worth waiting three months for SA1 speakers

[scubasteve]

All, I live in singapore I am changing to standmount speakers (baby thing). I have just sold my B&W P5's and do am without anything right now. Am thinking either B&W 805s, ATC SCM11, Proac tablette 8 signature, Spendor se3/5R. Question is should i wait for three months until the spendor SA1'a find their way to singapore. room layout is below with speakers toward the 3(listening position). I have a big room but will be listening to the side. Any advice please. The B&W speakers are double the price of eveything else give import duties. is it worth the extra costs? xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x x x xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx x x x x x x x x xxxxxxxx x x S S x x x x 3m x xxxxxxxxxx

 

[drummerman]

What equipment do you have and what hifi traits are important to you when listening? What makes you think standmounts are 'safer' than floorstanders with a little one running round bearing in mind that all the examples you've listed need to be on good stands?

 

[scubasteve]

I am running on cyrus cd 8x with pxsr supply and a prexvs preamp. I mainly listen to vocals (jazz, and a bit of pop). what i really want is just the purest sound i can get. not too worried for thumping bass.

I plan to mount the speakers on something like the atacama SE6 filled with atabites so pretty heavy to knock around.

If the B&W, i would use the stands that go with them.

I guess i am not sure if it is worth the money to go B&W 805s or save 50% and go with tablettes or ATC 11. final choice is to wait for the SA1's in at last three months

 

[drummerman]

Understand. I dont like ATC's too much, reason being they dont sound good at lower volumes and to my ears slightly mechanical thereafter but if you mean accurate by 'pure' you might like them. They're certainly no lookers but I admit that comes second to sound. The B&W's are nice to look at and lovely speakers. It's a while since I've heard them but from memory they are sounding 'right' in a way that does'nt distract from the music. They dont 'shout' probably a result of the slightly recessed mids which I personally like. A slight 'loudness' curve also helps when listening at lower volumes. Perhaps someone owns a pair on the forum and can elaborate further. I currently have the Spendors SA1 (and PMC DB1i) at home. The Spendors are great speakers with mids and treble to die for. They remind me of a pair of Harbeth HLP 3ES (I think, its a long time ago) which I nearly bought at the time and was way more musical than Rogers LS3/5A. I say 'nearly' bought it because although it was an incredible small speaker it had the usual shortcomings that are just normal with the physics of such tiny drivers. The Spendors take this a step further and dont have such pronounced dynamic limitations but they are still small speakers meant for small to medium sized rooms. They are sealed (IB) designs but I found I had to pull them well clear of the rear wall to avoid boom (excessive midbass as there is virtually no real low bass). I could easily live with them but find them a little bit to expensive. But they look/sound stunning and there are other bookshelf speakers that cost more and dont sound as good.

Igglebert owns a pair and he can probably give you a better run-down on them. I also have to say that I've only heard them for a few hours and I dont have the matching stands which would undoubtedly help though making the whole package even more expensive.

 

[gpi]

Personally I wouldn't wait three months for the Spendors and don't fancy the ATCs either, unless you want a pair of cold and uninvolving but accurate studio monitors (imo). They may be very good but at their high price there are too many mouth-watering alternatives. Here's a PMC dealer in Singapore. How about auditioning the excellent PMC TB2+ transmission line standmount with a few others?

AFA Electronics PTE Ltd
1 Coleman Street #02-05 The Adelphi Singapore 179803

Ph: 65 63342363
Fax: 64595932
leonardgoh@hotmail.com

 

[John Duncan]

[quote user="drummerman"]mids and treble to die for[/quote]

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Good man. When do they arrive?

 

[John Duncan]

Sorry FBSF, not yet - I've posted elsewhere that I've booked in a demo on Saturday, but this may be scuppered by my car breaking down (being assessed as we speak). Although aparrently Spendor say they're not compatible with my amp........

 

[scubasteve]

thanks a lot gents. guess i will give a couple of them a go. the biggest issue in singapore is that you cannot do home demos and only one place sells cyrus kit (and B&W) so i cannot test any of the other speakers with my own kit.

my gut feel tells me to spend the extra cash and bet the 805s, i have always liked B&W.

 

[fatboyslimfast]

[quote user="JohnDuncan"]Although aparrently Spendor say they're not compatible with my amp....[/quote]

Ooh, that's a pain, in both issues. Pesky infernal combustion engines... Pesky low-sensitivity speakers...

 

[John Duncan]

I can always just upgrade to the i30..........

 

[gpi]

OT but I somehow left the car lights on all day yesterday and my neighbour called round to tell me she thought they were on (hard to tell in the bright daylight). Thing is I usually hear an alarm when I open the door but didn't hear anything after an early morning trip. I found the switch halfway between on and off so I must have knocked it. I had to use my home call cover to give it a start as the battery was completely flat.

scubasteve, the B&W 805S is a cracking choice and you shouldn't be disappointed. Will you buy them with their custom stands and do they firmly attach to them? I'm thinking of the time when your baby starts pulling him/herself up using the furniture. Any standmounts will have to very secure and I've rescued mine a few times when my Grandson has visited.

 

[scubasteve]

thanks for the opions guys. here a couple of photos of the living area. the speakers will go where the monkey and baby seat are facing toward the sofa. obviously i have a large room just behind the speakers so am not sure if the smaller tablette 8 signature nor the PMC DB1i will do the trick. what do you reckon?