Suggestions for warm sounding speakers

[bobchiba]

I've recently put my Planar 3 away as I intend to upgrade the motor and service it which I'm leaving for a summer project once I get better at soldering. Until then I have picked up the very first Arcam Black Box DAC (the one with the philips single crown chip). I have aways fancied one of these due to its history and resale value due to its sort after chip.

On first impressions it sounds really good and does so many things right but it does tend to sound very much on the 'bright' side. This isn't helped by the fact that I have a Creek 4330, as its quite an analytical amp (however i love it to bits and wont be changing it).

So im thinking I want to go for some speakers that are as warm as possible (no metal tweeters) and also some interconnects for the same reason. I will eventually get a squeezebox to get a digital front end going. (curently using a PS2!)

My budget is probably £250 max new or used, im not fussed (a pair of 10.1's seem like a good shout?)

Any advice appreciated...

 

[plastic penguin]

I know you said no metal tweeters, but Creek and Monitor Audio sound fabulous together. The Creek would sound wonderful with a pair of RS1s. Alternatively, look at Focal speakers; these will sound really good together, but they may render the Creek a touch lifeless in comparison to the RS1s.

 

[Frank Harvey]

The DACs from this period (and the CD players that use the same ones) may come across as bright, but they also had a natural energy to them that many of the single bit CD players/DACs that followed didn't - they traded that for warmth and smoothness.

I personally wouldn't have said that the 4330 was an overly analytical sounding amplifier, but hey, we're all different. Your budget is the limiting factor here, as I would normally have been recommending much more expensive, refined loudspeakers to solve your problem. I would recommend saving for a little longer for Monitor Audio's RX1, which is quite warm, smooth sounding loudspeaker, even though they are a metal dome tweeter. They certainly don't perform like they are.

 

[bobchiba]

You're right actually, 'analytical' is the wrong word, bearing in mind i used to have an alpha 8R, the creek's passive pre section and its very direct sound tend to let the source do alot of the talking (in a good way) and really show up your other equipment. I live literally a couple hundred yards from a sevenoaks so i may take my creek and check out some of the MA range.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Things don't get much smoother and warmer than the Alpha range!!