I have clearance to buy new speakers today. Please advise me!

Jame5

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Trusted forumites. I have a budget of £1k. I would like to get floorstanders. Small room, 4 x 4 meters. Carpeted, with suspended floor boards underneath. My wife's only stipulation is "no veneers are allowed in the house", so it's either piano gloss or real wood (piano gloss it is then).

My other kit is PC --> HRT Music Steamer II --> Naim Nait 5i.

Would be very grateful for views. Cannot be bothered with home demos. Will be heading out to hifi shops this afternoon. Thanks!
 

chebby

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Rega RS3s will be perfect for that space on the end of your Nait 5i. They are real wood veneered to a high standard and (for a small premium) you can get them in piano gloss black too.

They cost £778. They are compact and they sound excellent. (Especially with your Naim amp.)
 

moon

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Well the Monitor Audio RX 6 in Piano black is In my opinion very good looking. Don't know how it will match the Naim. Chebby is probably bang on with the Rega
 
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shropshire lad said:
What about some second hand AVI ADM9Ts , I believe they are supposed to be quite good ? And they come in glossy black .

The OP's stipulated floorstanders, ths ruling out the bass light 9T.

I know the OP's looking at a budget of £1k, but I'd have a good look at Q Acoustics 2050i floorstander; available in piano black or gloss white, roughly around £500 in those finishes, but performance is meant to be way beyond the price point expectation. They work very well with more expensive electronics too by all accounts.
 

brandmartyr

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I've recently introduced a pair of Rega RS3's (Gloss White finish) to my Naim Nait 5i-2, slightly larger room than yours but they make beautiful sounding music together! Quite unobtrusive too as they are a very slender speaker with the side mounted driver and can be placed quite close to the rear wall. Definitely recommend.

M
 

Jame5

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Thanks for all your recommendations. Only had time to go to one shop in the end. Listened to MA RX6s and wasn't very taken with them. To my ears voices didn't sound right. Then listened to B&W CM8s and Dylan's voice on Simple Twist of Fate just sold them to me straight away - somehow more engaging and present. Paid a grand which seems a fair price. Looking forward to having a proper listen on my kit.

By the way, I was put off the Regas on discovering that they're unusually lightweight. I know they're designed that way but I just don't equate lightness with quality speakers and couldn't get past it. I had a good think about the Q Acoustics 2050is too, but I know that I'd be itching to see what I could get for a bit more money and wondering what more the Nait had in her.

I'll add another quick note once I've listened on my own kit. Thanks again.
 

Big Chris

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I'm with Dandy. Go visit a dealer with £1000 in 20s in your pocket and haggle on some CM8s. Gloss black or gloss white..... I'd have the white ones.:)

I don't know if you're near London, but a trip to Tottenham Court Rd is always great for a spot of haggling. I used to by all my car stereo gear there, and I got my MT30 7.1s for £1460, when RRP should have been well north of £1700. Although B&W don't permit mail order, the dealers there will normally throw in delivery for nowt.
 

floyd droid

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Jame5 said:
Then listened to B&W CM8s and Dylan's voice on Simple Twist of Fate just sold them to me straight away - somehow more engaging and present. Paid a grand which seems a fair price. Looking forward to having a proper listen on my kit.

I truly hope that your room plays the speakers well mate. Sorry if sound harsh here but you listened to a system that no doubt is totaly different to yours. Music that maybe you are unfamiliar with. And a room which will sound nothing at all like your own.

Chucking a grand at speakers without a home dem is risky business.

Jame5 said:
I had a good think about the Q Acoustics 2050is too, but I know that I'd be itching to see what I could get for a bit more money and wondering what more the Nait had in her.

If you had tried them at home alongside the B&Ws you may well have saved yourself a few hundred quid. But now you will never know. Price isnt a good guide on performance. Ive heard some mega bucks speakers which tbh are totaly dire.
 

Jame5

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Floyd - not taken as harsh and appreciate your concern which I think is perfectly valid. To explain my point of view, I'm not expecting my system to sound as good as the CM8s sounded on the demo kit, and I was/am willing to take the risk that I have to sell the CM8s on at a loss (or my amp for that matter) if I don't enjoy listening to the new set up. From my point of view, that's a risk worth taking, but I accept that others will have a different point of view and would rather invest the time and effort in home demos.

By the way, I've just realised that I deprived my HRT DAC of a rather important "+" in my original post.
 

woodster

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DandyCobalt said:
Maybe get some piano black B&W CM8s by shopping around? Very OH friendly.

Second that statement, they are fabulous and passed my lady's criteria. They also deliver with various amps I have auditioned sub 1k, nothing has matched the roksan yet. I have to admit I have not tried Rotel amps yet.
 

DandyCobalt

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I went from Q acoustics to the CM8s. A significant step up, but have really benefited from some serious amplification power. Now on mono Xpowers.
 

Jambalaya

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B&W is a pretty safe bet, particularly if you listened to them at the shop. While they will sound different at home, I think the character of a loudspeaker is pretty apparent at first listen. You can tweak with a little cable or room treatment, I grant you that second option room treatment will have to pass the significant other approval process too!

Nice speakers, congratulations.
 

AlmaataKZ

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Consider adam audio artist 6. Very slimline modern floorstanders, piano gloss black or white, excellent sound quality. A bit above 1000 but you can sell the amp as they have amps built in. This will also reduce the box count which may help with WAF.

the range also has a matching centre and smaller speakers so you can go multichannel if you ever wish.
 

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