What floorstanders to buy £500 to £1000?

[Anonymous]

I still maintain that one should buy the best speaker that one can afford (floor or standmount), irrespective of it being new or used

same applies to other components of a hi-fi .... however, one has to match the components carefully .... when buying 2nd hand vintage/classic components, it takes a lot of extra research, as one cannot audition all the components before buying ....

 

[the record spot]

Alears:
Sarcasm aside Shaxos may have a point.

There is a line of thiking that goes speakers are simply a box with some drivers attached. The quality of a speaker depends on a well constructed box and good quality drivers. It costs a good deal of money to bulid a very good large (floorstanding) enclosure as such less money is spent on the drives themselves.

Therefore, the thinking goes, to get a quality speaker with well constructed cabinet and good quality drivers you need to buy a standmounter if you are considering less than £2000.

I think it has some credance as I have yet to find a floorstander of same pricing that will match my current standmounters, and that includes the extra cost of the stands themselves.

Speakers, of course, are very personal things, and listening to them in the room in which they are going to be used, and not just some demo room, is vital, and if you simply must have floorstanders then audition as many as you can in your own home. If your dealer does not allow this find another one that will.

I think it's pretty well borne out that the old logic of floorstanders below £500 or £1000 not being worth the cash no longer applies. Not for some time either; the Mission 752 and 753, along with the KEF Q35.2s - to name but two ranges - took care of that years ago.

Now, the benefits of technology trickling down to more wallet friendly budgets sees this continuing. The Monitor Audio RS6 and RS8 are well built speakers with good internal components delivered to the market with excellent sound quality as standard.

And Q Acoustics, long may they continue, proved that you can produce excellent floorstanders at less than £500. No, they're not going to have the performance of a £2000 speaker, but is the B&W 685 anywhere near a MA-PL100?

 

[gpi]

dim_span:
Here you go....

these will blow your mind and smash your windows (have heard a pair of these and they are awesome! .... and HUGE!) .... these are on my 'wish list'

Celestion Ditton 66 speakers .... ebay item 180424007192 .... standing on £205 with 4 hours to go but expect to pay approx £600+ .... and note: seller says it takes 2 adults to lift 1 of these!

Christ those are fugly!

 

[Anonymous]

LOL! .... my wife thinks so aswell ... but with the grilles on, they don't look too bad (after a few weeks) .... it's the sound that matters! ....

if you are on the market for a good pair of speakers for under a grand, you cannot go wrong with these ...

however if sound quality does not matter, and you want something pretty, then these are not for you

 

[MUSICRAFT]

robreid:

Hi, I currently have some Ruark Solus standmount speakers that are getting a little old now, I have been considering replacing them with a compact floorstander that hopefully would sound a bit more dynamic in the £500 - £1000 price bracket. The Kef IQ50's would have been ones I would have gone and auditioned if they had recieved a better review as I have liked the older Q models, I have been looking for a while and doesn't seem to be a lot else in that price range, the Neat Motive 2's are another option and I am considering going to have a listen to a pair but wondered if there is anything else that may be worth considering or something new worth waiting for?

The system is a Arcam Solo Movie 2.1 and a Arcam FMJ power amp and a EPOS sub.

Cheers, Rob

Hi Rob

Please consider Monitor Audio's new Silver RX6 speakers and if you can acomodate them than also the Silver RX8's. Both are superb and excellent VFM.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

c'mon Rick .... don't tell me you are trying to compare Monitor Audio's new Silver RX6 speakers or the Silver RX8's to the classic Ditton 66 speakers? (which can be had for perhaps £600 or much less) ....

not even close IMHO

 

[plastic penguin]

MUSICRAFT:robreid:

Hi, I currently have some Ruark Solus standmount speakers that are getting a little old now, I have been considering replacing them with a compact floorstander that hopefully would sound a bit more dynamic in the £500 - £1000 price bracket. The Kef IQ50's would have been ones I would have gone and auditioned if they had recieved a better review as I have liked the older Q models, I have been looking for a while and doesn't seem to be a lot else in that price range, the Neat Motive 2's are another option and I am considering going to have a listen to a pair but wondered if there is anything else that may be worth considering or something new worth waiting for?

The system is a Arcam Solo Movie 2.1 and a Arcam FMJ power amp and a EPOS sub.

Cheers, Rob

Hi Rob

Please consider Monitor Audio's new Silver RX6 speakers and if you can acomodate them than also the Silver RX8's. Both are superb and excellent VFM.

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

Careful, Rick, when I mentioned these, someone had a dig at me!

