Some help from experts please...

[hybridauth_Facebook_1279128128771404]

Hi all,

i've been following whathifi for quit some year's but i'm a newbie on this forum. I'm looking for good advice for my hifi setup. I finally convinced my wife to put up some real speakers in stead of our current system (bose aka buy other sound equipement ;-) )

What i'm looking for (budget friendly):

- Stereo receiver/ amplifier that can handle 2 zone's- a kitchen where i have build in speakers to listen to the radio, a living room where i want to put up 2 speakers to enjoy my lp collection (i got a brand new Pro-ject Essential II for my birthday ;-) ) It doesn't need to be a multiroom system, will only listen to one source at the time because our kitchen and livingroom is one open space.

- Stereo speakers that can be mounted to the wall ( i was thinking about Q Accoustic 3020 or Dali Zenzor III)

I'm listening to all kinds of music, rock/ pop/ blues/ jazz even electro...

All your advice is more then welcome!!!

Kind regards,

Andries

 

[iMark]

Hi Andries,

I can't recommend any current speakers because our speakers are more than 15 years old.

I can however comment on a stereo receiver that can power 2 pairs of speakers. We bought a Yamaha R-S500 a couple of years ago. It powers two pairs of speakers: one pair in the living room, the other in the kitchen. Fully switchable, so we can choose A, B or A+B. It even has impedance switching for use with as wide range of speakers as possible. The FM tuner sounds pretty good too with the FM signal from the cable TV.

The Yamaha also has a very decent phono stage, as well as a rec out selector in case you ever want to record another source than the one you're listening to. (I use this for recording LPs on the computer while we're watching TV.)

There's also the R-S700, which is a bit more powerful. These Yamahas are at the end of their lifespan, so get one while stocks lasts. I'm sure there will be new models, possibly with a built-in DAC. If you don't need the tuner, you could look at one of the new integrated amplifiers, the A-S501. Or have a look at the new network receiver, the R-N602, which has a long list of very useful features if you're into streaming music. It also depends where you live. In the UK Yamaha don't sell the stereo receivers, just the integrated amps or the network receivers.

Other brands to look at are the usual suspects Denon, Marantz etc. I would keep things simple and buy a box that has an integrated phono stage. The phono stage in our Yamaha sounds fine.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Also consider the Onkyo A-9050. It's little brother the 9010 won a WHF award this year. The 9010 is single zone / single speaker pair, wheras the 9050 has dual zone capabilities. Also the 9050 has both optical and co-axial digital inputs and an internal DAC, which will be great if you expand your listening to CDs or digital storage, or even the dreaded iPod.

Step up to the 8160 and you get a built-in radio tuner, and internet connectivity for streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, etc.

There will, no doubt, be many, many more suggestions to follow.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

any of the marantz amps have A-B for 2 sets of speakers and also will say that the dali 3s would be better bet as they have a bit more bass to them

 

[davedotco]

Are in my view a big issue, none of those mentioned work well to my ears, in fact the only affordable speaker I would contemplate for wall mounting would be the Neat Iota.

A small speaker actually designed to take advantage of wall mounting, excellent product.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

Are in my view a big issue, none of those mentioned work well to my ears, in fact the only affordable speaker I would contemplate for wall mounting would be the Neat Iota.

A small speaker actually designed to take advantage of wall mounting, excellent product.

i had my dali 3s on the wall and they sounded fine as long as you buy some good strong speaker brackets to hold them I had no issues

 

[davedotco]

Are in my view a big issue, none of those mentioned work well to my ears, in fact the only affordable speaker I would contemplate for wall mounting would be the Neat Iota.

A small speaker actually designed to take advantage of wall mounting, excellent product.

i had my dali 3s on the wall and they sounded fine as long as you buy some good strong speaker brackets to hold them I had no issues

I have experience of a pair on good stands close to a wall. The bass is slow and bloated, rooms and systems vary though.....*unknw*

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_1279128128771404]

First of all, thanks for the replies!
I did soms research on the web and it appears that neither of the above mentioned speakers will do well mounted to the wall...
After looking around a bit i found out the b&w 685 s2 are designed to work good when mounted to the wall!!
Will they play good with the onkyo 9050? Any other sugestions? Marantz pm6005 maybe?

Thanks!

 

[davedotco]

Thet want you to buy their product and will go to some lengths to convince you that it is suitable for your needs when it is not. If they could they would claim that their products sound great driven by 5 watt amplifiers and hidden behind the sofa, absurd example but you get the point.

In some rooms, some speakers might sound OK wall mounted, most won't as they are not purposely designed to work this way. A lot depends on what you want and expect from a speaker, wall mounting will compromise the soundstage and affect the bass, some see the bass lift given by such positioning as a good thing, others think it is just bass bloat and hate it.

The only affordable speaker I know designed to be at its best wall mounted is the Neat Iota mentioned above, some older Rega speakers were suitable, not sure about their current designs.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

dali does state that you should put the dali 3s on speaker stands but when i had mine i put them on the wall and they were ok like that .

 

[chebby]

The only affordable speaker I know designed to be at its best wall mounted is the Neat Iota mentioned above, some older Rega speakers were suitable, not sure about their current designs.

"The ported enclosure of the AX-TWO has been designed to be placed close to room boundaries (where the bass performance is augmented significantly by the additional reinforcement from the nearby walls), whether standing on a high mass stand (available separately) or lying on its side on a rigid shelf."

From Audio-Note instructions.

I have mine as close to the wall as curvature of cables and the plugs will allow and just a few inches from a proper corner on one side, and a 'corner' formed by a tall book cabinet on the other side. Actually both sides have adjacent book shelf cabinets but only one has a wall behind it.

The stands are substantial and top-plate + legs extend to within 5mm of the edges of the speaker cabinets all round for excellent stability.

They sound superb like this. I did experiment when I first got them (hard to accept instructions telling you to use corners after so long being told to do the opposite by most manufacturers) but close to walls/corners really works.

Nothing 'bloated' about their bass at all. If they'd had bloated or boomy bass I wouldn't have liked it.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_1279128128771404]

Hi Imark,

i took some time to examine the Yamaha amplifiers and found the R-N500 quit interesting, what you think about it? And good to pair with b&w 685 s2?

have a Nice day!

 

[rainsoothe]

Hi, I, for one, dislike Yamaha AS500 quite a lot. So go Marantz, if you don't have the option of auditioning.

As for Dali, their manual says that Zensor 1 and 3 are designed for near-wall usage. The Zensor 1 is even wall mountable, while the Zensor 3 aren't, but they really are designed to be placed against a wall (be it on shelves or on stands). Of course away from wall is gonna yield better results. So Marantz + Dali all the way from me.

B&W 685 s2 - definately NOT for wall mounting. Neat Iotas yes.

Also, if you can find used, Guru Junior.