Question Speakers for an Omnia

[podknocker]

I'm using a new Audiolab Omnia, with Q Acoustics 3030i speakers, on matching stands. The speakers are on the end of 2x2m of Tellurium Q Ultra Blue cables, with z type banana plugs. It does sound clean, detailed and very smooth, but a tad soft, in the treble. I'm looking for some more stand mount speakers, but I do want them to screw into the stands, like my current speakers. I'm not into blu tac and accidentally knocking them over, causing damage etc. I want bags of detail and they really have to stop and start quickly. I don't mind if they are bright sounding, as I love very airy recordings and percussive material. I'm into lots of music genres, including rock, country music, trance, classical and I really love violin concertos and acoustic guitar. I'm still listening to a lot of 80s based pop, with lots of synths etc. I listen to a lot of radio 4 and other chat based platforms, so a transparent mid range and decent 'presence' region is a must. One thing I want to avoid is a chesty, congested, upper bass sound. I'm not looking for a warm bass sound, but prefer something more incisive and analytical. I recently gave away a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 230 speakers, as they were very bass forward and killed the timing and detail, in my 4x5m living room. Any suggestions with a budget of £1500 including stands?

 

[dkontos]

I'm using a new Audiolab Omnia, with Q Acoustics 3030i speakers, on matching stands. The speakers are on the end of 2x2m of Tellurium Q Ultra Blue cables, with z type banana plugs. It does sound clean, detailed and very smooth, but a tad soft, in the treble. I'm looking for some more stand mount speakers, but I do want them to screw into the stands, like my current speakers. I'm not into blu tac and accidentally knocking them over, causing damage etc. I want bags of detail and they really have to stop and start quickly. I don't mind if they are bright sounding, as I love very airy recordings and percussive material. I'm into lots of music genres, including rock, country music, trance, classical and I really love violin concertos and acoustic guitar. I'm still listening to a lot of 80s based pop, with lots of synths etc. I listen to a lot of radio 4 and other chat based platforms, so a transparent mid range and decent 'presence' region is a must. One thing I want to avoid is a chesty, congested, upper bass sound. I'm not looking for a warm bass sound, but prefer something more incisive and analytical. I recently gave away a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 230 speakers, as they were very bass forward and killed the timing and detail, in my 4x5m living room. Any suggestions with a budget of £1500 including stands?

I hve the Focal Aria 906 speakers almost a year, and I think that these should meet many of your needing characteristics. Another pair that I liked when I was auditioning speakers before buyimg the focals, was the Elac Carina, and I also tried the Triangle Comete, but these was too forward for my taste..... but impresive enough, they were like being in a live concert...!!! I think that all these worth a try....

 

[podknocker]

Cheers for that! I'm looking at lots of 906 reviews and have found the K2 version now available. With the stands, they come to £1600 and I'm going to try and get a listen somewhere. I do like the KEF LS50 meta, with stands at £1500 and they come in lots of colours also. I'm worried about large speakers getting close to the walls, as it's a small living room. The Spendor A1 looks nice, but I don't know if they screw into stands. I was looking at the DALI Rubicon 2 with the M600 stands and although they are £2k together, they get some great reviews. Sadly, DALI confirm their speakers are designed to just sit on the pricey stands. I don't know why all speaker companies don't offer a suitable and secure option for using their standmounts, to avoid wobbling and vibrations etc. B&W offer the screw-in option, on the 700 series, but not on the 600 range. I would look at floorstanders, as it rules out the problems associated with the speaker/stand interface, but it's difficult getting speakers that don't give that upper bass hump and boominess, in a typical size living room. My last floorstanders, before the Diamond 230 boomboxes, were a pair of KEF Q35.2 in dark apple finish. Uni-Q drivers, with the white polypropylene cones. They sounded amazing, for the money, but they broke, after decades of use, I think. I wish I could get a new pair of those again, or perhaps the model which replaced them. So much out there, but I'm wary of getting that honking bass response again. The A4 from Spendor sounds great, but they are now £2520 at my local HIFI store. I'm probably going to look at brighter cables also, as I think my Tellurium Qs are squashing the top end.

 

[Deleted member 160668]

I'm looking for some more stand mount speakers, but I do want them to screw into the stands, like my current speakers.

A couple of thoughts from me here.

You seem to know the sound you are looking for, which is good. I am not going to recommend a listen of any particular speaker as I instead think you should take your amp to some dealers for a listen. It might surprise you what you end up liking.

Also, if you have room for stands, then a floorstander is a similar size, don't write that off as a possibility. I recently had a huge listening exercise of speakers up to around £5k, some a bit more. I exclusively wanted floorstanders - the dealer threw a curve ball and my favourite was a standmount.

Stands that screw to speakers is not, I believe, all that common. You can screw anything to anything if you want but you may damage it and affect performance or resale value. This seems an odd request and very limiting in terms of what would be deemed suitable. If this comment is because you have kids etc. (?) that may knock them off, then as above, consider floorstanders instead.

Get out to some dealers and get listening, amp in tow. Let us know how you get on.

 

[Al ears]

A couple of thoughts from me here.

You seem to know the sound you are looking for, which is good. I am not going to recommend a listen of any particular speaker as I instead think you should take your amp to some dealers for a listen. It might surprise you what you end up liking.

Also, if you have room for stands, then a floorstander is a similar size, don't write that off as a possibility. I recently had a huge listening exercise of speakers up to around £5k, some a bit more. I exclusively wanted floorstanders - the dealer threw a curve ball and my favourite was a standmount.

