Speakers to compliment a Leema Pulse amp and Stream CD player.

[Mr Compo]

I’m looking to get a new system and I like the Leema Stream II and Pulse, especially since there are some excellent deals around at the moment, £750 a piece for CD and Amp. I’m struggling to identify the speakers to match. I’ve tried the Leema Zone’s also on offer for £750 however they didn’t quite float my boat, not really picking apart complicated electronic music; pieces by the likes of the F*** Buttons and Aphex Twin and lacking some of the emotion when listening to Bon Iver and Jose Gonzalez. (Rock and DnB they did very well though.)

For comparison I tried the Spendor A5s and far preferred the sound. Much warmer, more emotion – to my ears a more heartfelt musical sound. More Naim than Cyrus. Having said all this the Spendors are £1500 – so in real terms double. Can anyone recommend an alternative small floorstander which will complement the system and provide the warmth I crave but cheaper.

My taste is very diverse, lots of electronic and dance through to DnB, indie and rock with much in-between.

Ps, for all I’ve heard about Leema’s exemplary build the CD draw seemed quite cheap, slamming open and closed. Anyone else experienced this?

 

[mitch65]

I cannot comment on the speakers as I use standmounters (Spendors-which, for me, worked well with Leema ) but I did used to have a Stream and to be quite honest the drawer is no different from most players at that price point, although a do prefer the Naim solution myself, but do not that put you off though as for the money it is a very good player. Having said that I do not remember mine slamming shut

 

[caddyhound]

Ex-dem PMC GB1i's fit the bill exactly.Worth comparing with the Spendors.

 

[d_a_n1979]

Deffo agree with the PMC GB1's but I'd personally take a look at the Dynaudio DM 2/7's or even the Focus 110's as well.

I appreciate that you're after a floorstander but the above standmount speakers would work very well indeed

Do you have an overall budget in mind?

 

[plastic penguin]

Mr Compo:

I'm looking to get a new system and I like the Leema Stream II and Pulse, especially since there are some excellent deals around at the moment, £750 a piece for CD and Amp. I'm struggling to identify the speakers to match. I've tried the Leema Zone's also on offer for £750 however they didn't quite float my boat, not really picking apart complicated electronic music; pieces by the likes of the F*** Buttons and Aphex Twin and lacking some of the emotion when listening to Bon Iver and Jose Gonzalez. (Rock and DnB they did very well though.)

For comparison I tried the Spendor A5s and far preferred the sound. Much warmer, more emotion - to my ears a more heartfelt musical sound. More Naim than Cyrus. Having said all this the Spendors are £1500 - so in real terms double. Can anyone recommend an alternative small floorstander which will complement the system and provide the warmth I crave but cheaper.

My taste is very diverse, lots of electronic and dance through to DnB, indie and rock with much in-between.

Ps, for all I've heard about Leema's exemplary build the CD draw seemed quite cheap, slamming open and closed. Anyone else experienced this?

Yup, the GB1S should fit the bill nicely. Alternatively, Focal 716V are very smooth, detailed listen. If you don't object ex-dem or s/hand, Spendor S5E should sound cracking.

 

[Anonymous]

anything from the ATC range

 

[Mr Compo]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

In the end I went for the Spendor A5s, £1199 from Superfi on ex-dem, Stream and Pulse both at £699. I've been searching for a long time and eventually lost patience; I'd had a good long demo and had started to get the feeling that I was beggining to procrastinate and loose sight of what it was really about. The music, just think how many CDs I could of bought for what I just spent!

I know the Focals fairly well - they do sound incredible, and then when you consider how good value they are, they really rock. In a bigger space they would have been my 1st choice however my room just can't accommodate them, despite being only slightly larger the styling and unique room dimensions would make them feel much bigger.

The PMC GB1s made me briefly uncomfortable when I saw the recommendation - a quick Google search provided none obviously on sale - I've always like the look of them and had wondered about trying to get a demo, (the replies came post purchase, it was also just time to commit.)

Now I'm looking forward to a weekend of discovering old CDs, and dancing in my lounge. Probably some frustration too as I struggle with room set-up variations. Wish me luck, thanks again - I suspect I'll be back here again soon. Hopefully for the right reasons!

For completeness, QED silver something speaker cable and Chord Chameleon Interconnect.

 

[Anonymous]

Hiya

I am new here lol I wonder if buying Spendor speakers you found what you were looking for? I had a chance to listen to Pulse in action yesterday. I went with strong thought of buying this amp, afterall £420 only - second hand. But it turned out that the sound was slightly to dry , lean, analitical: to me of course. Amp was connected to audiolab cd and atc 11 speakers. I have in my room leema's xero monitors and I thought that would be perfect match but I have a feeling that pulse with xero would go even further down this road. Therefore I would really appriciate you experience with matching pulse with another pair of speakers. I listen mainly to all sorts of electronic music plus rock. My source is squeezbox 3 and ipod5th gen (FLAC). I've got also Marantz 6000 KI Sign but I hardly use it.