x 12ft, floor to ceiling is around 8ft.
I have my speakers down one end of the room firing across the 12ft side due to furniture and a wife;)
 
If you’re purely buying on price, none of us can help you.

Regardless of whether any models are available ex demo or not, they’re all worth auditioning as personal preference ignores the price factor. It will be down to whether the speakers work well with the given amplifier, whether they work in the room they’re destined for, and most of all, whether you like them or not.

More details of the room and any placement requirements would be needed to make a more informed recommendation. They’re all fairly bassy speakers, so I would presume there is enough room to pull any of these models out far enough from the wall if needed for them to perform as designed.
 

Will1962

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Good advice from David. If your limited on space and firing across the room and not down the 24ft length you may have problems with bass boom. Most floorstanding speakers need room to breath your room makes the biggest difference to how a speaker performs you may be better sticking to stand mounts and add a subwoofer on high level such as rel produce they work very well in stereo systems and you have a better chance of integrating them more so than big floorstanding speakers. I have owned dali zensor 7 s I had these firing down the long length of a 12ft x 20ft room and I still had issues with bass boom. I have since treated my room and this has helped no end but like it's been said try the speakers at home from dealers that will let you return them if you don't like them.
 

eazyryder

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To add to the above I bet your seating where you listen is up against the wall this also adds to bass problems I really hate boomy bass as it ruins the whole listening experience iam sure if you listen to the advice given you will get the sound your looking for.
Thank you for your reply.
Yes I am seated near a wall and you may be right about possible bass boom.
I currently am using Acoustic Energy Reference 1s on Atacama HMS stands and am really happy with them.
I have unfortunately gotten the upgrade bug and with never having floorstanders, I feel I am in someway missing out on "full range sound" .
Am now having second thoughts maybe I could try a subwoofer for a little more bottom end?.
I may try a set of floorstanders with a possibility to return them, just to satisfy my curiousity :unsure:
 
Thank you for your reply.
Yes I am seated near a wall and you may be right about possible bass boom.
I currently am using Acoustic Energy Reference 1s on Atacama HMS stands and am really happy with them.
I have unfortunately gotten the upgrade bug and with never having floorstanders, I feel I am in someway missing out on "full range sound" .
Am now having second thoughts maybe I could try a subwoofer for a little more bottom end?.
I may try a set of floorstanders with a possibility to return them, just to satisfy my curiousity :unsure:
Always worth an audition if you can find someone who will allow a home demo.
Might I suggest something with front or bottom ports rather than speakers that have ports on the rear might be more suitable, although those Reference 1's must sound good in your room
 

Will1962

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I think if your happy with the reference 1s adding one or even better 2 rel subwoofers will give you the sound you require. Some Hifi retailers would let you try them at home first and some of the more friendly ones would actually help you set them up. If you do try floorstanders at least you will satisfy your itch and you will know if they are what you want. I did try PMC 25-23s in my room and also had problems with them so took them back in the end I gave up stayed with bookshelf and added dual rel subs no bass bloat whatsoever but at least you will have fun finding out.
 
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Dom

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It's not just a case a full range, I have noticed better resolution with stand mount speakers, something to do with less bass?
This is a comparison between my Dynaudio M30 speaker on Roksan gear compared to my brothers Dynaudio M10 on Cyrus gear.
Mine are gentle giants while his are excitable pups.
 

eazyryder

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Today I have blind purchased a pair of ex demo dali rubicon 6s for less than my 2k limit, with the promise that I can return them if I am unsatified.
I felt I had to take the leap with the usual price being around £3299 mark and as Will1962 stated I probably do need to satify that itch, particularly regarding floorstanders.
I will let you know how I get on when they arrive.
Thanks again for your help and comments
 

eazyryder

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Always worth an audition if you can find someone who will allow a home demo.
Might I suggest something with front or bottom ports rather than speakers that have ports on the rear might be more suitable, although those Reference 1's must sound good in your room
The reference 1s do sound really good, imaging and detail are spot on, bottom end is tight and acceptable and by no means light but I am craving more authority and impact in the bottom end and a bigger more airy soundstage.
I listen to many various types of music from electronic to classical, reggae and heavy metal. I am finding the reference 1s can be a little too polite at times especially when it comes to rock or heavy metal
I am hoping that maybe floorstanders would fill the gaps I crave.
 
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emcc_3

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Today I have blind purchased a pair of ex demo dali rubicon 6s for less than my 2k limit, with the promise that I can return them if I am unsatified.
I felt I had to take the leap with the usual price being around £3299 mark and as Will1962 stated I probably do need to satify that itch, particularly regarding floorstanders.
I will let you know how I get on when they arrive.
Thanks again for your help and comments

Enjoy
 
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eazyryder

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Initial impressions of my new Dali Rubicon 6s is a muscular, detailed and rhythmic sound with a beautiful treble, of course this will change with proper burn in of the drivers.
High frequency reproduction in particular in very impressive, sweetly layered and clear with no shrillness at all.
They are not as fussy about placement as my Acoustic Energy Reference 1s and it was easy to find the sweet spot giving me a broad soundstage.
The Nait XS2 is having no issues as far as I can tell and is driving the Dalis with an energetic gusto.
 
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Gray

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It's not just a case a full range, I have noticed better resolution with stand mount speakers, something to do with less bass?
This is a comparison between my Dynaudio M30 speaker on Roksan gear compared to my brothers Dynaudio M10 on Cyrus gear.
Mine are gentle giants while his are excitable pups.
Could be more about the amps than the type of speaker Dom.
I found Cyrus to be more exciting than Roksan (and far more so than Arcam) when I had all 3 on consecutive home loans - it's why I bought Cyrus - and I never tire of the sound - though others certainly would).
 

Dom

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I agree Gray, my brother has the better amp, Cyrus 6XP with a Cyrus DAC X, both worth over a grand when new. It was just a miss guided observation lol. Remember What HiFi rated the M10 5 stars and my M30 4 stars, because they lack enthusiasm. As long as your happy with your gear that's all that matters. And I am happy with my amp, speaker combo. We would spend £££££ if we could. I wonder what kind of HiFi Elon Musk has. Probably an Amazon Echo.
 
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