Need advice on slender Speakers to match Arcam A85

torikoos

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Hello everyone, after several years of not being able to enjoy my hifi hobby , I've recently re-entered carefully, but need a little guidance at my start.

I have had a Denon PMA 520 amp for many, many years, paired initially to a pair of B&W DM520's, then a house move required something more compact, and got some KEF Q1's instead. The KEF's soundstage was a revelation compared to the B&W's who's otherwise very pleasant character was a little more withdrawn in the sense of imaging. The Denon was very forgiving paired with either of these. However, it's time has come and it started to have issues like crackling pots, channels dropping out etc.

So I treated myself to a very clean but used Arcam Diva A85. It's not the latest and greatest, but as I'm running a few years behind, and can't stretch to newer 'premium hifi' equipment for a while, this will do nicely.

Now the big question. My smallish living room hasn't really got the shape nor space to even place the KEF Q1's where I'd like them, they are too wide. So my ideal speaker as far as placement would be narrow (10 to 15cm max) , not too deep, but can be tall to make up for volume. In other words a pair of slender floorstanders would be ok. I'd also consider a pair of tiny bookshelfs paired with a subwoofer that I could hide somewhere, but I'd prefer just a 2 speaker option.

Any suggestions on which speakers would fit both the size, and the Arcam criteria? I listen to a wide variety of music, but generally it is m mostly pop and rock (i.e. Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Travis, U2) Bluesrock (Joe Bonnamassa, SRV), and female vocalists like Adele, Norah Jones etc that are on the menu. The odd classical album , and synth driven music will also pass by on occasion.

Many thanks in advance for your helpful suggestions.

I am in no rush, but don't want to drag the search out for months on end.

Most importantly (I'm happy to buy secondhand, preloved) my speaker budget cannot exceed 400 at this moment.
 

CnoEvil

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Totem Arro could work....also PMC have narrow speakers. I suppose it depends how deep you can go (including your pockets, for budget).

EDIT. Oops, just seen your budget.....it would need to be the older PMC range (eg. DB1/GB1) and Arros that are a few years old.
 

torikoos

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Thanks guys for the suggestions, keep them coming. If possible I'd like a shortlist of about 8 in total, and then start narrowing it down. Cheers!

So I've got:

PMC DB1 , GB1

Totem Arro

looked them both up, pricey but look promising from a size perspective.
 
torikoos said:
Thanks guys for the suggestions, keep them coming. If possible I'd like a shortlist of about 8 in total, and then start narrowing it down. Cheers!

So I've got:

PMC DB1 , GB1

Totem Arro

looked them both up, pricey but look promising from a size perspective.

You could also add Monitor Audio RS5 or RS6s into the equation. MA and Arcam also work really well with Arcam and should be narrow enough,.
 
In a small room you might find standmounts are sufficient, and you don't need a subwoofer. Avoid these if you can as they can be difficult to integrate.

If you have speaker stands already this may be the way to go. If you don't then recommending something for your budget is going to be difficult as buying second-hand is often going to be have to done without possibility of an audition.
 

CnoEvil

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plastic penguin said:
You could also add Monitor Audio RS5 or RS6s into the equation. MA and Arcam also work really well with Arcam and should be narrow enough,.

Unfortunately they are too wide at over 250mm.
 
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The MA BX/Bronze range are quite slim BX/Bronze 5 or 6 (165mm, 185mm wide respectively).
 

torikoos

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I just discovered the MA Bronze 5 too, that's a good option as far as width is concerned, and certainly more towards the budget.

In anycase worth an audition . Cheers!
 

CnoEvil

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plastic penguin said:
CnoEvil said:
plastic penguin said:
You could also add Monitor Audio RS5 or RS6s into the equation. MA and Arcam also work really well with Arcam and should be narrow enough,.

Unfortunately they are too wide at over 250mm.

It's been a long time since I've owned them. However, the new Silver 6 are only 18.5cm wide.

Unfortunately, the OP is looking for a width of 15.5cm....which is pretty narrow.
 

Leeps

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The most slender speakers I can think of are the Monitor Audio Radius R270's. I had them as part of a surround set-up. They're tall floorstanders with 1" gold dome tweeter (which is fantastic) and 2 x 4" mid/bass drivers. You can pick up their predecessors, the ones I had (R270HD) mint for about £400 used. There's also the older versions again, but I forget their model moniker now.

They're not perfect speakers, but they do some things very well indeed. Midrange and voices are their forte. They're quite mesmerising in that respect. As always with MA's gold dome tweeter, piano timbre is absolutely spot on. And for movies they were awesome. They have a real slam and snap to them that can be quite startling at times. I remember watching a DTS-MA 7.1 bluray about the Hubble space programme and they're a section where the space shuttle takes off. After the shuttle has cleared the gantry and it's starting to really pick up speed, a real snarl in the treble end of the rockets that was just amazing hearing it through the R270's. In fact they were more impressive than the more expensive MA Apexes which I now use for rear speakers.

