Are there any reasonable SQ Active Speakers for £250'ish used ?

[Idlewithnodrive]

Hello chaps,

I am thinking of changing my system (yet) again.

So, does anybody know of / recommend / have any reasonable Active speakers in the about £250 used'ish price range ?

As usual, to be used in a very small room listening to Electronica, Rock, Indie primarily at low - moderate listening levels.

Thanks for your help :)

[Kember]

Hello chaps,

I am thinking of changing my system (yet) again.

So, does anybody know of / recommend / have any reasonable Active speakers in the about £250 used'ish price range ?

As usual, to be used in a very small room listening to Electronica, Rock, Indie primarily at low - moderate listening levels.

Thanks for your help :)

Mike,

It'll be hard work - there are so many dogs out there.

I tried out a few for a desk-based system a couple or so years ago and was never very happy with the results. I'm stating the obvious but you have to pay for up to four amps as well as the drive units so hard to get vfm at this level of cost. But FWIW:

In my view, avoid KRK and Mackies- too strident.

Tannoy Reveals (601a) are fantastic for the price, quite nicely balanced. The high frequencies are clear without the harshness typical of cheap speakers. The low-end is well enough controlled for the price. Probably better for your rock and indie than electronica but YMMV.

Alternatively, Yamaha HS 50Ms have nice stereo image and good clarity and separation.

For £250, I do wonder if you might at a pinch get a pair of dog-eared Meridian actives from the early 80s:stalks:?

P

[Idlewithnodrive]

Thanks for your input Peter ?

I've been offered a pair of Genelec 840A's for £250. Do you know the Genelecs at all ?

[Kember]

Thanks for your input Peter ?

I've been offered a pair of Genelec 840A's for £250. Do you know the Genelecs at all ?

Mike

Sorry, I've never heard them but they are well regarded for studio monitor use

Peter

[DSJR]

Genelec have a 'good but pricey' reputation as a brand, so should be ok I think. On the used market, the HHB (Harbeth made) Circle actives are very much respected although they don't go as loud as other small active designs (still more than enough for domestic use though and I think they can still be serviced too).

Many UK broadcasters are using the fairly good looking Dynaudio BM5A's, but they do have issues with the bass drivers at the top of their range that remove a touch of treble clarity. Common as muck now so should be serviceable for many years to come.

I thought the series 2 Mackies were thought to be better in terms of fidelity. Claims of cheaper 'pro' actives having too much bass and treble are as much to do with a vocal UK based small active-speaker maker balancing their designs a little mid-forward I reckon and trying to defend this by slagging off the competition!

[walpurgis]

Fostex do some compact active monitors which should be decent. They crop up on eBay now and then. There are also a few pairs of the Tannoy active compacts on there too as a rule, they usually sound good.

[nat8808]

Thanks for your input Peter ?

I've been offered a pair of Genelec 840A's for £250. Do you know the Genelecs at all ?

If you mean 8040a then that's a great price! Can sell for as much as £1000 used.. grab them and try them out, sell them, then you've £1000 to spend on speakers instead (and search for another bargain). OK, I've seen them sell as low as £450 too but probably a bad listing, tatty etc.

Daft really (their secondhand price) but it's one of those things where a product is produced for a fair while and still in production; the new price goes up and so the secondhand price follows because no-one cares if they are 10 years old or 2 years old as long as they work perfectly, sound good and look good.

Here's a review of them from a music technology magazine: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec04/articles/genelec8040.htm


They have an extremely clean and detailed sound with excellent stereo imaging, though they aren't particularly forgiving if you feed them even slightly harsh or distorted material — they let you know exactly what you're dealing with! Indeed, some commercial recordings sounded uncomfortably edgy played back via the 8040As, but I'd rather have a monitor that puts the spotlight on recording flaws rather than one that glosses over them.