Monitor Audio RX1 & Kef Q300

[CraigDS]

Good morning

Thise pair of speakers must be the most talked about in the forum and that must be a credit to them both. The system I want to build is a Marantz NA7004 & PM6003.

I will demo the two speakers with at my dealer and decide which speaker I prefer. However dealer rooms can be very big. What I would like to know is what speaker would work best in tight corner. They would be about 1.5-2m apart with 20-40cm clear of side and rear walls. Maybe I could ask for a home demo?

Also what technology and parts do the speakers share with their bigger brothers? I was told that Kef use Marantz for their demo's? cheers

 

[Coll]

I have a pair of Monitor Audio RX1s hooked up to a Marantz M-CR603 and I am very pleased with the sound quality. My speakers are approx. 120mm from the rear walls and 2300mm apart they are not near corners as the wall they are against is 7metres long. My room is approx 7metres x 4 metres. Bass is clear and well defined, All other frequencies are also clear and clean.
I did not listen to other speakers so cannot comment but certainly in my opinion the RX1s are very good.

 

[chebby]

Another vote for RX1s.

I was about to buy a pair of RX1s in March when my present speakers became available (used) for a good price instead.

I must admit I did not even really want to hear the KEF Q300s (they were so ugly!) but listened anyway. They were good but (a) not good enough to overcome their looks (b) the RX1s sounded clearer. (I fully admit my ears may be capable of prejudice and this was not a blind test )

 

[Anonymous]

The Q300s would probably be better that close to a wall, as they're front-ported, the RX1's are rear ported so they would perhaps need 'bunged' to sound good about 8 inches from a wall.

Ask your dealer for a home demo .

I have to say though that I agree with Chebby, my preference is with the RX1's, but I havent heard them in a corner...

 

[chebby]

... but I havent heard them in a corner...

Oh yes, corners. Forgot those.

Basically no speakers perform well in corners. (You only get speakers that perfom a bit better than some others, in corners, but will still be compromised by bad placement).

Corners will destroy imaging and mess up bass.

 

[Anonymous]

Both speakers are very good and will work well with your system; however the downfall here is the fact that they need to be near rear/side/corner walls etc...

IMO the B&W 685's should be consided also as well as the Dali Lektor 2's

All 4 speakers will work well but trying the get the right sound with the layout will be hard work I feel.

Even if you were to demo the Dali's and B&W's just to rule them out; at least you've heard them!

The 685's are superb speakers still and very much give the M/A RX1's and the KEF's a good run for their money

 

[Anonymous]

The Lektors are great speakers for the money, I can vouch for them, having heard them on my PM7003. They are designed to be used against a rear wall, but no speaker works well when placed near a side wall. If you can place them 50cm (2ft) away from side walls, most speakers will perform much better.

 

[CraigDS]

Thanks for replys. I was afraid my room was affecting my kit. It never ever sounded as good in my room when I demo'd it.

I have thought about buying a 5.1 system to give me that sound stage a crave for, maybe a Monitor Audio BX2 5.1???

Or I am seriously thinking of changing the layout of my room...

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for replys. I was afraid my room was affecting my kit. It never ever sounded as good in my room when I demo'd it.

I have thought about buying a 5.1 system to give me that sound stage a crave for, maybe a Monitor Audio BX2 5.1???

Or I am seriously thinking of changing the layout of my room...

Adding more speakers is just more of a non-perfect soundwave reaching your ears and it could infact sound a lot worse, that's why even many of the AV guys on this forum, use only 2 channels for music. Best thing you can do is move your room about a bit and make sure there arent too many reflective surfaces and there are some soft furnishings to help the bass a bit.

Of course, one way to get a bigger soundstage is often to go for a much larger speakers, though I don't think this would be possible for you right now?

Remember that a demo room is meant to make you want the items on show, they are always purposefully made to sound better than the home, because then later on the nagging feeling in your head will make you go back to the store and upgrade. Though it could also be said that they want to show the product at its best... Either way, try get a home demo of the Q300's and RX1's.

 

[CraigDS]

that is interesting you said a bigger speaker would help the soundstage because I thought a smaller speaker would be better in a smaller space.

I am defo going to move my room about a bit but that means my speakers will be further apart and further away from my walls but I will be sitting a lot closer to ther speakers 1.5m.

 

[Anonymous]

The feeling of soundstage will be much bigger with say, Monitor Audio RX8's, than RX1's. Whether or not they actually sound better is another matter. Generally though, the size of a speaker isn't a problem for the size of a room, but a smaller room will only allow a smaller speaker to be positioned properly, whereas the larger speaker may not be in its ideal place, so it wont sound too good.

For example, two KEF eggs will fit into their perfect positions most likely, in your room. Whereas a pair of KEF Reference 207/2 would near enough be sitting on top of you.

 

[CnoEvil]

... but I havent heard them in a corner...

Oh yes, corners. Forgot those.

Basically no speakers perform well in corners. (You only get speakers that perfom a bit better than some others, in corners, but will still be compromised by bad placement).

Corners will destroy imaging and mess up bass.

Sorry for being so pedantic, but not quite true. Audio Note make speakers that are designed to be in the corner, but as far as I know, they are very much the exception.

 

[Frank Harvey]

A speaker can be made to work well in a corner, but that'll make it pretty useless in any other position.

A sealed cabinet speaker will work better in a corner than a ported one, and a front ported one will generally work better than a rear ported one in a corner. If a ported speaker is chosen, you'll more than likely need to use the supplied foam bungs to plug the ports in order to calm down down port's air flow as much as possible, and be prepared to try other things to plug the port, as some foam bungs just don't dampen things down enough.

Of the two mentioned, the Q300's in theory should work better as they're front ported. Another advantage is that plugging the port of the Q300's has less effect on the treble and midrange than on many other speakers. Basically, plugging the port dampens down the bass energy, but a negative effect is that it tends to rob the speaker of it's 'life', making it sound dull. I found the Q300's suffered from this less than others.

 

[CraigDS]

How much are the Audio Note speakers? they sound expensive.

Are there any other speakers designed to work well in a corner?

 

[CnoEvil]

How much are the Audio Note speakers? they sound expensive.

Are there any other speakers designed to work well in a corner?

There's a huge price range (level o to level 5), going down lower than you might think. They make some of the most sensitive speakers available (need to work with piddley powered SET), and they sound fantastic with their own kit, but I haven't heard them with other brands; as well as that, they are only in a few dealers (see website).

If you can give me an idea of your max budget, I have a copy of their last years price list (prior to vat increase) and will see if anything suits. Either that, or contact Martin Grenell of Audio Note, who is a top bloke and gives unbiassed advice.

If I remember correctly, only some of their range are designed to be placed in corners.

Cno

 

[CraigDS]

the speakers i am looking at cost around £400.

 

[CnoEvil]

the speakers i am looking at cost around £400.

Right. I've done some digging about and come up with the following:

AX-1 - Genuine, tiny bookshelf speaker(£360ish), but needs a very small room. Brilliant mini monitor.

AZ-1 - This is much more interesting. It is a discontinued model that they are selling off for £500 (used to be circa £800).
It is a small floorstander, designed to be placed in the corner. It is very efficient, is only available in Cherry and works with other makes.

I strongly advise that you contact Martin (martin.grennall@audionote.co.uk) and go over your options. He may well have access to other second hand options, and as I stated before, couldn't be more helpful.

I took the liberty of contacting him on your behalf to find out the score, and he's there if you need him. If not, there's no harm done.

Nb. These are beautifully made, natural sounding speakers - please report back if you go this route

Good luck

Cno