Speakers to match a CXA81, CXC Transport and a Rega Planar 6 Ania

[Ian J Hicks]

Hi,

Some advise and recommendations please. I have a Cambridge Audio CXA1, CXC Transport and a Rega Planar 6 Ania. I'm still using the Dali Zensor 3's from my old system but looking to upgrade to better speakers for my setup and looking for some recommendations to audition. I was looking at the KEF LS50 Meta's but not so sure now. I'm looking for standmounts to go on my Atacama stands. Thanks in advance...

 

[Al ears]

How big is your room and what is your budget, might be useful?

 

[Ian J Hicks]

How big is your room and what is your budget, might be useful?

Hi of course... the room is 16 feet by 12 feet with listening position 7 feet from the speakers. Budget about £1k. Hope this helps.

 

[Al ears]

I would certainly look at Amphion Helium 510, one of the best speakers around the £750 mark.

 

[Ian J Hicks]

Thank you will check them out 👍

 

[matthewpiano]

You mention the KEF LS50 Metas and I would warmly recommend them. They take quite a lot of running in before they give their best, but it's worth the patience. It's also worth following KEF's set-up instructions. I've got to the point where I never read manuals but, having experienced some unexpected softness and smearing in the sound, I found following KEF's advice on use of the supplied 2-part bungs made all the difference. I normally ignore bungs as on many speakers I haven't liked the effect, but KEF recommend using the outer part of the port bungs if the speakers are sited as close to the wall as 20cm (as mine are), and I've found doing this clears everything up considerably.

 

[nopiano]

My ‘go to’ with your budget would be the LS50 too, because I loved the original. But I know they’re not to everyone’s taste, and lacking grilles they may not be too practical either for some.
The Revel Concerta2 M16 was long a favourite with WHF, and I well remember an excellent demo from Karma AV their importers. The bigger KEF R3 is £300 more, but if you prefer a mellower sound and like a traditional look, the Wharfedale Linton is around £1,000, sometimes less, though they might not need such tall stands as yours.
Used speakers from Spendor, ATC, Rogers, Harbeth etc might suit you, but you’d need to have heard them first - or do lots of research so you could resell with little cost if they didn’t suit.

 

[Ian J Hicks]

You mention the KEF LS50 Metas and I would warmly recommend them. They take quite a lot of running in before they give their best, but it's worth the patience. It's also worth following KEF's set-up instructions. I've got to the point where I never read manuals but, having experienced some unexpected softness and smearing in the sound, I found following KEF's advice on use of the supplied 2-part bungs made all the difference. I normally ignore bungs as on many speakers I haven't liked the effect, but KEF recommend using the outer part of the port bungs if the speakers are sited as close to the wall as 20cm (as mine are), and I've found doing this clears everything up considerably.

Thank you so much for the advise. I did have my mind set on the LS50 Metas but was worried they might me slightly lacking in bass. Not looking for mega bass but do listen to a wide range of music and didn't want to have to buy a subwoofer.

 

[Ian J Hicks]

My ‘go to’ with your budget would be the LS50 too, because I loved the original. But I know they’re not to everyone’s taste, and lacking grilles they may not be too practical either for some.
The Revel Concerta2 M16 was long a favourite with WHF, and I well remember an excellent demo from Karma AV their importers. The bigger KEF R3 is £300 more, but if you prefer a mellower sound and like a traditional look, the Wharfedale Linton is around £1,000, sometimes less, though they might not need such tall stands as yours.
Used speakers from Spendor, ATC, Rogers, Harbeth etc might suit you, but you’d need to have heard them first - or do lots of research so you could resell with little cost if they didn’t suit.

Thanks again for the very useful advise... not worried about the look of the KEFs and they've passed the 'wife aesthetic' test so will definitely look to demo them I think

 

[Fidelity dom]

Hi i listened to the original ls50s & they are great speakers however they lacked the base response of the larger kef r300 which i personally found to be a much more engaging sound with my primare amp, i also auditioned the kef r500 which is what i eventually went with as they were even better & to my ears more balanced with an even wider sound stage than the r300, however the r5 (r500) are floorstanders. I have just purchased a set of quad s4 from vickers hifi currently discounted to £800 (from £1200) for my second system & they are a very nice speaker for the money. Easy to drive, relatively small for a floorstander even my denon m40 mini system can drive them, they have a wide sound stage & the trebble is just so great with the ribbon tweeters, with female vocals, stringed instraments & piano etc i think to my ears they are even sweeter than the kef r500...............if you have the room for a small floorstander id definatly put them on your demo list..........😁

