Floorstanding speakers up to £1500 for Roksan K3

[Leeps]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who would appreciate your post-demo impressions.

I wouldn't write off Monitor Audio though, particularly if you're used to the house sound. They are a Marmite brand, but each speaker in their range in my opinion can sound quite different to one another even though they share many similar technologies. I've owned Radius, Gold and Apex speakers (& some vintage R252's many years ago). I do wonder whether some people have formed their impression of the brand from one listen to one speaker that they may not have liked (or possibly had been paired with a poorly chosen amplifier).

I think your Roksan would suit the Silver range very well (but not the Golds so much). The Roksan is smooth but retains the grip and timing that would drive the speakers really well. Also the latest Silver range has allegedly been tuned to be placed closer to walls than its forebears. If Richers had some Silver 50's, 100's or 200's in the shop, it might be worth a spin. I think the Golds however are just too smooth for the Roksan and need something with a little more bite to get them going,

But I'm also a Neat fan, so would be interested to see how they pair with the Roksan. At your budget though, I'd be taking a very close look at the Quad Z1's if you can find a local dealer.

 

[emcc_3]

Unfortunately neither have a demo version is the silver 500s to test.

Might see if richer sounds have a 200 to demo.

Audio T have quad so might be able to try them there.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

When I auditioned the ATC scm19 it was with a sub £1000 amplifier, and the sound they produced was superb, It was clear the speakers could handle amps in the tens of thousands of pounds,

Hi radiorog

Really don’t even need to spend that much as we’ve recently used curved SCM19 passive monitors powered with ATI’s new AT542NC power amplifier @ £2799. Proper. A sublime match *smile*

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Is that one of your legendary deals for the two (speakers and amp)? If so....deal

Hi radiorog

Thanks. Best to call me though *smile*

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

Took me awhile to get round to acting on everyone's advice.

Tomorrow I will be having two demos.

Richer sounds Dali opticon 6 Tannoy xt8f Focal aria 926

Audio T KEF r500 KEF r700 Neat sx1 Neat iota alpha

id miss the kef r500/700 imo. For me, good scale wise but lacks a bit in organisation, detail and dynamic capabaility of say something like neat iota alpha. But if you prioritise scale and soundstage above detail and dynamics, these kefs are defo a good one to go for.

Id add in kudos x3/x2 (I’ve got hundreds of pounds of discounts from Jon at Ripcaster who sells these kudos). They are dynamic and detailed. If you want something more relaxed the proac dt-8 is a kind of semi 3way design I think. Lovely bass. Must be one of the best around 2k for this relaxed sound.

Sorry I didn’t read all the other posts and your feedback but hope this helps. The only thing with the iotas alphas will be that they won’t do scale as well as bigger speakers and will be at polar ends of the spectrum to r700/500.

 

[emcc_3]

Found the Kef 700s my favourite.

 

[CnoEvil]

Found the Kef 700s my favourite.

I'm not surprised.....so why did you prfer them?

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

I found the kef r700 a bit lazy in dynamics compared to pmc twenty 23, and I bought the pmcs. Not as tight, also they didn’t have the same balance and detail, which to me these qualities more important in speakers. Amp a £2k ish cyrus 8qx dac, was used. The kef had a huge soundstage, and very good stereo imaging.

But that was/is my taste, and each to their own!

 

[emcc_3]

They had a full soundstage and were smoother in the top end than the Dali' s which were my second favourite.

Will do a fuller round up later when back home.

Managed to get 20% off the 700 rrp as well

 

[emcc_3]

So had two demos today one at Richer sounds and another at Audio T.

Richer sounds demo

Tried the Focal aria 926 first. These were good but a bit light in the bass and the mid range was a little recessed.

Dali opticon 6, these had a much fuller sound with a nice clear treble and warm bass. Though over 500 less than the Focals they were much better. They did need quite a bit more juice to get going which I assume was the 4ohm load.

Tannoy xt8f
I liked these as well but found the treble a little bit splashy at times. They had a good synergy with the Roksan but didn't have quite as full a sound as the Dali's

Audio T

First up where the b and w 704s. These had a good mid range but not a lot else. Don't get me wrong they sounded like a £2000 speaker but nothing seemed to shine.

Next were the r700. Instantly these had a much fuller sound and sounded like a smoother version of the Dali' s. When I put on giant steps it sounded like I was in a jazz club the sound stage was that wide.

As the r700 are quite big I thought I would try the r500s to see if they were nearly as good. Unfortunately these sound quite a bit more compressed than the 700s and you can hear the missing bass. They are good but the 700s are just better.

Lastly I tried the dynaudio emit 30. These were nice speakers but the treble and sound stage were not in the same class as the 700s.