 

[gpi]

dim_span:
LOL! .... my wife thinks so aswell ... but with the grilles on, they don't look too bad (after a few weeks) .... it's the sound that matters! ....

if you are on the market for a good pair of speakers for under a grand, you cannot go wrong with these ...

however if sound quality does not matter, and you want something pretty, then these are not for you

By that remark you are suggesting that attractive speakers have poor sound quality. Nonsense. 😱)

 

[Anonymous]

gpi:dim_span:

LOL! .... my wife thinks so aswell ... but with the grilles on, they don't look too bad (after a few weeks) .... it's the sound that matters! ....

if you are on the market for a good pair of speakers for under a grand, you cannot go wrong with these ...

however if sound quality does not matter, and you want something pretty, then these are not for you

By that remark you are suggesting that attractive speakers have poor sound quality. Nonsense. 😱)

ok .... this is how it works ... someone asks a question asking for some recommendations for speakers .... he states a budget .... I have a 'peep' on ebay and see what I can find that falls within that budget, and what I consider to be excellent value ... I then post my reply

It's only a forum so the person will get a lot of different suggestions ... It's up to the person to investigate further and then decide for himself

so, I stand by my suggestion .... show me a better sounding pair of speakers (pretty or ugly, floorstanding or standmounts) that will better my recommendation of the Ditton 66's and that will cost less than £800 (these may sell for less than £600)

 

[Anonymous]

so Gpi .... seems like you are a bit 'stumped' now?

 

[gpi]

dim_span:so Gpi .... seems like you are a bit 'stumped' now?

Nope. I have to check back occasionally to see if there are any more posts to a thread as unlike other forums, this one doesn't have email notifications of new posts. As I have a life away from this forum, I sometimes do not see a new post straight away.

Your reply to my comment has not addressed it but simply stated something obvious I didn't comment on. You suggested that if the OP wants something pretty he will have to forego sound quality, which I said was nonsense. I stand by that comment. I didn't comment on your speaker recommendation per se but what you implied from it.

 

[Anonymous]

You suggested that if the OP wants something pretty he will have to forego sound quality

gpi .... is that what I said?

 

[Anonymous]

well, I was spot on ... the ditton 66's sold for £605.74 ... these cost $1800 USD in 1978 ... if you use an inflation calculator the amount would be approx $6000 USD in todays money

dont think there are many new speakers today that cost up to £2500-£3000 that will be much better than these

cracking speakers and definately on my wish list .... hope someone from this forum snapped them up

 

[gpi]

dim_span:
well, I was spot on ... the ditton 66's sold for £605.74 ... these cost $1800 USD in 1978 ... if you use an inflation calculator the amount would be approx $6000 USD in todays money

dont think there are many new speakers today that cost up to £2500-£3000 that will be much better than these

cracking speakers and definately on my wish list .... hope someone from this forum snapped them up

So now hi-fi quality is determined soley by its price tag? I'm glad you're not choosing my gear. 😱) I know how something sounds is important but maybe most would care about how speakers look too and those Dittons are hideous, IMHO.

 

[pete321]

MUSICRAFT:Please consider Monitor Audio's new Silver RX6 speakers and if you can acomodate them than also the Silver RX8's. Both are superb and excellent VFM

Not as good as the Proac D15's on eBay for £850 at the moment though (even with the chip in the top).

 

[pete321]

dim_span:

well, I was spot on ... the ditton 66's sold for £605.74 ... these cost $1800 USD in 1978 ... if you use an inflation calculator the amount would be approx $6000 USD in todays money

dont think there are many new speakers today that cost up to £2500-£3000 that will be much better than these

Time, materials and technology marches on. Whilst I would say that loudspeaker technology is not as liable to change as much as a CD player or amp, your inflation calculation doesn't take into account technological leaps in speakers since 1978.

 

[Anonymous]

pete321:dim_span:

well, I was spot on ... the ditton 66's sold for £605.74 ... these cost $1800 USD in 1978 ... if you use an inflation calculator the amount would be approx $6000 USD in todays money

dont think there are many new speakers today that cost up to £2500-£3000 that will be much better than these

Time, materials and technology marches on. Whilst I would say that loudspeaker technology is not as liable to change as much as a CD player or amp, your inflation calculation doesn't take into account technological leaps in speakers since 1978.

firstly, Gpi states that the ditton 66 speakers look hideous .... Heck! .... most conventional speakers look exactly the same to me when they have their grilles on ... visually, all they are is a wooden cabinet with a cloth grille ... these are just a bit larger, as the drivers are 12 inch (see attached pic of 66's with the grilles on)

secondly, as far as price versus quality, I merely pointed out a fact that these ditton 66's cost $1800 in 1978 and that was a heck of a lot of money .... If you read all my posts, you will always see that I always recommend cheaper products that I feel offer a good value for money ... like I said, take my advice or leave it .... I still challenge anyone to show me a brand new pair of speakers that cost £600 that will be better than these?

