Speaker choice,help please.

Womaz

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I have had my system around 9 years now.







Arcam Diva A85 AMP







Arcam Diva CD82







Quad 22L speakers







Black Rhodium symphony interconnect







Black Rodium AST speaker cable bi wired











I recently posted on here about upgrading my system as I was
looking at streamers and Cd players.








For the time being I am probably going to stick with my CD
player and my Amp, as I have a friend who is a HiFi enthusiast and he reckons
the weakest part of my system is my speakers.




He feels that money spent here will give me the best overall
pound for pound value.




Although if anyone feels otherwise please feel free to
comment.








I have a budget of 3k to spend over the next year or so, and
I have 1k of that now.




So I will be looking to replace the speakers first at the
advice of my friend.








I have always liked floorstanders as I like the look of them
in my room to be honest. My room measures about 3M X 6M so its not a large
room. Again if anyone feels that I should consider stand mounted speakers then
please feel free to say so.








I am considering Monitor Audio RX6, as they get good reports
and in the black lacquer finish will look excellent in my room. Also
considering the Tannoy DC6.




Does anyone have any other suggestions?....bearing in mind
that I will probably be upgrading the other components too next year say.








Any help or comments appreciated.


 
A

Anonymous

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What is it that YOU feel your system lacks?

What music do you generally listen to?

You've got a good and well respected amp there along side a good CDP. For me the QUAD speakers are still good so i'd be interested to hear what their issue is etc...

Your room isnt that big either so have you thought about a decent pair of standmount speakers (i.e. M/A RX2's or the latest GX50's, GX100's / Dynaudio DM 2/6's or 2/7's etc...)? Even smaller floorstanders such as the PMC GB1i or the Neat Motive 2's would work very well indeed
 

Womaz

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I dont really feel it lacks anything. I just thought that it was 9 years old and maybe I could make some improvements.

It sometimes can be a little heavy on the bass. I do pull them off the wall, but only about 1 meter. They still sound good mut maybe could be improved. The only thing I dont like with standmounts are the stands and the fact that they are usually rather ugly.

I do feel standmounts may help with the bass though
 

Womaz

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Forgot to add, that my music taste is very varied.......Metallica, Laura Marling, Elvis, Oasis, Glen Campbell, and Dance/House music too. The only stuff I dont listen to is Classical.
 

Richard Allen

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Womaz said:
I dont really feel it lacks anything. I just thought that it was 9 years old and maybe I could make some improvements

Womaz. I've got to say it. If there's nothing really wrong with the gear you've got, then stick with it and save your money. Especially in these hard times. 9 years of age is nothing in respect of good quality gear and that's what you've got. Good gear. Just my opinion.
 

CnoEvil

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With the Arcam, I would recommend the following brands:

PMC (The standmounts start at £1050; though the cheapest floorstander is the GB1i @ £1675)

KEF R Series (The R300 standmount is £1000, while the cheapest floorstander is the R500 @ £1500)

FOCAL Floor Standers:

Chorus 726V....£950
Chorus 816V....£1120
Chorus 826V.... £1380

You need to try in your own room to see which sounds best.
 
Womaz said:
I dont really feel it lacks anything. I just thought that it was 9 years old and maybe I could make some improvements.

Hi Womaz

The weakest element in your existing system is the A85. You can make a big step in improvement over the A85 for a relatively modest outlay by seeking out Rotel's superb RA-1062 amplifier which are generally available on the used market for around £300 or so. The RA-1062 will grip, drive and overall energise your Quad 22L speakers far more effectively and also help pave the way for even higher quality of source components and speakers such as Silver RX6's.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft
 
CnoEvil said:
With the Arcam, I would recommend the following brands: PMC (The standmounts start at £1050; though the cheapest floorstander is the GB1i @ £1675) KEF R Series (The R300 standmount is £1000, while the cheapest floorstander is the R500 @ £1500) FOCAL Floor Standers: Chorus 726V....£950 Chorus 816V....£1120 Chorus 826V.... £1380 You need to try in your own room to see which sounds best.

...and MA RX6s. They work extremely well with Arcam and will give you a different dimension to the Quads. If standmouted are a possible option then MA GX100 should be excellent.
 

matthewpiano

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For me your potential weakness is not the Arcam amp or the Quad speakers but the combination of the two. In my experience Arcam amps don't pair well with Quad speakers as the Quads like a high current design and can sound lazy on the end of an Arcam. I'd either change one or the other but not both.

Having said that, if you are enjoying the sound why change?
 

Womaz

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Once again thank you for all the replies.

