Speakers - like for like any real difference over the past 20 years?

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Having just this minute registered and found I'm in the last but one age group its going to take a few minutes to compose myself but here goes. After living with my present set up (vinyl) for 20+ years I thought it time for an upgrade! My Dual CS505 turntable has now become a Project 5 and I'm about to buy the new Marantz 6003 amp. My current speakers are Tannoy Mercury Mk2's, purchased new in 1988, ( still in mint condition) and I'm considering purchasing Dali Lektor 2's. Both of these speakers are sub £250 although 20 years apart in design. My question is, is it worth me changing my speakers - have speaker technologies in the budget ranges moved on enough for me to hear any improvements the Dali's may have to offer or will they just sound 'different'? Martyn

 

[Anonymous]

take your old speakers with to a hifi dealer and compare them to other speakers in their listening room before buying blind

I have old speakers and feel that I would have to spend a lot of money to get better

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks i'm sure that's good advice although I'll have to make a 30 mile trip to Bristol - any idea if Richer Sounds offers this facility? Interesting seeing your comment about your older speakers, I'm beginning to think that my Tannoys may well stay with me - I'll try to listen to some others, though. Martyn

 

[Anonymous]

richer in cambridge have a listening/demo room and are very friendly, so am sure that your branch will also have a demo room

give your nearest branch a call and book a demo .... 30 miles is not a long way to drive ... it may save you some money in the long run

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers dim_span - what's interesting to me is that i haven't had a flood of replies (they might come later, of course) saying that thers's no way that the Tannoys could be as good as the Dali's because of their age - I suppose there's only so much you can do with a pair of wooden (or is it chipboard) boxes!

 

[Anonymous]

MartynMEJ:Cheers dim_span - what's interesting to me is that i haven't had a flood of replies (they might come later, of course) saying that thers's no way that the Tannoys could be as good as the Dali's because of their age - I suppose there's only so much you can do with a pair of wooden (or is it chipboard) boxes!

there is always better ... but it is also always better to find out 1st hand (audition and compare for yourself) ... I have not heard any of the Tannoys yet, so cannot compare .... you may find that after the audition, you end up buying speakers that you had not even considered .... The guys at Richer will advise and they may also demo other speakers aswell

 

[Craig M.]

your tannoys may have been sub 250, 20 years ago, but what would they cost today taking inflation etc. into account? probably they would end up in a higher price band.

dim-span is right though, if you can take them to a shop to compare directly, then brilliant. one speaker may not be better then the other, rather they might just be "different" and then it's down to personal preference and what will fit your room/other kit the best.