Happier, but just a little bit more

[gregory]

Hello all, financial constraints have made me re think my upgrade path, I was planning an upgrade of amp and speakers, I went with theYamaha AS 501 which to my ears is a big step up from the Marantz PM 5004, I have a Rega RP3 with a Dynavector 10x5 cartridge and Tannoy Mercury V1 speakers on half filled Atacama SE 24 stands, these made a big difference from the Soundstyle Z2, good as they are they was not stable enough, as said earlier I am much happier but feel I need a little bit more detail from my speaker's, I listen to mostly classic rock and progressive music, not loud but I feel it needs pepping up a bit, my room is 15 ft long by 11 ft wide, speakers about 6 ft apart and me about 7 ft apart, it is not possible to change layout, wife, furniture and other odds and sods dictate this, I have £ 250.00 to spend on speakers, I really can't go any higher, I was looking at the diamond 220 and q acoustic 3020, what are your thoughts on these with my setup, are there any others I should be looking at, thanks.

 

[Al ears]

Hello all, financial constraints have made me re think my upgrade path, I was planning an upgrade of amp and speakers, I went with theYamaha AS 501 which to my ears is a big step up from the Marantz PM 5004, I have a Rega RP3 with a Dynavector 10x5 cartridge and Tannoy Mercury V1 speakers on half filled Atacama SE 24 stands, these made a big difference from the Soundstyle Z2, good as they are they was not stable enough, as said earlier I am much happier but feel I need a little bit more detail from my speaker's, I listen to mostly classic rock and progressive music, not loud but I feel it needs pepping up a bit, my room is 15 ft long by 11 ft wide, speakers about 6 ft apart and me about 7 ft apart, it is not possible to change layout, wife, furniture and other odds and sods dictate this, I have £ 250.00 to spend on speakers, I really can't go any higher, I was looking at the diamond 220 and q acoustic 3020, what are your thoughts on these with my setup, are there any others I should be looking at, thanks.

If it was my money I'd take the Wharfdales but that's just my ears yours may be different so I suggested you audition those speakers mentioned before you part with cash.

The Dali Zensor 1's might also be worth a listen, these assuming you want to buy new. You might get better deals by looking at second-hand speakers. Indeed you might try to find an ex demo pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 2

 

[BigH]

You can get Dali 3s for £249.

 

[Superaintit]

Given the contrains I need to think out of the box...but I like a challenge!

In your situation I would:
1 buy speakers second hand
2 tweak the existing or new system

A tacima netfilter *can* help depending on equipment used and the quality of mains. For 25 pounds it's a good buy imo.

Using blu-tack to connect your speakers with the stands may help as well as a granite cutting board under the stands or on top of the speakers.

 

[TomSawyer]

It depends whether you'll rate the money well spent based purely on the SQ improvement or whether the pleasure of new-item ownership plays a part.

If it's the former, I'd put the money to one side until I could afford to spend double that. There really isn't anything wrong with the Mercurys for the price. I'd wait until you're in the Monitor Audio Silver/Q Accoustics Concept 20/Tannoy Precision 6.1 price ballpark before upgrading otherwise you might find you've side-graded.

 

[matthewpiano]

Where the Mercury V1s lack is in fine detail, subtlety, and sense of atmosphere. The Diamond 220s deliver these in spades.

I've enjoyed Wharfedales before, particularly the Diamond 9.1s, but the 220s are a massive step forward from there. It's hard for me to disect the sound, because it consistently seems 'right', and I'm left to enjoy the music. They give real insight into each recording, and the quality of the bass is the best I've heard from any sub-£500 speaker - tight, tuneful and surprisingly deep for the size. The levels of clarity and detail are wonderful. There isn't any hint of the boxes themselves, Wharfedale's latest sandwich construction technique clearly paying off. Whether I play Bob Dylan, Purcell, Gazpacho, Miles Davis, Brahms, Jethro Tull, or Shostakovich, I just get wrapped up in the music as I haven't truly done for some time previously. The Diamond 220s are also considerably better finished than previous Diamonds.

After the Dynaudios (which I still have) and Regas (which I don't), I wasn't sure what to expect, but the slight gamble has really paid off for me and I wouldn't go back to either now, or indeed the Q Acoustics 2020i still sat in the corner of the second bedroom.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

A tacima netfilter *can* help depending on equipment used and the quality of mains. For 25 pounds it's a good buy imo.

Alternatively, you can send me 22 quid for a bottle of my patent speaker oil....

 

[Superaintit]

A tacima netfilter *can* help depending on equipment used and the quality of mains. For 25 pounds it's a good buy imo.

 

Alternatively, you can send me 22 quid for a bottle of my patent speaker oil....

I guess I could, but I won't.
The tacima I own and have experienced to make a noticible improvement on the bluray player. YMMV

 

[gasolin]

Hate the Diamond 220 since they have no bass

Don't get me wrong they do play bass when you play something like modern electronic music BUT moderne electronic music is always recorded with a lot of bass, many db louder than normal rock,pop music, where even a diamond 220 will have okay bass, but not with rock,pop music the bass is so not there

 

[gregory]

Hate the Diamond 220 since they have no bass

Don't get me wrong they do play bass when you play something like modern electronic music BUT moderne electronic music is always recorded with a lot of bass, many db louder than normal rock,pop music, where even a diamond 220 will have okay bass, but not with rock,pop music the bass is so not there

I don't listen to much modern stuff, I find the bass to be a bit forced, I like tuneful bass that I can follow but saying that it's not really bass that's an issue, what I'm looking for is more detail, if I could afford more I would consider something else, your speaker's have had great reviews and look ideal but a wife who wants a new carpet must take precedence, hey ho.

 

[gasolin]

even with a nad amp diamond 220 has a serious lack of bass

It starts to fall at 100hz and at 70hz its about - 9-10 db

http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1490:nrc-measurements-wharfedale-diamond-220-loudspeakers&catid=77:loudspeaker-measurements&Itemid=153

 

[gasolin]

Dynaudio Xeo 3 to comparising, much better frequency response in the bass with the same size cabinet,units, much more expensive but the size of the wharfedale diamond 220's cabinet and units should limited the bass as much as it does

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

A tacima netfilter *can* help depending on equipment used and the quality of mains. For 25 pounds it's a good buy imo.

Alternatively, you can send me 22 quid for a bottle of my patent speaker oil....

I guess I could, but I won't. The tacima I own and have experienced to make a noticible improvement on the bluray player. YMMV

Right... and some people will try and sell you speaker cables they take on a day trip to Stonehenge - mentioning no names but they happen to be based in Salisbury, quite near by.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Dynaudio Xeo 3 to comparising, much better frequency response in the bass with the same size cabinet,units, much more expensive but the size of the wharfedale diamond 220's cabinet and units should limited the bass as much as it does

Huh? All I see is a marked roop-off in all three curves below 50 Hz (fair enough), and a few different bumps in the road between 50 Hz and 20 kHz.

 

[Superaintit]

A tacima netfilter *can* help depending on equipment used and the quality of mains. For 25 pounds it's a good buy imo.

 

Alternatively, you can send me 22 quid for a bottle of my patent speaker oil....

I guess I could, but I won't. The tacima I own and have experienced to make a noticible improvement on the bluray player. YMMV

 

Right... and some people will try and sell you speaker cables they take on a day trip to Stonehenge - mentioning no names but they happen to be based in Salisbury, quite near by.

Some do but I don't.
I have Vandamme (and B&O because they use a propriatory connector in their speakers.)

 

[Blackdawn]

Go for the Wharfedale Diamond 225's which fit the budget exactly and should be a bit better with rock than the smaller model.