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

I’m sure you will find something that ticks all your boxes. As you spend more you get more dynamic capability, detail, better with bass response. I went between some £2500 Elac speakers against some £8k focals today. Wasn’t buying but these qualities always get better.

 

[emcc_3]

I was very happy with the r700s and bought a pair. Though paid £1600 rather £2000.

 

[rainsoothe]

I was very happy with the r700s and bought a pair. Though paid £1600 rather £2000.

Congrats, sounds like they're a great match for the Roksan. Kef R can sound dull if partnered wrong, but from what I read, the K3 is pretty detailed and energic sounding, so there you go: auditioning is key, and enjoy your stuff

 

[radiorog]

Good job! If they beat the Dali's and focal, they must be decent .

 

[emcc_3]

Thanks

 

[emcc_3]

The Dalis were really good and at their price they are a bargain. I would take them over the r500s as well but the 700s had everything the Dalis had but just a little more refined and smoother.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

This is the trouble with speakers and matching the sonics of a amplifier I’ve heard Dali opticon 6s on 7 different kinds of amplifiers and every amplifier gives a different sound to the opticon’s

it’s quite easy to form a opinion on a speaker in what it sounds like when using different amplifiers will give different results the Dali opticon are 4 ohm speakers so need a good amplifier to drive them probably .

ive just brought a new amplifier and my Dali opticon 8s have just changed there sound again buy using a better quality amplifier and not to say they sounded bad with my old Yamaha A-S2100 the opticon 8s sounded very good but going to big brother Yamaha A-S3000 has given me even more out of the opticon’s then I thought was possible .

so when someone has a opinion on a speaker in what it sounds like it might sound even better with a different make of amplifier or the speakers might sound worse .

 

[emcc_3]

I really liked the opticons and would have happily had them.

My room has a tiled floor and a large set of glass windows and doors. In my opinion they would just been more excitable in my room than the KEFs.

They were much better than the £1800 focals and had the edge over the more expensive Tannoys.

Really good speakers and would be keen to try higher up the Dali range if I'm ever in the market for a set of speakers again.

 

[davidf]

I found the kef r700 a bit lazy in dynamics compared to pmc twenty 23, and I bought the pmcs. Not as tight, also they didn’t have the same balance and detail, which to me these qualities more important in speakers. Amp a £2k ish cyrus 8qx dac, was used. The kef had a huge soundstage, and very good stereo imaging.

But that was/is my taste, and each to their own!

The PMCs are an easier load for the Cyrus, so I can understand them coming across as clearly winners in this situation. That's not to say the KEF is the superior speaker, just that they need the right amplification to sound as good as they should do. With the right amp, the R700 vs the Twenty5.23 would be a little more 'personal preference', particularly if you throw the cost difference of the two speakers into better amplification.

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

I wouldn’t agree with that David. The comparison I made was the 20-23 to the r700, the 25-23 are a lot better dynamically and clarity wise and with bass, than twenty series. The preference between these two types of speakers is one which handles dynamics and clarity better and another which does soundstage and scale a lot better. At the end of the day the speaker can’t perform better if you want more clarity and it has its own limits on that. But the 25-23 is a better speaker than the r700 but it’s another grand, and you’d expect it too be better.

 

[emcc_3]

Appreciate they weren't a match for your Cyrus. For me I found them a great match for my Roksan and they have the sound character I'm after.

Now just have to wait for them to be delivered, this is definitely the worst bit after buying a set of speakers.

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

Enjoy!!

 

[emcc_3]

Thanks, it's good to see you back on the forum again.

 

[davidf]

I wouldn’t agree with that David. The comparison I made was the 20-23 to the r700, the 25-23 are a lot better dynamically and clarity wise and with bass, than twenty series. The preference between these two types of speakers is one which handles dynamics and clarity better and another which does soundstage and scale a lot better. At the end of the day the speaker can’t perform better if you want more clarity and it has its own limits on that. But the 25-23 is a better speaker than the r700 but it’s another grand, and you’d expect it too be better.

I'm not really debating which is the better speaker, as that's down to personal preference, more that the PMCs will be an easier load for the Cyrus amp, and therefore have an advantage in sounding better because the amplifier isn't straining - the KEF's are at a disadvantage because the Cyrus wouldn't have been able to provide them with what they need to perform as they have been designed.

 

[jjbomber]

I was very happy with the r700s and bought a pair. Though paid £1600 rather £2000.

Congratulations on a great buy. It should be so simple; audition a shortlist and pick what's best for you. I am glad you've done so, but I remain amazed how many can't. They seem to buy what's best for someone else. So very well done.

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

That Cyrus 8 qx dac wasn’t really able to fully provide the pmcs with what they were designed to do either. I think if you pair an amp of a decent quality and with good power output and use it on two sets of quality speakers around that price, you’d get a pretty good idea what the speakers can and can’t do well.