new speakers needed

[admin_exported]

i run a cambridge audio 540 player and 640 amp at 75w and are looking to get some floor standers my candidates are monitor audio br5 ,tannoy eyris2 and canton gle 407 help please!!!!!

 

[Clare Newsome]

Monitor Audio BR5s are superb. I'd also highly recommend you audition the new KEF iQ5SE (also £400), plus the Acoustic Energy Aegis Neo Three (£370).

 

[Anonymous]

thanks clare very helpfull bu i am very much on the br5's n this is y, just bare wit me a min then tell me if i am wrong ok the br5 run on 6hom does that mean they need less power to drive them? if im wrong whats the difference between 8hom n 6hom?

 

[Anonymous]

i fuund the br5's for 360 quid can i find them for cheaper u think?

 

[Andrew Everard]

No, just because they're 6ohm doesn't mean they need less power than if they were 8ohm. In fact, speakers of a lower impedance will tend to suck more power (in very rough terms) from an amplifier, so the lower the impedance, the harder they can be to drive.

In fact, the figure quoted is only a nominal impedance figure, and all speakers have an impedance variation with frequency, some just a little, others much more widely. It's not unknown to have a speaker with an 8ohm nominal impedance that dips to 2ohms at some frequencies, and that's why you'll sometimes see impedance figures quoted as 'Xohm (min Yohm)'.

It's also why some amps - notably some AV receivers - have a switch to choose between 8-16ohm speakers and 4-6ohm: using a whole load of speakers of low impedance can give these amps' output stages real problems. And if you use two sets of speakers on a single output - for example using the speaker A/B switching - the impedance can be critical when using both sets together.

 

[Anonymous]

nice informative and straightfoward thanks mr everard

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks to everyone for your comments. This is an interesting forum. So...

Help, help, help... I'll probably get slaughtered for the following, but ignorance is bliss and it's time for me to get uncomfortable. I am hardly an audiophile, but definitely enjoy good sound and video. I need some help understanding something, so please give me your views.

I am completing a dedicated cinema / music room of 6.8m x 4.6m (that's about 22 x 15 ft for the footies). There will be 6 comfortable seats in it. The screen is 2.1m wide and hangs on cables in front of a full width thick curtain (hiding a french door). Other than that the room is fairly ordinary with windows at the back fronted by heavy curtains.

I run an Onkyo 805 Amp and 504 DVD player (and dare I mention a PS3 BD player as well) and an Optoma H82 projector. I am looking for new speakers (previously had the Diamond 8 series all round with 8.4s in the front and a 12" powercube). I will be getting the Onkto HD875 when it releases here (South Africa) - of course I'll have to see how it performs in this month's shootout, though...

I've had a look at many, and whilst money is ultimately a consideration, it's not top of my list. I've wanted a Quad set-up and initially wanted the ESL898s (on the B channel) for music and then a L-ite package for video (for some reason I can't get the L-series cinema package here and to buid it up is just not worth it at SA prices). Problem with the ESLs is that I need to put them 3 meters from the wall - that is not an option. So I decided to have a look at the 22L2's (I know that it is an entirely different speaker, but bear with me) as fronts and compliment them with individual L11's, +sub +centre. The reviews have been outstanding. What i'm trying to understand is: what is the real difference between the Quads and the Wharfedales. It is an ignorant question, I know, but I've never seen them together in a shootout and they seem to share much of the same technology but have (at least here in SA) VERY polarised reputations. An alternative to the Quads would be EVO2's. Any views?