speaker recomendation please

[falcoron]

My mate has the following set up.
musical fidelity A6 integrated ( brand new)
Densen cd player ( new model)
he is looking for a pair of stand mounts that fit easily into a room, his room is about 11' x 11' with very high ceilings. Its an old 3 story victorian house, this is on the ground flloor with nice solid floor.
His preference is classical but has a wide taste.
he has around £2k to spend and has wanted to try Harbeths compact 7 anyone know if these will work ok with this equipment ( must say the warmth of the MF amp and the detail of the densen works well)
he would like to place the speakers close to the wall so something that needs to be into the room wont do.
Any recommendations, would like a airy sound with great mids and tight bass, not bloomy or boomy if you know what i mean. new or ex dem or used wont matter as long as they work.
he has on loan a pair of tiny Mark ands daniel audio labs maximus ruby ( £1700) and although very impressine for their tiny size they are restricted by a small sound stage and law of physics on the bass drivers, they are tiny drivers the size of most tweeters! bass sounds more like a bass hump than a bass note, but really nice apart from that.
cheers

[Yomanze]

I would shortlist a pair of Amphion Argon3s, which despite being standmounts sound as big as floorstanders. Very, VERY clean from top to bottom... room filling sound, massive soundstage, 'walk-through' sweet spot with remarkable bass. They are extremely influenced by upstream components as they're highly transparent. If you have clinical upstream components these speakers aren't going to warm them up, but a 'warm' amp would be welcome.

EDIT: appreciate these are hard to demo, but I have a pair that can be loaned.

[falcoron]

Thanks neil.
unfortunatly im in Northern ireland, would have loved to have heard them.
I used to have the Xenon floorstanders and loved them a lot

[hifi_dave]

My first choice would be the Harbeth C7ES. Does everything you want.

[falcoron]

yes im a harbeth fan and have told him to try a pair if he can get some to try but its difficult to get something here.
are the compact 7's quite large though? its quite a small room and he cant come into the room much so only a foot from the rear wall is a must.

sent you a PM Dave

[Alex_UK]

The Compact 7 (http://www.harbeth.co.uk/uk/preview.php?section=products&page=compact7es3&model=Compact%207ES-3)'s are quite big at 520 x 273 x 315mm - optimised for use away from walls - but they are front ported, so I would have thought a foot might be ok, as long as they are not also in corners. How big is the room? He might be better with the P3ESR (http://www.harbeth.co.uk/uk/preview.php?section=products&page=p3esr&model=P3ESR)'s which are recommended to be used a foot away from the rear wall.

[falcoron]

hi alex the roomis 11' x 11' approx but has high ceilings, solid victorian building. solid floors, not into the corner but needsd to be close to rear wall.
thanks

[Reffc]

As an alternative to the Harbeths already mentioned, I'd go used and if classical is his main music, I'd recommend something like the Sonus Faber Extrema. Great for classical and with surprising wallop for their size. look great too. I've heard these being driven by a MF A1000 two box amp and it was a magical combination.

Others that spring top mind within budget include the Dali Epicon stand mounters (very good!), Usher X-17 standmounts, Focal Chorus, Proac response D2's and the Sonus Faber Luito's although the latter lack a little bass depth, their voicing and imaging are sublime. The Ushers are fabulous sounding speakers and offer surprising dynamics for their size too. I've heard all of the above and they would all be on any short-list for decent stand mounters for classical music if that was the route I wanted to go down.

[falcoron]

Thanks Paul,
i have heard ushers and they are really good, was the floorstanders i heard, can't remember the model but around £1500 a few years back.

MMMMM! more thinking needed and more dealers here, hard to get a good selection to review.

[Mr. C]

I would certainly try and listen to the Dali Epicons 2's a very capable sounding speaker, great looks and deliver a sound beyond their size. They are outside your price point at £3800 though.

You would need to come over to the UK to seek an audition with a authorized outlet as the dealer who loaned the speakers is not a Dali agent.

A used pair of Focal Micro's around £1800 mark paired well do make an exceptional buy.

Sonus Fabers, nice mid band with texture just watch speaker placement and not so tight bottom end.


Another good unit to look at Focal 1008be, your dealer should be able to russel up a used pair of these for the money you friend wishes to spend.

Left field suggestion here Cabasse Bora's, a genuine way stand-mount, a nice overall warm balance detailed, point source and an 8 inch bass driver front ported easy drive 92db dipping to 3.3 Ohms max around the 80Hz mark.