Smaller speaker for hifi system

[admin_exported]

Hi there,

I hope for some ideas for some new smaller speakers for around the £400 price.

I currently have a yamaha s500 amp with B&W 685's however going to university in the sumer i want to down size but without losing to much sound quality. i do also have a cambridge audio 650 tuner and cd player.

i have been looking at the kef Q100 however i would like to see what other suggestions people have. They need to be kef q100 size ish. poss B&W 686 however i hear the q100 are better.

If anyone can enliten me any further it would be much appreciated

Matt

 

[AudioPlaya]

Sounds like the Monitor Audio RX1's might be just up your street...

 

[gregvet]

If you can stretch to them, the KEF R100s are great. I'm not sure if the initial offer is still going, but they were doing £100 trade in for an old pair of speakers. Plenty of crappy old speakers available to trade in for less than £50 if you look hard enough, making the R100s less than £550.

 

[Anonymous]

They look nice however being a stingy student £400 is my budget including £100 trade in :s .

but keep the suggestions coming.

 

[DIB]

Have you considered Epos M5i's? Superfi are doing them for £230.00.

Same width as the 686, slightly taller but not as deep.

ps. Best small (and I mean small!) speakers I've heard lately are the Neat Iota's, but at over £600 a pair they are well over budget, but do sound tremendous.

.

 

[hoopsontoast]

Rega R1 (£100ish S/H)

Rega RS1 (£300ish S/H) and they are £440 New, so might be able to find some new with a deal.

ATC SCM7 (£300ish S/H) and may be ok as long as you dont take them too loud with the S500. My pick

Spendor S3e (£300ish S/H)

Proac Tablette Ref 8 (£400 S/H) and a lot of the older Tablettes can be had for under that as well.

Audionote AX1 (£385 New)

 

[matthewpiano]

Avoid the 686s like the plague unless you like an overblown sound with a booming, slow bass. They aren't a patch on the bigger 685s. I owned a pair briefly and never got on with them. The KEF Q100s are better.

Better than either, IMO, is DIB's recommendation of Epos M5i. Stunning speakers, beautifully made with a supremely balanced and detailed sound. A veritable bargain these days.

 

[Anonymous]

i like the kefs very much. they are also a great uini speaker too as theres no tweeter to get dented (witout trying really hard) they are front ported as they will be near walls and they are neet and compact and go with my amp really well. wont be buing until summer though

 

[MattSPL]

How about selling/trading your amp and speakers and getting some active speakers?

 

[Anonymous]

i have considered it however i prefer the look of having an amp and a full hifi system in a rack. :S

 

[MattSPL]

I can understand that I used to like having a big stack of hifi myself.

Might be worth weighing up the used market also.