With all the different views I think it just goes to show how we all have different ideas. I suppose that is why I am struggling to find the best way to upgrade.

One forum post even suggests that I dont need to change anything. I just thought as my system was 9 years old then spending a simliar amount of cash would give me a much better system.

One final thing to ponder. I have considered the following combo as What Hifi have it as a recommendded system

Audiolab 8200 CD player

Roksan Kandy K2 Amp

Tannoy DC6T speakers.

Would this give me a significant improvement?

The help and comments are greatly appreciated
 
BenLaw said:
MUSICRAFT said:
speakers such as Silver RX6's.

plastic penguin said:
...and MA RX6s. They work extremely well with Arcam and will give you a different dimension to the Quads.

Wow, the two of you agree about something! ;)

Err, no. Mr. Rickcraft is associating Rotel with RX6, whereas I'm suggesting A85 with RX6, which are by far better balanced tonally.
 

CnoEvil

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Womaz said:
Should I be really looking at standmount speakers as the room is relatively small.

Depends on the standmount and your preference as to which sound best in your room. I listed both types above in my previous post.
 

Womaz

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CnoEvil wrote

Depends on the standmount and your preference as to which sound best in your room. I listed both types above in my previous

So there is not really a hard and fast rule on this?

I wondered if this was why I feel My Quad 22L can be a little bassy. Would I have more choice of standmounters because of the size of my room.

I have always preferred floorstanders as they look so much better in my opinion.....and I used to have a larger room.
 

BenLaw

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plastic penguin said:
BenLaw said:
MUSICRAFT said:
speakers such as Silver RX6's.

plastic penguin said:
...and MA RX6s. They work extremely well with Arcam and will give you a different dimension to the Quads.

Wow, the two of you agree about something! ;)

Err, no. Mr. Rickcraft is associating Rotel with RX6, whereas I'm suggesting A85 with RX6, which are by far better balanced tonally.

I thought it was too good to be true. Phew, the universe is back in balance :cheer:
 

CnoEvil

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Womaz said:
So there is not really a hard and fast rule on this?

I wondered if this was why I feel My Quad 22L can be a little bassy. Would I have more choice of standmounters because of the size of my room.

I have always preferred floorstanders as they look so much better in my opinion.....and I used to have a larger room.

It's almost impossible to have fixed rules in hifi, due to differing tastes, room acoustics and characteristics of different equipment.

There are standmounts with big bass, and leaner sounding floorstanders...esthetics and what the other half will tolerate, are also factors.

Floorstanders usually have greater scale whereas standmounts have a "faster" sound with better imaging.

Generally you will know if the speaker is totally wrong for the room, as Standmounts can get "lost" in a large room, where it loses its bass.

Floorstanders which are too big for the room will "overwhelm" it, where the bass is just too much.

Generally (where suitable) I would rather have standmounts up to about £1600, as floorstanders are expensive to get right.
 

Larry

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I´m quite happy with my Dynaudio Focus 140, very good bas in my opionion, but of cause more smooth (soft dome) sound and sweet top speaker than RX6 I think. The new upgrade Dyn. Focus 160 should also be very good, but maybe your looking for more sparkle and forward speaker type ?
 

CnoEvil

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Larry said:
I´m quite happy with my Dynaudio Focus 140, very good bas in my opionion, but of cause more smooth (soft dome) sound and sweet top speaker than RX6 I think. The new upgrade Dyn. Focus 160 should also be very good, but maybe your looking for more sparkle and forward speaker type ?

Lovely speaker that is a great match with the MF M3i....not so sure about the match with Arcam though, except as a cure for insomnia. ;)
 
CnoEvil said:
Larry said:
I´m quite happy with my Dynaudio Focus 140, very good bas in my opionion, but of cause more smooth (soft dome) sound and sweet top speaker than RX6 I think. The new upgrade Dyn. Focus 160 should also be very good, but maybe your looking for more sparkle and forward speaker type ?

Lovely speaker that is a great match with the MF M3i....not so sure about the match with Arcam though, except as a cure for insomnia. ;)

I was just about to sharpen my claws
smiley-wink.gif
but can't disagree - when I've heard Arcam with older Dyns it was probably the one and only time I can honestly say that the Arcam was well out of its depth.
 

Ice-axe

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Hi You have a very good balanced system.This would be impossible to change the one without the other.All your components work very well in harmony.The best way would be to replace the entire system that would take it up a notch or two all working together to accomplish this. Rotel will bring some entertainment to the qued's but please also take into consideration that this can also mean a very bright high end. PS. Maybe dash out a bit on new cables as a change is as good as a holiday ;)
 

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