My main criticisms of the speakers is that in certain settings their timing could be thrown off. It's almost like at certain frequencies they could resonate and sound a little boxy, but this wasn't noticeable with all music all of the time. I think this was most likely due to the cabinet dimensions. The build quality itself was stunning, as most MA speakers are. They can be had in piano black, piano white or wood finish (although the wood finish is less popular and tends not to come up so often used).

I think you'll struggle to find anything smaller from a plan view point of view that's worth bothering with on the floorstander side. If that's still too big (check out the dimensions on MA's website) then as always I'd recommend wall-mounting some Neat Iotas. They not available as frequently used, but they do come up every now and then if you're patient and they tend to go for £400-£450 used when I've seen them auctioned.
 

gasolin

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CnoEvil said:
plastic penguin said:
CnoEvil said:
plastic penguin said:
You could also add Monitor Audio RS5 or RS6s into the equation. MA and Arcam also work really well with Arcam and should be narrow enough,.

No problem

Unfortunately they are too wide at over 250mm.

It's been a long time since I've owned them. However, the new Silver 6 are only 18.5cm wide.

Unfortunately, the OP is looking for a width of 15.5cm....which is pretty narrow.

http://system-audio.com/product/sa-mantra-50-2/

http://system-audio.com/product/sa-aura-50/

http://system-audio.com/product/sa-saxo-50/
 

gasolin

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CnoEvil said:
plastic penguin said:
CnoEvil said:
plastic penguin said:
You could also add Monitor Audio RS5 or RS6s into the equation. MA and Arcam also work really well with Arcam and should be narrow enough,.

No problem

Unfortunately they are too wide at over 250mm.

It's been a long time since I've owned them. However, the new Silver 6 are only 18.5cm wide.

Unfortunately, the OP is looking for a width of 15.5cm....which is pretty narrow.

Prices between 600-700 and about 1600£ a pair
 

chebby

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The narrowness of the cabinet is one thing. But what about the 'requirements' of the speaker itself? The usual advice is to keep speakers well away from corners and kept away from walls etc.

Would there be a problem with wall mounting a pair of speakers that are compatible? (Thinking of used Rega RS1s with Rega RS1 wall mountings.)

The RS1s were £438 when last available brand-new, so are bound to be within budget bought used.
 

torikoos

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I just discovered the MA Bronze 5 too, that's a good option as far as width is concerned, and certainly more towards the budget.

In anycase worth an audition . Cheers!

So I'm down to :

Totum Arro

PMC GB1

Monitor Audio Bronze 5 and BX5

Rega RS1 (wall mount) bookshelf design. (will need to look these up).
 

torikoos

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chebby said:
The narrowness of the cabinet is one thing. But what about the 'requirements' of the speaker itself? The usual advice is to keep speakers well away from corners and kept away from walls etc.

Would there be a problem with wall mounting a pair of speakers that are compatible? (Thinking of used Rega RS1s with Rega RS1 wall mountings.)

The RS1s were £438 when last available brand-new, so are bound to be within budget bought used.

Indeed placement is an issue, however in my lounge I have little option due to the position of doors, walkways etc. So they are going to be placed near walls in corners, one of which right next to a walkway into a conservatory area, which will give it air on one side, and a large fireplace on the other which will also give it some air. The other speaker will be near to a wall. Both of them will be backing up to a wall unfortunately. My placement is therefore a long long way from ideal, but it's all I can do to keep the peace. :)
 

torikoos

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Anyone here own the Q Acoustics Project 40's? I'm confused by the dimensions on the website. It appears rather wide compared to depth, I am guessing that the width mentioned is actually it's base? What are the dimensions of the actual speaker column?

Cheers!
 

luckylion100

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are the same width, 17cm as the Concept 20's. I had the Concept 20's mounted on their own dedicated stands for a year and loved them.. Superfi are doing the 40's for a reduced price of £699 (perhaps you know prompting this question) or you could pick up the 20's plus stands from the same retailer for £509.
 

luckylion100

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http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SPENDOR-S5e-/272330918727?hash=item3f68300b47:g:4VIAAOSw2zlXhnG1

I've checked the dimensions out, width appears to be 16.5 cm. They're not rear ported. (edit, apparently they are, missed it) I have zero idea how Spendor match with Arcam but they get a fantastic write up here http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/904spendor/index.html and this pair seem to be in great condition.

I am not in any way connected with the seller, just thought it was worth suggesting to the OP.
 

torikoos

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Thanks everyone, the Concept series will go on the shortlist to audition, and see how they fare with the Arcam.

Seems Sevenoaks is doing the Concept 20's with stands for 349,- in their sale, which appears to be a steal too.
 

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