Speakers - KEF, B&W or keep the mordaunt shorts

[admin_exported]

Hello all. I've currently got an onkyo 875 connected to a mordaunt short speaker setup (902's. 903's, 901 and a MSW10 sub woofer). I'm looking at replacing the whole lot with satellite speakers.

My choices are: KEF3005SE at £770, B&W MT30 at £1600 or keep my current speakers. I've read the KEF setup has better satellite speakers than the B&W but the subwoofer isn't as good. However I figure at some point i'll want to upgrade the subwoofer so why not get the B&W's all in one go?

Can anyone offer any advice here? Obviously it would be cheaper to keep my current speakers and just buy a subwoofer of some kind so if people think that would be a good idea, I shall do that.

Thankss

 

[Frank Harvey]

Coming from a set of larger hi-fi speakers, I'd say you might be best looking at the Monitor Audio Radius HD range, which are sort of 'mini hi-fi speakers' so to speak - sort of a mixture of hi-fi speakers and satellite speakers.

If you're looking at the MT30 package, which is a good package, KEF's KHT5005.2's are more in that price range. If you're considering budget stuff, the KHT3005se's are an option, as are Monitor Audio's Vector package. And there's always Quad's Lite 2 package too, which is a good music and movie compromise.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm liking the Monitor Audio Radius HD, good reviews and rather attractive speakers too. Pity I can't review all these side by side... I also like the idea of having mini hifi speakers as you describe it, something which seriously put me off satellites.

You mention the other speaker packages briefly; what would you purchase given the choice? Nobody on any forum I've posted on has recommended keeping my current speakers which is probably a good sign... My rooms about 40ft squared and I play music and HD movies mostly (it's for a bedroom). One of the things I've been put off by frequently (especially when demoing the mordaunt short MT30's) is the bass is far too boomy and the cut off is too early. I guess this might be a characteristic of modern speaker systems but not ideal in my detatched bedroom.

Thanks so much for your advice

 

[Frank Harvey]

There will be places that keep all on demo....

 

[Anonymous]

OK, I've shortlisted some speakers now - the list is quite different to my original shortlist.

I've managed to negotiate a £1000 price on the monitor audio R90's which I'm really pleased about and I'm also interested in the dali fazons which I'll test on Monday. For me at least the B&W's were far too boomy, the sub was over powering and it wasn't worth the price tag compared to my current setup which is roughly half the price, I also found music to be poor (again bass dominating the sound). I suspect I'll find the same with the fazons, that is the subwoofer being overpowering and ultimately the £1800 price tag not being justified, although I suspect they will sound marginally better than the monitor audio speakers and the B&W's.

I'll keep you posted, thanks SO much for all your help. There;s nowhere stocking the monitor audio r90's so I'll have to buy blind I suspect but they've been continuely recommended in other forums and have received high reviews wherever I look, except one review which claims theres problems with the sub woofer crossover.

If you know any places in Leeds were I can demo all these speakers or even just the R90's speak out now readers!

 

[kinda]

Glad to see it's not only myself who wasn't so impressed with the MT-30s. Not up to much at the top end for me.

If you do want satellite speakers, like the look, and can still find them I'd urge to try out the Tannoy Arena. I found this to be better than the MT-30 by some margin, and also the KEF 5005 which was let down by the sub. It also beat the KEf 5005 sats with the PV1 sub, but not by a massive margin.

For me it was the only package I demod that was worth £1600 or so, in fact the only one worth paying over £1000 for as it had no flaws with music or films for me. I have it and am always impressed for TV, films, and music. Nice and clear, good top end, and tight bass . You should be able to get a very good price if you can track them down as they're discontinued.

 

[kinda]

Oh, I demod the Arena at a place in Nottingham

 

[Anonymous]

Donno if it's the same ones but richer sounds are selling 5.1 tannoy arenas for £400! A serious reduction on the £1000 price tag. I really need to demo some of these speakers together!

Thanks for your help anyway.

This is actually the first time I've demo'd speakers; prior to this I was a jobless student and bought my speakers in little bits one at a time, now I can afford a full package it's quite the challenge having a listen to all these speakers. I don't really know what to look out for, I can form my own judgements but not find imperfections that audiophiles would no doubt spot. For example I suspect most of the speakers I hear will be far too bassy for my preferences which could mean I buy rubbish speakers where the salesman has just spent a few minutes tinkering with the eq... Not good. If anyone has any guide on demoing speakers, let me know! I suspect there's lots of info on the internet that I'm too lazy to look for.

I really want to try the fazons, I figure this is a bit of a one off purchase so might as well go completely nuts and spend more than I can afford. The big let down will be if they sound worse than my current setup or the price doesn't justify the sound/build quality. I'm subconsciously in two minds about how much money I want to spend.

Also, any ideas what to do with my old speakers? I was going to donate them to my sister, but she's not interested, donno how much I'd get on ebay for them at all.

 

[kinda]

The Arena are now very cheap as mentioned, but they weren't originally £1000, they were about £1650 with stands when first released, and got 5 stars in WHF in a group test with the MT-30, (which as about £1575 - Arena was included with stands as MT-30 has stands by default to make it an even fight).

They really are worth a demo and you'd potentially be saving a fortune, even if you factor in getting stands as extra.

Hope this helps.