 

[Din5]

Hi i listened to the original ls50s & they are great speakers however they lacked the base response of the larger kef r300 which i personally found to be a much more engaging sound with my primare amp, i also auditioned the kef r500 which is what i eventually went with as they were even better & to my ears more balanced with an even wider sound stage than the r300, however the r5 (r500) are floorstanders. I have just purchased a set of quad s4 from vickers hifi currently discounted to £800 (from £1200) for my second system & they are a very nice speaker for the money. Easy to drive, relatively small for a floorstander even my denon m40 mini system can drive them, they have a wide sound stage & the trebble is just so great with the ribbon tweeters, with female vocals, stringed instraments & piano etc i think to my ears they are even sweeter than the kef r500...............if you have the room for a small floorstander id definatly put them on your demo list..........😁

Hi Fidelity dom,
I have been trying to decide if I should take a chance by buying the Quad S4 speakers for use with my Rega Elex-R amplifier, my current speakers seem a bit bright when used with this amplifier.
Could you let me know if the Q4's have a warmish sound, enough deep bass, detailed clean mid-range and is there any harshness in the treble ?
I suspect this is probably a decent loudspeaker, it's a shme there are no reviews on the web (that I can find).
Many thanks, your thoughts would be much appreciated..

 

[GoodVibes]

Hi,

Some advise and recommendations please. I have a Cambridge Audio CXA1, CXC Transport and a Rega Planar 6 Ania. I'm still using the Dali Zensor 3's from my old system but looking to upgrade to better speakers for my setup and looking for some recommendations to audition. I was looking at the KEF LS50 Meta's but not so sure now. I'm looking for standmounts to go on my Atacama stands. Thanks in advance...

Hi Ian

I am also searching for a good match with this amp. I currently have Wharfedale Evo 4.2 and its a good pairing but a little too laid back for my tastes in music. I have searched high and low for some solid advice from fellow CXA 81 owners but there isn't much around. I have a similar budget and I have considred many speaker from the £300 - £1000 price range. According to what I have read and the videos I have watched, lots of speakers I am interested in don't seem to pair well with the CXA due to its sound being on the bright side. I considered some Dali's but apparently they don't pair well with the Cambridge for the above reasons. Did you find them overly bright or sibilant?

This hobby is confusing and pursuing options is expensive. Other speakers on my list are the original LS50's, the Meta's, Acoustic Energy AE500's, Dynaudio Evoke 10's. Those speakers all have great reviews and I'm thinking if the CXA doesn't pair well with them I might look into finding a new amplifier. I'm even toying with the Idea of opting for a good pair of active speakers to remove the endless search for information on whether the amp and speaker combo will produce the sound I'm looking for.

 

[Din5]

This hobby is extremely confusing as you say, especially when there are so many speakers on the market and so few hifi dealers, and even then they probaby won't have the ones you want to see & hear. All the dealers in my region mostly stock the "high end" stuff and ignore the run of the mill Wharfedale, Quad, KEF etc etc... it's as if they think all other dealers are going to heavily discount these ranges, so they only sell unusual brands at high price with no threat of discounts. From what I can see on the web, most dealers advertise at the RRP anyway so there's no real discounting going on - unless by personal negotiation later on. Anyway, I hope you find the best speakers for your amp...

 

[Al ears]

Hi Ian

I am also searching for a good match with this amp. I currently have Wharfedale Evo 4.2 and its a good pairing but a little too laid back for my tastes in music. I have searched high and low for some solid advice from fellow CXA 81 owners but there isn't much around. I have a similar budget and I have considred many speaker from the £300 - £1000 price range. According to what I have read and the videos I have watched, lots of speakers I am interested in don't seem to pair well with the CXA due to its sound being on the bright side. I considered some Dali's but apparently they don't pair well with the Cambridge for the above reasons. Did you find them overly bright or sibilant?

This hobby is confusing and pursuing options is expensive. Other speakers on my list are the original LS50's, the Meta's, Acoustic Energy AE500's, Dynaudio Evoke 10's. Those speakers all have great reviews and I'm thinking if the CXA doesn't pair well with them I might look into finding a new amplifier. I'm even toying with the Idea of opting for a good pair of active speakers to remove the endless search for information on whether the amp and speaker combo will produce the sound I'm looking for.

you cannot be sure active speakers are going to give you the sound you want either.
Watching videos is not going to hekp. The only way you 're going to know for sure is a home audition

 

[GoodVibes]

you cannot be sure active speakers are going to give you the sound you want either.
Watching videos is not going to hekp. The only way you 're going to know for sure is a home audition

Thank you, I am aware of that.