Stands that screw to speakers is not, I believe, all that common. You can screw anything to anything if you want but you may damage it and affect performance or resale value. This seems an odd request and very limiting in terms of what would be deemed suitable. If this comment is because you have kids etc. (?) that may knock them off, then as above, consider floorstanders instead.

Get out to some dealers and get listening, amp in tow. Let us know how you get on.

I would agree with the last two paragraphs. Speakers designed to screw to stands are pretty rare.
If anything I would want to be isolating the speakers from the stands.

 

[podknocker]

Thanks everyone. It's great getting so many views and ideas. I'm not new to HIFI, but I have spent a lot of cash, over the last 30 years and made a few mistakes. I am drawn towards the Fyne Audio F302i in that smashing oak wrap, probably because they remind me of my long gone KEFs and they are much cheaper. If I could get some floorstanders, that are quite agile and nimble, with a bit of sparkle at the top, I should be OK. I will audition some kit, on the end of an Omnia, in the store. Can anyone recommend a bright and open sounding speaker cable also? My Tellurium Q is ultra clean and detailed, but as I mentioned, it's soft and subdued at the top and I'm sure I'm missing out on some great treble action.

 

[Al ears]

Thanks everyone. It's great getting so many views and ideas. I'm not new to HIFI, but I have spent a lot of cash, over the last 30 years and made a few mistakes. I am drawn towards the Fyne Audio F302i in that smashing oak wrap, probably because they remind me of my long gone KEFs and they are much cheaper. If I could get some floorstanders, that are quite agile and nimble, with a bit of sparkle at the top, I should be OK. I will audition some kit, on the end of an Omnia, in the store. Can anyone recommend a bright and open sounding speaker cable also? My Tellurium Q is ultra clean and detailed, but as I mentioned, it's soft and subdued at the top and I'm sure I'm missing out on some great treble action.

nice speakers the Fynes.
You are a brave man attempting another cable debate.......
Get some cheap stuff you can audition along with the speakers.

 

[RoA]

Kef LS50 have a slightly rolled off treble and a laid back soundstage. They are not rockers!

The Audiolab too is on the refined side of things with a slightly mild treble. It uses the same amplification as the 6000a, which I have.

Focal, Rega and the new Monitor Audio (7G) is where I would start, or one of my favorites, Quad's S2.

 

[nopiano]

I am drawn towards the Fyne Audio F302i in that smashing oak wrap, probably because they remind me of my long gone KEFs and they are much cheaper. If I could get some floorstanders, that are quite agile and nimble, with a bit of sparkle at the top, I should be OK. I will audition some kit, on the end of an Omnia, in the store. Can anyone recommend a bright and open sounding speaker cable also? My Tellurium Q is ultra clean and detailed, but as I mentioned, it's soft and subdued at the top and I'm sure I'm missing out on some great treble action.

You’ve already had some great input. A few thoughts from me:

1. Not many speakers bolt to the stand, as already said.
2. Floorstanders are an obvious consideration. Fyne models that I’ve heard are brighter than average.
3. I think you’re mainly describing the QA sound, not the cables. That’s why they're so popular because they’re very forgiving of bright or harsh kit/recordings - a common complaint here that you’ll see if you stick around. In any case, cables should not be used to add something you think is missing - it’s a fool‘s errand
4. Also, try to hear some B&Ws and PMCs, as they have a rising top end.
5. Have you experimented with positioning your QAs? Beaming them directly at you (toeing them in) will sound brighter than straight down the room. And further from the front wall will be less bassy.

Hope this helps, and keep us posted.

 

[Al ears]

I think you are heading in the wrong direction. If you have speakers screwed to expensive stands you are creating something that will mimic a floorstander and that is what you should be looking at. Think Dali Oberon 5 for one or Acoustic Energy AE120

 

[podknocker]

I think you might be onto something, with the cables. I think they are revealing and potentially capable of a detailed treble and it's probably the QA 3030i being a bit restrained, in the treble. A few reviews mention this. One review advised using a bright amp, to 'illuminate' the tweeter, otherwise it would be lacking there. I do have them 2m apart and slightly toed in, at around 2.5m from my listening position. I can just see the inside panels and I think they are set up perfectly, with at least 30cm from the walls and corners. I'm leaning towards floorstanders even more now and I have seen the Fyne 302i at £499 online. They look like they present an easy load to the amp also. Quality and speed of bass, rather than lots of it, is what I'm after and buying bright, lively, slim and squat floorstanders, might be a better solution. PMC are way out of my price range and I really hate to say it, but I haven't heard a good B&W speaker, apart from the really pricey 805 D3 standmount, from a few years ago. Stuff like this is way beyond my price range. The more sensible B&W models seem to have a massive bass thump, with a detached treble, that gives a hollow sensation, in the middle. I'm sure they make good speakers, as they are popular, but I really don't like them. Perhaps I need to hear more and newer models, at my local shop. I would like to hear the Fyne 302i against the Acoustic Energy AE120 (which have a decent spec and are slim and tidy), but would having several drive units, just give prodigious amounts of bass and overwhelm, not underpin the music? If I had kept my Diamond 230 floorstanders, they might have sounded OK, with the Omnia, but I used them with my Quad Vena 2 which developed a motorised pot fault and had a very soft and bloated bass sound, when it worked. It might have been the cause of my upper bass reinforcement and honking after all. The Dali Oberon 5 look interesting and might give me a similar sound to the Rubicon 2 standmounts, that many people rave about and be a lot easier to set up, but again, lots of drive units, throwing out lots of bass. I will try and listen to them. Thanks again for all your advice and I certainly have more kit to audition now.