Newbie - Looking for speaker advice

[dvse]

Hi all,

Al here, I'm a newbie and this is my first post.

I'll jump straight in at the deep end.. I've been thinking of changing my speakers and I could do with some advice. I have a large room to fill (20ftX20ft) and I'm after speakers to give me a bright, defined and large sound when coupled with the following:

(Old!) Logic Tempo TT / Datum tonearm - in perfect working order and setup with an Ortofon black mm.
Puresound P10 phonostage.
Astin Trew AT3500 CD player.
Electrocompaniet 4.8 pre.
Electrocompaniet 2X120 power.
Castle Howard S2.

The castles are great and fill the room, but they are a little laid back for me and I want to modernise the setup a little and get a brighter sound (as my setup will allow). I generally play original 60's garage / soul / rock / avant vinyl and I generally have pretty good pressings. I move from that through to electronic artists on vinyl such as Trentemoller - which are generally newer pressings in good nick. Probably like most people here, I have a broad music palette and I'm after speakers that give me the details from the recording I'm playing.

I currently have a budget of about £800, but I could increase this to ~£1K in a few months or so.

By all means jump in and throw speaker advice at me - I'm a bit stuck at the moment!

I'm totally new to this type of forum but I'm glad to be onboard. No doubt this post for advice should be posted somewhere else right? :)

Cheers,

Al

[struth]

Hi and welcome Al. Maybe copy and paste your request into a new thread in main forum. More will see it

[Macca]

Hi Al, welcome to the forum.

Paste your speaker question into a new thread in the 'Blank Canvas' section http://theartofsound.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?16-Blank-Canvasand you will get some advice. As Grant says, more people likely to see it there.

[Lawrence001]

You've got some nice gear there you should certainly have no problems driving whatever speakers you choose. Can I.just ask about the castles, have you got them close to the wall, moving them out changes the balance towards the treble? You can also try a bit of stuffing around the plinth to reduce the bass a bit and change the balance. Although given the size of the room you might find it a little bass light. Give it a few days to get used to the sound though.

Failing that, some American speakers might do the job as they are designed for larger rooms, Thiel is a good place to start. Kef Reference models 3.2 and 4.2 would also suit.

[Lawrence001]

Duplicated in error

[dvse]

Hi all, thanks for the welcome messages and advice.

@Lawrence001 - they are about a foot of the back wall and I'll try your advice about moving and muffling. I've kind of convinced myself to try something else now, which i think is part of the pleasure of building a system! Cheers for the advice.

Al

[Haselsh1]

A long time ago I used to use Castle Harlech loudspeakers and kept them for many years as they were so good but the loudspeakers I am currently using are miles ahead of them in almost every respect. OK so they are above your budget but maybe have a look out for a secondhand pair in a dealer so that you can have a listen. My current setup includes B&W CM8 S2's. The treble is fantastic but the midrange is the most neutral I have ever heard. I cannot recommend buying without listening. These items are so demanding on your ears.

[walpurgis]

Hi Al. Welcome to AOS.

I'm sure you'll enjoy being here. It's a friendly place with many knowledgeable folk.

Take a look around the site and get used to where everything is and join in with any threads that appeal.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.