The QUAD 22L2's are worth a demo; they;re fantastic speakers but I'd say on an equal par with your M/A S6's
Judging by all the suggestions I have received so far it seems that I would have to up my budget considerably if I am to make a meaningful upgrade. What would be the next level up from the MA S6's? Some suggestions please.
Hmmm
Spendor A5's, PMC GB1i's, Rega RS7's, Monitor Audio GS20's or 60's (2nd hand), B&W CM8's & CM9's, Proac Studio 140's etc...
Spendor A5's, PMC GB1i's, Rega RS7's, Monitor Audio GS20's or 60's (2nd hand), B&W CM8's & CM9's, Proac Studio 140's etc...
hifilover1979 said:
From your suggested list of speakers I have only listened to the B&W CM8's and didn't like them at all. Way too bright and also lacking in bass depth. They were partnered by the Marantz Pearl Lite amp/cd player and I'm sure this combo wouldn't inject any brightness to the sound. The Spendor A5's or the Proac Studio 140's might be the best options as the PMC's and Rega RS7's are not available here and finding 2nd hand MA's are near impossible.
hifilover1979 said:
What he said, and maybe including Dynaudio.
Exactly what are you trying to achieve/change about your present sound?
Sabby said:
The B&W CM8's and CM9's are superb speakers but they do need to be partnered with the right electronics and the Marantz Pearl amp (IMO) isnt that good at all. I've found it to be very light in the soundstage and far too smooth/lacking in detail.
The Spendor A5's are brilliant speakers; got a pair sat behind me still boxed/brand new and waiting for someone to buy them (the ones I won in the What hifi comp last month) as they're of no use to me unfortunately as I'm not planning to change my current system
The Proacs are superb speakers as well but my money would be on the Spendor A5's, PMC GB1i's and the Monitor Audio's. Unfortunately the new GX range is well out of your budget. The M/A GS20's can still be bought with a reasonable price; have a look round dealers either where you are or in the UK and see what shipping would be
I shpped a pair of M/A RX2's to Australia in May for £120 inc insurance for £500 so wouldnt imagine that floorstanding speakers would be too much over that; proba around £170-£200 inc insurance. Find a decent 2nd hand pair of speakers in the UK on eBay and the likes and see what the seller may do.
If the speakers are boxed and the seller is prepared for you to arrange all shipping costs then that may be the way to go!
CnoEvil said:
What I am looking for is a bigger soundstage with better separation and more precise placement of vocals and instruments within that soundstage. At times the soundsatage with the MA's is a bit vague with very little depth. Am I asking for too much? Should I also be looking at weaknesses in the other components in my system?
Sabby said:
That is such a hard question to answer. Do you find it more a of a problem with CD or TT?
IMO. There are many things that effect this, as well as the componants themselves:
Isolation of componants; room acoustics; speaker positioning; type of speaker (floorstander vs standmount); mains quality and controversially, cables including mains cables.
What type of floor is your speakers on (concrete vs suspended wooden); are your speakers totally stable, level and away from corners; is your TT well isolated; how is your room furnished; do you use after market mains cables; have you tried different speaker positions with various amounts of "toe in"; are your ears at tweeter height when seated; are you sitting as far from the speakers as they are appart (ie. forming an equilateral triangle); do you have any isolation products under your equipment?
Sorry for all these thoughts/questions/suggstions, but over the years I've found they all have an effect....so its worth experimenting which ones work in your particular situation.
CnoEvil said:
Wow that's a lot of things that need my attention
Let me answer your questions one at a time.
Isolation of components - only the t/t is located on it's own dedicated stand and sits on Audio-Technica isolating feet.
Room acoustics - heavy curtains, leather lounge suite, thick carperts
Speaker positioning - tried various options before settling on present position, well away from corners and well into the room, slightly towed in, speakers on spikes and very stable, tweeter at ear height when seated, not a perfect equilateral triangle as I sit a bit further away than the distance between the speakers.
Cables - have tried various cables before settling on TelliriumQ Blue, haven't tried any mains cable as I don't subscribe to the view that mains cables can make any difference taking into account the many miles of copper wire of unknown quality the electricity has to travel through before reaching my wall socket and then expecting a metre of cable right at the end to make any difference.
All things considered and after a fair bit of experimentation, I'm pretty satisfied with how my equipment is setup in the listening room. The only improvements I can now look at will be the actual components, speakers, amp, t/t.
Thank you for taking the time to humour me, and it appears that you have given all this a lot of thought (which doesn't surprise me). Are the speakers on a suspended wooden floor?
IMO. Telurium Q is some of the very best S/C you can get at the price, so again a great choice.
At the risk of being ridiculed, I would recommend that you try some mains cables, provided you can do it on a trial basis. I've got some surprising gains (especially on amps and Sky boxes) in the areas that you are trying to improve. It doesn't make sense, but there it is. I like the ones from Clearer Audio.
The only other thing that has helped me is Black Ravioli, but it's quite expensive, and at this stage, money would be better spent on speakers.
Good luck with your search and please let us know how you get on.
Cno
IMO. Telurium Q is some of the very best S/C you can get at the price, so again a great choice.
At the risk of being ridiculed, I would recommend that you try some mains cables, provided you can do it on a trial basis. I've got some surprising gains (especially on amps and Sky boxes) in the areas that you are trying to improve. It doesn't make sense, but there it is. I like the ones from Clearer Audio.
The only other thing that has helped me is Black Ravioli, but it's quite expensive, and at this stage, money would be better spent on speakers.
Good luck with your search and please let us know how you get on.
Cno
DIB
Well-known member
hifilover1979 said:The Spendor A5's are brilliant speakers; got a pair sat behind me still boxed/brand new and waiting for someone to buy them (the ones I won in the What hifi comp last month) as they're of no use to me unfortunately as I'm not planning to change my current system
Sorry to go off track here, but I saw your ad for the A5's and was very surprised that you didn't appear to get any takers. Looked like a cracking deal to me.
.
DIB said:hifilover1979 said:The Spendor A5's are brilliant speakers; got a pair sat behind me still boxed/brand new and waiting for someone to buy them (the ones I won in the What hifi comp last month) as they're of no use to me unfortunately as I'm not planning to change my current system
Sorry to go off track here, but I saw your ad for the A5's and was very surprised that you didn't appear to get any takers. Looked like a cracking deal to me.
.
Everyone wants everything for nothing these days
They'll sell this time round though
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