 

[GoodVibes]

This hobby is extremely confusing as you say, especially when there are so many speakers on the market and so few hifi dealers, and even then they probaby won't have the ones you want to see & hear. All the dealers in my region mostly stock the "high end" stuff and ignore the run of the mill Wharfedale, Quad, KEF etc etc... it's as if they think all other dealers are going to heavily discount these ranges, so they only sell unusual brands at high price with no threat of discounts. From what I can see on the web, most dealers advertise at the RRP anyway so there's no real discounting going on - unless by personal negotiation later on. Anyway, I hope you find the best speakers for your amp...

Amen brother!

I guess if this hobby was easy it wouldn't be fun. There are very few dealers here in Ireland and I have yet to speak to one that offers a home trial service. Forums & Youtube reviews are all I've got to base my decision on before I take the plunge and hope for the best.

 

[Al ears]

Thank you, I am aware of that.

Apologies if that sounded trite and dealers in Ireland were so few on the ground.
Obviously other people's opinion of what goes well with your amp is their opinion they don't have your ears or listening room, unless you are prepared to buy second-hand and then resell the items that don't suit you the future could prove to be somewhat expensive.
Of course this forum can help you narrow down speakers that may work, but it will always be a may, and you will find many suggested are not available for you to audition anyway.
That said my original suggestion still stands and another, slightly leftfield, would be the largish sealed-box Arcaydis EB2S which should work well with your amp and room size as they can be place close to the rear wall.
Either that or up your budget slightly and get the Amphion Argon 1 speakers

 

[Fidelity dom]

Hi Fidelity dom,
I have been trying to decide if I should take a chance by buying the Quad S4 speakers for use with my Rega Elex-R amplifier, my current speakers seem a bit bright when used with this amplifier.
Could you let me know if the Q4's have a warmish sound, enough deep bass, detailed clean mid-range and is there any harshness in the treble ?
I suspect this is probably a decent loudspeaker, it's a shme there are no reviews on the web (that I can find).
Many thanks, your thoughts would be much appreciated..

Hi appologies for the delay in responding............ive lived with the quad s4 for a little while now, I personally rate these speakers very highly especially considering the price from Vickers Hifi. I ve listened to them on a Denon m40 mini system, audiolab 6000a & primare i22. The ribbon tweeters really are beautiful with female vocals, string & piano etc, there is something extra the uni Q tweeters on the kef r500s just don't quite deliver to my ears. Whilst they are relatively easy to drive, quad recommend an amp rated 40 _ 200 watts into 6 ohms they obviously deliver more with a more powerful amp. With my primare i22 rated at 80 watts they were sublime, yet still very accomplished & an easy listen with the audiolab 6000a. I tend to prefer less base heavy genres of music, listening to jazz, funk, electronica, classical, pop, country etc..............the one area these might lack for some listeners is base response, for me i liked the fact the base is always delivered in a tight controlled manner, never feeling over bloated. If you listen to predominently heavy rock these might not be the speakers for you, but then again you could always add a subwoofer? I haven't listened to the rega elix r, but would be interested to hear what they sound like together.

(Listening room 5m × 5m, with wooden flooring)

 

[aversaurus]

I would also try the arcydis EB2 s but there not that big on bass so also try and give the whalfdale Linton heritage a listen for a fuller sound

 

[Al ears]

I would also try the arcydis EB2 s but there not that big on bass so also try and give the whalfdale Linton heritage a listen for a fuller sound

They have plenty of controlled bass which is what you would need in a room of that size.

 

[aversaurus]

They have bass but there only a small speaker so have small speaker like bass .
They are very good speakers .I think my self and Al ears have the original not sure how the new ones perform

 

[Al ears]

They have bass but there only a small speaker so have small speaker like bass .
They are very good speakers .I think my self and Al ears have the original not sure how the new ones perform

are we talking about the same speaker? Define small.
20 litres with a 170mm bass/ midrange is not small when it comes to standmounts to my mind

 

[aversaurus]

There a stand mount speaker .not so big
How big are yours ?

 

[Al ears]

There a stand mount speaker .not so big
How big are yours ?

The OP was looking for a standmount speaker and, as such, these are big enough for his room. Described as big and ugly by WHF they are 42 cm tall

 

[aversaurus]

But there not the largest stand mount speaker out there compered to the whalfdale Linton heritage
Can you get big bass out of 42 cm speaker cabernet regardless of the room size I think not