Floorstanding speakers for bigger room ?

[jonathanbruce@me]

Hello everybody.

Since my house move I now have a bigger room to use for my HiFi setup. I have the Marantz which I find very good for my use but should I keep the Dali's I have (Zensor 3) on speaker stands, Alphason Designs, or try some floorstanders. I have tried out the Mission MX3 at my local Hifi shop and they are very good. I have an old subwoofer I use with the Dali's though, just for a little extra bass punch. I am hoping someone will tell me that with floorstanding speakers the subwoofer can go into the attic or onto another system. I have my iMac 5k plugged into Digital-In so I don't use AirPlay.

I would appreciate some feedback on this. Even suggest other floorstanding speakers perhaps, I have a budget of £300 max.

 

[jonathanRD]

Hello everybody.

Since my house move I now have a bigger room to use for my HiFi setup. I have the Marantz which I find very good for my use but should I keep the Dali's I have (Zensor 3) on speaker stands, Alphason Designs, or try some floorstanders. I have tried out the Mission MX3 at my local Hifi shop and they are very good. I have an old subwoofer I use with the Dali's though, just for a little extra bass punch. I am hoping someone will tell me that with floorstanding speakers the subwoofer can go into the attic or onto another system. I have my iMac 5k plugged into Digital-In so I don't use AirPlay.

I would appreciate some feedback on this. Even suggest other floorstanding speakers perhaps, I have a budget of £300 max.

Why don't you try to get some floorstanders home on demo to see if you prefer them. If your sub is integrated well, it's unlikley a new pair of £300 floorstanders will be better than the Dali's plus a sub.

You didn't say what was wrong with your current setup in your new room? When I moved my hifi (standmount speakers) into a new larger room, I thought they were overwhelmed by the room. The addition of a sub helped, but I still thought floorstanders would be better. So I purchased floorstanders that instantly gave much greater scale (and bass), but retained the clarity I had with the standmounts. You may have to increase your budget to improve on your Dali's.

 

[lindsayt]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1970s-akai-speakers-SW180-/281801269632?hash=item419caa2180

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Goodmans-Speakers-Magnum-k2-LARGE-loudspeaker-12-Woofer-1967-FWO-/131550860554?hash=item1ea10ad50a

Neither of these are, strictly speaking, floorstanders as you really need to get the midrange units at the same height as your ears for best results.

But I'd expect both of them to do a better job in your large room than Dali Zensor 3's.

Look out for variations on this theme. Other well made, full sized vintage Japanese speakers. Or maybe a pair of vintage American speakers? Maybe something that needs new surrounds on the bass cones?

If there's any chance of increasing your budget to about £900 I could suggest a pair of floorstanders that may well be final destination speakers.

 

[rainsoothe]

I don't know... Your Marantz will only have so much juice, and the Zensor 3s are pretty efficient speakers. Maybe adding a sub - like the B&W 610 one - will make a notable improvement?

 

[jonathanbruce@me]

Hello everybody.

Since my house move I now have a bigger room to use for my HiFi setup. I have the Marantz which I find very good for my use but should I keep the Dali's I have (Zensor 3) on speaker stands, Alphason Designs, or try some floorstanders. I have tried out the Mission MX3 at my local Hifi shop and they are very good. I have an old subwoofer I use with the Dali's though, just for a little extra bass punch. I am hoping someone will tell me that with floorstanding speakers the subwoofer can go into the attic or onto another system. I have my iMac 5k plugged into Digital-In so I don't use AirPlay.

I would appreciate some feedback on this. Even suggest other floorstanding speakers perhaps, I have a budget of £300 max.

Why don't you try to get some floorstanders home on demo to see if you prefer them. If your sub is integrated well, it's unlikley a new pair of £300 floorstanders will be better than the Dali's plus a sub.

You didn't say what was wrong with your current setup in your new room? When I moved my hifi (standmount speakers) into a new larger room, I thought they were overwhelmed by the room. The addition of a sub helped, but I still thought floorstanders would be better. So I purchased floorstanders that instantly gave much greater scale (and bass), but retained the clarity I had with the standmounts. You may have to increase your budget to improve on your Dali's.

Hello.

Thanks for you advice on this subject. The Sub-Woofer I have is very old and the front panel doesn't stay stuck on any more, any vibration works it loose, It's a PC Theatre YT-5021B It was on a 5.1 computer speaker package with tiny satelite speakers which gave up many years after I bought it. To be honest I'd like to ditch it... I did notice that in the manual for my Dali's it said don't toe them in, they must be forward in a straight line. I'm sure this varies dependant on the speaker. Did you angle your speakers in a bit? I'm curious. The Monitor Audio speakers I use are angled in little by maybe 20 degrees.

I am tempted by the MX3 floorstanders especially since the Hifi shop where able to do a comparison and for the music I listen to the MX3 did sound very good. I certainly won't ditch the Zensors. The test was done without a subwoofer. I listen to mainly classical, acoustic, and Jazz but also watch films through my iMac so I still have options since the Marantz has Speaker A & B functionality.

 

[Esra]

Within your budget and situation I would ad a small Rel or SVS SB Subwoofer to the system.In combination with your Dalis,which are one of the best speakers within their price imo., this combo will provide a much better result than any floorstand within your reach.

 

[jonathanRD]

Hi Jonathan, many will say that the Dali Zensor 3's plus a subwoofer are likely to give much better results than a pair of floorstanders that cost less than the Zensor 3's. Most importantly it's what you think and like, but I would strongly advise you to arrange a home demo of the Missions. That way you can listen to them in your room and get a much better idea of whether you prefer them to the Zensor 3's. If you prefer the Zensor's, you could get a new subwoofer for the same money as the Mission's. If you prefer the Mission's - job done.

My old standmount's (Mission 780's) were always toed in, usually directly facing my seating position. My floorstanders are aimed just outside of each of my shoulders, this after quite a lot of experimentation gave the best soundstage. You need to experiment with positioning, leaving the speakers for a few days in each subsequent change of position.

How big is your new room by the way?

 

[jonathanbruce@me]

Thanks very much for your advice. I think you have saved my wallet, I owe you a drink! I am more happy to change the subwoofer and get one that doesn't fall apart everytime I touch it to adjust it. I am looking at the Yamaha YSTFSW050, It has good reviews and is smaller, less boomy on some music. Yes, you are right, I have been looking around for alternatives and everyone has said "keep using the Dali's", including the Hifi shop. I did measure the room today, it is quite big, 25ft (7.6m) X 35ft (10.6m) and the Marantz HiFi performs better than any of the Denon Hifi's I have. My desk with my Hifi underneath is just over 2m wide and I have my Zensors 3m apart.

 

[jonathanRD]

You have a very large room and you are looking at a very small subwoofer. Apart from the price, is there any other reason why you are looking at a very compact subwoofer? Where were you thinking of placing the sub? - as sub placement is important - search on y..tube for videos of how to position a subwoofer.

If budget is tight, have a look at this http://www.bkelec.com/hifi/sub_woofers/gemini.htm - BK are a very good company to deal with and their subs are excellent value for money.