and, I still maintain that there will be very few (or no) brand new speaker that costs between £2500-£3000 that will be far superior to these 66's .... I have heard a pair of these and was blown away

then the issue about loudspeaker technology ... yes, that has improved over the last 30 years or so, yet the sound produced from the speakers have not improved vastly compared to good 30 year old speakers? ... I heard a pair of Mezzo 8's on thursday, and can say that I was not impressed (for the £900 price tag)

so, in a nutshell .... the person who originally asked for advice, asked for a good pair of speakers up to the value of £1000 ... I gave my advice which cost just a little over half of his budget ... and have not seen any better suggestions so far

 

[MUSICRAFT]

dim_span:

c'mon Rick .... don't tell me you are trying to compare Monitor Audio's new Silver RX6 speakers or the Silver RX8's to the classic Ditton 66 speakers? (which can be had for perhaps £600 or much less) ....

not even close IMHO

Hi dim_sapn

Fair enough, however i was recommending to robreid speakers (such as the Silver RX6's and RX8's) that are in production today and not comparing them to out of production models in respect to their original RRP, today's value, styling, technology or performance.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[MUSICRAFT]

pete321:

MUSICRAFT:Please consider Monitor Audio's new Silver RX6 speakers and if you can acomodate them than also the Silver RX8's. Both are superb and excellent VFM

Not as good as the Proac D15's on eBay for £850 at the moment though (even with the chip in the top).

Hi pete321

Fair enough, however i was recommending to robreid speakers (such as the Silver RX6's and RX8's) that are in production today with a RRP of up to £1k.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

MUSICRAFT:dim_span:

c'mon Rick .... don't tell me you are trying to compare Monitor Audio's new Silver RX6 speakers or the Silver RX8's to the classic Ditton 66 speakers? (which can be had for perhaps £600 or much less) ....

not even close IMHO

Hi dim_sapn

I was recommending to robreid speakers (such as the Silver RX6's and RX8's) that are in production today and not comparing them to out of production models in respect to their original RRP, today's value, styling, technology or performance.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Hi Rick ... no probs ... but here are another pair of 66's (these will sell for cheaper than the last) ebay item 220501498757

 

[Anonymous]

pete321:

MUSICRAFT:Please consider Monitor Audio's new Silver RX6 speakers and if you can acomodate them than also the Silver RX8's. Both are superb and excellent VFM

Not as good as the Proac D15's on eBay for £850 at the moment though (even with the chip in the top).

pete... have not heard the pro-ac D15's, so I cannot comment on the comparison to the ditton 66

however, the ditton 66 are very special IMHO and will take a very special speaker at that price to better ... have you heard the 66's?

 

[plastic penguin]

pete321:

MUSICRAFT:Please consider Monitor Audio's new Silver RX6 speakers and if you can acomodate them than also the Silver RX8's. Both are superb and excellent VFM

Not as good as the Proac D15's on eBay for £850 at the moment though (even with the chip in the top).

How much did the Proacs retail for?

Tannoy's are going for a song at the moment. There was some R2's on ebay, so I'm not sure if the auction is still going.

Regarding Dittons, although I've not heard them, and given their size, I would suggest modern day speaker have better detail retrieval and refinement.

 

[pete321]

plastic penguin:How much did the Proacs retail for?

Last few (replaced by D18's) retail for £1800

 

[Anonymous]

plastic penguin:pete321:

MUSICRAFT:Please consider Monitor Audio's new Silver RX6 speakers and if you can acomodate them than also the Silver RX8's. Both are superb and excellent VFM

Not as good as the Proac D15's on eBay for £850 at the moment though (even with the chip in the top).

How much did the Proacs retail for?

Tannoy's are going for a song at the moment. There was some R2's on ebay, so I'm not sure if the auction is still going.

Regarding Dittons, although I've not heard them, and given their size, I would suggest modern day speaker have better detail retrieval and refinement.

well, I suggest that if you have the opportunity, have a listen you will be amazed

 

[pete321]

MUSICRAFT:Fair enough, however i was recommending to robreid speakers (such as the Silver RX6's and RX8's) that are in production today with a RRP of up to £1k.

I'd definately go along with you if they have to be new, RX6's or 8's, but the last few D15's (replaced by D18's) currently retail for £1800, so at £850 secondhand I would hope you'd agree they're in a different league from RX6's or RX8's.