Speaker recommendations following change of room.

[admin_exported]

First post so please be gentle.

I have a difficult problem in that I've been forced to move out of my listening room, as my daughter is of an age now where she wants and needs the additional space. So that has put an end to my Mission 753 Freedoms firing down a 20+ foot long room and giving a delightful sound from my Rotel RCD-991 CD player and Rotel RA-1060 amp (vandenhul the first interconnect and Audioquest indigo bi-wire speaker cable). My hi-fi now resides in a corner of my 15ft x 13 ft lounge. The Mission 753 Freedoms are far too enclosed in this space and have to be parked up against the wall of the lounge, so they are no-goers.

I have replaced them with my ageing Mission 751 speakers on Atacama SE24 stands. The sound is just so dull and boring, with little mid-range and a real lack of excitement. I knew that the soundstage would be poor because of the siting of my speakers and accept that I will have to live with that, as not only is my hi-fi in the corner of a lounge, it's in a recessed area as well. I have been unhappy with the sound of my Mission 751's but have made do for the last couple of months, however, a tweeter has blown in one of the units and I have decided to cut my losses and replace them with a new pair.

Thing is, I'm really struggling as to what to replace them with, and how much I ought to be spending. I know I am going to need stand mount speakers (preferably bi-wirable) and have a budget of around £500. I want a tight sound and decent midrange, but I also want to feel as well as hear the bass (not asking much am I

). Problem is, I can't really have the speakers anymore than about 6-8 inches away from the wall as I would then be intruding on door space. The B&W 685's have a really good review but their size worries me a little, as I don't want booming bass. Also, given their price, would they be a step backwards, given that my CD player and amp cost far in excess of what they do? Same goes for the Dali Lektor 2's - they too read well, but would they get the best out of my system?

If I could have a sound that came somewhere near to my Mission 753 Freedoms, but packaged in a stand mount, I would be absolutely delighted. I would be prepared to stretch beyond my £500 budget for this as I could always sell my beloved 753 Freedoms to part fund the outlay.

Any advice would be more than welcome, as I feel like a lost sheep without my hi-fi and simply do not know where to start with regards to replacing my speakers.

 

[the record spot]

No experience with them, but I hear the Leema Xero at £650 is meant to be rather good and might tick some of your boxes. The 753F's would be hard to beat, but Leema appear to have produced a rather impressive little box here. You might find them on a deal if you can shop around and get them nearer your price-range.

The EB Acoustics box from the other month (see review page on here) would also be worth a shot, including, as they do, a 30-day home trial for just under £500.

 

[nomismo]

Hi I purchased a pair of 753's in the first month of their launch, like finding hens teeth,and it was worth it, totally blew me, used these for years with various amps disc players etc, had to rplace the hf units but not to costly,all went rosey until my youngest lad decided one day at the tender age of 4 decided to push all the dust caps of the drivers in,Wow,how he got away with it i'm still trying to work out.

Anyway after cooling down and managing to get the dust caps back to some normallity i was taken to the local hifi emporium by the beloved, to listen then to a pair of the then Mission 780's, she loved them, being smaller, but being a great friend of the demo saleman, he suggested a listen to the 782's,bowlled over or what,she gave me the frown,left her up stairs with the nipper while i went to pay for a pair of 780's and stands, but going down from the top floor to the sales desk i ended up with the 782's,they have been brillient,never letting me down.So if you liked the 753's look at the new Mission range,the 792's are being sold at good prices if you look around,took a listen myself,but i'm lucky be be able to go higher.

Best thing is find a good dealer and take some disc's and enjoy the coffee, see what takes your fancy,their is so much out there,stuff i'd never even thought about has been suggested and instead of a days impulsive purchasing it's so far been 2 months in my quest for Nivarna.

 

[JoelSim]

You could try Dali Ikon 6. Mine sit in corners and they sound great biamped. Or if you wanted standmounts try AVI Neutron IV or V.

 

[crusaderlord]

I have the Neat Motive 3 which i would certainly recommend them to be on your listening list. A bit more than £500 but maybe not too far if you can get a deal. I paid £700 but that was last year !

 

[Dan Turner]

PMCs are renowned for the quality and quantity of their bass output. I have the TB2+ standmounts (latest model TB2i) approx 15" from the rear wall and the bass is great - certainly fulfills your definition of 'feel as well as hear'. Really nice speakers allround. However I have these this distance from the wall as any closer and the soundstage shuts down and the bass booms. They also do the DB1i which is smaller and presumably could tolerate positioning closer to a wall.

