Wanted: a pair of decent bookshelf speakers

[Shovel_Knight]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for a pair of decent speakers. Unfortunately, I have a set of requirements imposed on me by the powers that be: namely, the speakers must be small and “presentable.”

Over the years I have developed a preference for closed box / acoustic suspension speakers, but it seems there’s nothing of the kind on the market today, except for some yucky Magnats with nasty small plastic tweeters. That’s why I’m looking for something vintage along the lines of B&W DM12 / Kef Chorale (although these could be deemed too big, but I’m willing to risk it) / Royd Eden perhaps? Maybe some small Celestion Dittons or something from the SL series? :scratch:

I know that speakers don’t travel well, but I’m located in Dublin and the local market is so small it’s practically nonexistent. That’s why I’m willing to buy from Britain and pay for all shipping expenses, obviously.

Thanks for looking!

[Infinitely Baffled]

I have a very successful set-up in my kitchen with a pair of Mordaunt Short Festival 2 loudspeakers - the ones from the 70s with the brown grilles and the distinctly odd looking metal trim strip along the bottom of the baffle. Truly lovely little speakers that continue to surprise me every time I listen. Available for peanuts too - why? ... because Mordaunt Short has never been a fashionable brand. Anyway, they are so good, I'm afraid I am not going to offer you mine, but they are well worth looking out for in your search. Good luck!
IB

[Shovel_Knight]

Thanks for the suggestion! I also know folks who are happily running MS Pageants. Will keep them in mind :-)

[walpurgis]

You could keep an eye out for Acoustic Research AR7 (as long as the foam surrounds are good) or Celestion County or even smaller Celestion Ditton 10 speakers. All are vintage models that have sealed cabinets and sound pleasant enough.

There is also of course the B&W D5's being sold here: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?55995-B-amp-W-D5 Lovely sounding things and pretty small.

[Shovel_Knight]

You could keep an eye out for Acoustic Research AR7 (as long as the foam surrounds are good) or Celestion County or even smaller Celestion Ditton 10 speakers. All are vintage models that have sealed cabinets and sound pleasant enough.

There is also of course the B&W D5's being sold here: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?55995-B-amp-W-D5 Lovely sounding things and pretty small.

Thanks! Will keep my eyes open for the ARs as well. I’ve seen the D5s but they are advertised as collection only...

[hifinutt]

do they have to be s/h ?

silk hifi have some lovely scm7 in cherry which would be nice

http://www.silkhifi.ie/atc-loudspeakers/entry-series/scm7

some nice wharfdales at hifihut dublin

https://www.hifihut.ie/speakers/bookshelf-speakers.html

and you can`t beat these at cloney audio who have some awesome speakers

https://www.cloneyaudio.com/pre-owned-and-ex-demo-1/sonus-faber-cremona-auditor

[Sherwood]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for a pair of decent speakers. Unfortunately, I have a set of requirements imposed on me by the powers that be: namely, the speakers must be small and “presentable.”

Over the years I have developed a preference for closed box / acoustic suspension speakers, but it seems there’s nothing of the kind on the market today, except for some yucky Magnats with nasty small plastic tweeters. That’s why I’m looking for something vintage along the lines of B&W DM12 / Kef Chorale (although these could be deemed too big, but I’m willing to risk it) / Royd Eden perhaps? Maybe some small Celestion Dittons or something from the SL series? :scratch:

I know that speakers don’t travel well, but I’m located in Dublin and the local market is so small it’s practically nonexistent. That’s why I’m willing to buy from Britain and pay for all shipping expenses, obviously.

Thanks for looking!

Pavel,

what part of Dublin? My family are from Terenure.

You don't say what your budget is, but I see that Richer Sounds are doing a very good deal on the Elac Debut B5 at £169. I know they have a branch in Belfast. If your budget stretches further, then they also stock the B6 model. These are Andrew Jones designs and perform well above their price range. I heard the latter as part of a system driven by the PS Audio Sprout integrated last year and I could not believe the performance for $800.

Geoff

[donmarrese]

Pavel,

what part of Dublin? My family are from Terenure.

You don't say what your budget is, but I see that Richer Sounds are doing a very good deal on the Elac Debut B5 at £169. I know they have a branch in Belfast. If your budget stretches further, then they also stock the B6 model. These are Andrew Jones designs and perform well above their price range. I heard the latter as part of a system driven by the PS Audio Sprout integrated last year and I could not believe the performance for $800.

GeoffHi Pavel
I have a pair of QLN QuBiC 3 if you're interested, can send you pics...pm me for price...
Don

Sent from my ONE A2003 using Tapatalk

[Shovel_Knight]

Lots of great suggestions in this thread, thank you all very much.