Anyway, if you're auditioning bear PMC in mind. Also not sure if your stands are filled but if not then this can really tighten-up and solidify the bass and actually make a position closer to the wall work where it wouldn't on unfilled stands. This may not always be the case, it's dependent on the speakers, the stands and the room in question of course, but something else to bear in mind.

 

[Anonymous]

PMCs are a good suggestion - they are transmission line rather than ported. Ported speakers have problems when placed near walls - they have problems IMO anyway with resonant boomy bass.

I found PMCs to be a bit lacking in top end when I auditioned GB1i and FB1i. I've ordered some ATC SCM40s. All the ATC entry level range are sealed boxes which should work well near walls in awkward rooms. ATCs especially the 3-way ones with the dome midrange have an incredibly detailed midrange with measurably less distortion. The bass of a sealed box is as tight as can be.

It can be difficult to find a local ATC dealer compared to the other brands but I really think you should try to listen to some.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Bellsview:

First post so please be gentle.

I have a difficult problem in that I've been forced to move out of my listening room, as my daughter is of an age now where she wants and needs the additional space. So that has put an end to my Mission 753 Freedoms firing down a 20+ foot long room and giving a delightful sound from my Rotel RCD-991 CD player and Rotel RA-1060 amp (vandenhul the first interconnect and Audioquest indigo bi-wire speaker cable). My hi-fi now resides in a corner of my 15ft x 13 ft lounge. The Mission 753 Freedoms are far too enclosed in this space and have to be parked up against the wall of the lounge, so they are no-goers.

I have replaced them with my ageing Mission 751 speakers on Atacama SE24 stands. The sound is just so dull and boring, with little mid-range and a real lack of excitement. I knew that the soundstage would be poor because of the siting of my speakers and accept that I will have to live with that, as not only is my hi-fi in the corner of a lounge, it's in a recessed area as well. I have been unhappy with the sound of my Mission 751's but have made do for the last couple of months, however, a tweeter has blown in one of the units and I have decided to cut my losses and replace them with a new pair.

Thing is, I'm really struggling as to what to replace them with, and how much I ought to be spending. I know I am going to need stand mount speakers (preferably bi-wirable) and have a budget of around £500. I want a tight sound and decent midrange, but I also want to feel as well as hear the bass (not asking much am I

). Problem is, I can't really have the speakers anymore than about 6-8 inches away from the wall as I would then be intruding on door space. The B&W 685's have a really good review but their size worries me a little, as I don't want booming bass. Also, given their price, would they be a step backwards, given that my CD player and amp cost far in excess of what they do? Same goes for the Dali Lektor 2's - they too read well, but would they get the best out of my system?

If I could have a sound that came somewhere near to my Mission 753 Freedoms, but packaged in a stand mount, I would be absolutely delighted. I would be prepared to stretch beyond my £500 budget for this as I could always sell my beloved 753 Freedoms to part fund the outlay.

Any advice would be more than welcome, as I feel like a lost sheep without my hi-fi and simply do not know where to start with regards to replacing my speakers.

Hi BV

I know your components well. I use to own 753's, i use to sell them and 753f's, owned and use to sell the First Ultimate, use to sell indigo and also use to sell 991 and quite a few 1060's.

The 685's are fine but they need plenty of room around otherwise the bass can start to over power and as a result over lap the critical mid range. This then ends up muddying the sound. Regardless of room placement i believe your components have a higher performance potential than the 685's could unravel.

If you are prepared to stretch your budget than i think you should consider ATC's SCM11 speakers. They are a closed box design and their exceptional neutrality makes room placement is even less of an issue.

I have used the 1060 with the SCM11's and they work well. The 11's neutral, uncoloured and natural presentation will help your components to breathe and will (whilst not quite having the overall scale or depth of the 753f's) show the Mission's a thing or two in practically every other area. The 11's performance potential is big and will also happily reveal the differences in most components that you may wish to consider and therefore use in the future.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[drummerman]

You could try some MS20i Pearls. I've used them with everything from Roksan/CA/Cyrus/Naim etc and they never disappointed. Your's for next to nothing from ebay. I got a band new pair, boxed for £25 after selling my ProAcs. Epos engineering. Their biggest problem was that most used them with budget stuff. Far more capable than that. Dynamic, crystal clear and lovely tight bass. Add a sub if necessary.

 

[plastic penguin]

I like the Epos M12's - they may suit the Rotel character. If you look on their website, they occasionally have ex-dem models floating about.

 

[Anonymous]

I would just like to thank all of you for taking the time to reply to me - it is very much appreciated and has certainly given me more than a few options.

Hopefully I should be able to find something suitable.

Once again thanks to you all.