Phil, the speakers don't have to be second-hand — in fact, I would love to buy something new for a change.

Geoff, right now I'm residing in Drumcondra. Thanks for the tips regarding the speakers!

Don, I will send you a PM soon ;-)

[hifinutt]

brilliant , well having sent stuff to ireland before i found it was prohibitive . certainly cloney audio seems well worth a visit

[Pieoftheday]

Pair of new usher s520's ont bay, brilliant speakers, can't part with mmine

[walpurgis]

Pair of new usher s520's ont bay, brilliant speakers, can't part with mmine

Yes. They're nice. Attractive finishes too. Ported though.

[Shovel_Knight]

Thanks for this suggestion, James. They do look very nice, and it seems many people like them. They’re not closed box, but at least they’re front-ported so probably not overly sensitive to placement...

[walpurgis]

I've had a pair. Very pleasant speakers and extremely well finished. The port does not cause boom.

[Shovel_Knight]

The port does not cause boom.

That's nice to hear! Boominess is probably my biggest pet peeve with ported speakers.

[walpurgis]

Personally, for the quality offered, I regard the S520 as underpriced. They are a real bargain.

[Shovel_Knight]

I already asked the seller for a postage quote, and if it’s not outrageous, those will most likely be my next speakers.

[steve-z]

If you want a bargain try the Q Acoustics 2020i's, Richer Sounds are doing them for just £79/pr, I had a pair for 3 months and was very impressed as they sounded better than some speakers I had which were over 10 times the price. I decided as they were so good I'd seek out others from QA, I now have had a pair of their 3050 floor standers for the last 3 weeks and they are excellent for the money too.
As to the comment about ported speakers causing boom, QA supply soft foam bungs to put in the ports if the position you have them in causes excess bass output, so they cover all the bases.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Pepperamip]

I've just put an ad up for a pair of b&w cm1s which you may have seen already tbh. compact and not fussy with placement either

[Geoff101]

I very much liked my old Celestion SL6S.

[Pieoftheday]

I've had the q acoustics 2020is good speakers, the ushers are in a different league though.the ones ont bay seem to be the original ones that are bi wireable, mine are the last versions made that arn't, I think that's the only difference?

[Volante]

something out of the AVI range from the 1990's- can't remember the name of the little AVI bookshelf speakers that I have fixed to the wall at high level - "NeuTRON" or something similar
very presentable and make a sound good

[Shovel_Knight]

Thanks everyone, I bought a pair of those Ushers off eBay. Hopefully they will arrive early next week!

[walpurgis]

Let us know what you think of them. Bet you like them.

[montesquieu]

I'm having great fun with Tannoy DC6'es got second hand for £200 or so. Dinky little things but they are proper dual concentric Tannoys and give decent bass performance down to 50hz according to the measurements (in a smallish room that feels right), and I think would dovetail nicely with a subwoofer if deeper is required. (Can be bought later as well).

I'm informed that the older ones are better than the later XT models (I haven't heard the new ones so can't comment).

Running lovely at the moment with 10w of Pass Aleph Mini clone and a modest tube preamp.

EDIT - just spotted you'd bought. Be interesting to see how you go.

[Pieoftheday]

Thanks everyone, I bought a pair of those Ushers off eBay. Hopefully they will arrive early next week!

nice one 250 was a good price, i think i paid nearer 400. i still cant find the pound sign on this laptop:scratch:

[Shovel_Knight]

I will definitely share my impressions about the speakers when they arrive :cool:

[Shovel_Knight]

The Ushers have arrived, and the first impression is very favourable. Fit and finish are superb, the speakers are surprisingly heavy for their size and their low end output is unexpectedly solid. Right now I’m spinning some early Kate Bush and I feel they are doing her fantastic voice justice.

[walpurgis]

Good aren't they? I knew you'd like them. :)

[Pieoftheday]

The Ushers have arrived, and the first impression is very favourable. Fit and finish are superb, the speakers are surprisingly heavy for their size and their low end output is unexpectedly solid. Right now I’m spinning some early Kate Bush and I feel they are doing her fantastic voice justice.

Brilliant!! I found having the tweeters on the outside worked better in my room and from new they seemed to go from great to not great to a bit crap and eventually great!!!

[jazzanddave]

Hi I have a pair of Monitor Audio Monitor 2 ( these are the older version ) speakers in good condition in real wood cherry .I am selling them for £75 . Size H27cm W17cm D21cm .Ideally suited to a smaller room and with good electronics they really sing

Cheers