bookshelf speaker recommendations?

[oldson]

Hi all,
i am looking to upgrade my current speakers (dali zensor 1) which although are fine budget speakers, just feel they lack something.

originally i thought about buying new and have (home) trialed dynaudio m10, m20 and monitor audio silver 50.
liked all the above, especially the m10.
my set-up is basically a desktop system, so using as near field monitors really.
they are mounted on wall brackets either side of my pc monitor.
due to this they are very close to the back wall, which did create a slight boom with the m20 (rectified with bungs).
As nearly all my gear is 2nd hand, i cant help but think i would get better value buying used.
of course this is a bit of a gamble unless its one of the 3 options i have already trialed.
what i'm after is any other suggestions that may be worth a try on the used market?
i am currently bidding on a pair of monitor audio silver rx1's which i think may well fit the bill.
ideally something similar in size to the m10 and my budget is £300ish. any more than that and i think i'd be better off buying new m10's.
thanks for looking

[Sherwood]

Give serious consideration to the Martin Logan Motion 2 or 4. I have a pair of the Motion 2 in my bedroom system. These are seriously good speakers. The Motion 4 have more bass weight and depth, but potentially a bit too much for your proposed set up. I have seen some going for reasonable prices on ebay from the USA and elsewhere.

For example: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Martin-Logan-Motion-2-pair/232773498869?hash=item363261b7f5:g:L4AAAOSwelta~ux r

Geoff

[HackneyRF]

Morning Simon

Perhaps these might be of interest?

Regards

Loz

https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?59017-FS-Adam-Audio-Artist-5-active-speakers

[Yomanze]

Pair of Royd speakers. Merlin, or Sorcerer... Edens work well near a wall. Sapphire MK1 or Sintra MK1 too. They all do really...

[steve-z]

Hello Simon,
I’ve recently bought a pair of Q Acoustics Concept 20s which I’ve been delighted with, Imo they are probably the best sounding and best finished speakers under £500, mine are gloss white, they’ve had loads of rave reviews and awards and having been out for a few years they are now quite heavily discounted, I paid £289 from Richer Sounds about 6 weeks ago. I use them stand mounted but QA do supply foam port bungs if you are going to use them near a rear wall. Don’t think you can go wrong with them.
What amp will you be using ? I’ve driven mine with an Amptastic Mini 1 when I had them in the bedroom and they worked well, but since I moved them into the living room and powered them with my Cambridge CXA60 it moved the SQ to a different level.
Here’s a link to the most in depth review I could find.
http://i.nextmedia.com.au/Assets/q_acoustics_concept_20_loudspeakers_review_test_lo res.pdf
Steve


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[oldson]

cheers for the replies guys.
i will look into the options mentioned though i will admit i had not even considered active speakers.
though i have considered the idea of adding a sub to my existing dali's.
it is the bottom end i feel they are lacking in tbh.

[oldson]

Steve,
those concept 20's are appealing due to their compact size, though looking at their specs i do wonder if they will provide the extra bottom end i'm after.
i suppose it would depend on room dynamics and positioning. i will see if i can get some on home trial.
do you use a sub with yours?
btw my amp is a marantz pm7003

on a tangent now.......
i like the look of the record storage under your (rega?) deck.
can i ask where you got it, as it would suit my needs too?
cheers

[Pieoftheday]

Steve,
those concept 20's are appealing due to their compact size, though looking at their specs i do wonder if they will provide the extra bottom end i'm after.
i suppose it would depend on room dynamics and positioning. i will see if i can get some on home trial.
do you use a sub with yours?
btw my amp is a marantz pm7003

on a tangent now.......
i like the look of the record storage under your (rega?) deck.
can i ask where you got it, as it would suit my needs too?
cheers

Usher s520

[Stereosane]

The MA RX1 have a bit of a midbass lift and definetly won’t work close to a wall, I had mine about 30cm from the back wall and the bass was to boomy..

Maybe think about getting a sealed speaker.

[Sherwood]

The MA RX1 have a bit of a midbass lift and definetly won’t work close to a wall, I had mine about 30cm from the back wall and the bass was to boomy..

Maybe think about getting a sealed speaker.

The Martin Logan Motion speakers I mentioned are designed to be used close to a wall. They even come with a simple wall mounting kit.

Geoff

[steve-z]

Steve,
those concept 20's are appealing due to their compact size, though looking at their specs i do wonder if they will provide the extra bottom end i'm after.
i suppose it would depend on room dynamics and positioning. i will see if i can get some on home trial.
do you use a sub with yours?
btw my amp is a marantz pm7003

on a tangent now.......
i like the look of the record storage under your (rega?) deck.
can i ask where you got it, as it would suit my needs too?
cheers

I think it's very dependent on room and positioning, if they're in front of a flat back wall and you position them at the QA recommended 8" from it then you should find the bass excellent, the thing is they are so non resonant with the Gelcore cabinets that they really show up how the cabinets of other speakers add to the sound in the bass, you may think they lack "fullness" but after you've listened to them for quite a while you realise how accurate, detailed and textured the bass is, it's a revelation. I bought mine for a second system but they proved to be so good they've displaced my QA3050 floor standers in the living room setup and they aren't too shabby either, even though mine don't have a flat back wall to aid the bass the bass still goes pretty deep (40hz ish). When I'm listening to digital I like to give them a little assist with the iTunes equaliser, about 3db boost in the 64hz band works nicely. Analogue doesn't need any help though.
As I use the setup for movies as well I thought I might need a sub but tbh I tried them with Blade Runner 2049 which has a lot of hefty deep bass and they sounded great, if you fancy a sub QA do a quite inexpensive one the 2070si for £169, DSP driven and 140watts of Class D power, twin drivers. too.
The record storage unit is a Kallax unit £25 from IKEA, mine’s the basic plain white which is the cheapest, but they do gloss white at £40 as well as wood effect (oak) for £30.
Yes it's a Rega Planar 3 (2016) upgraded with RPM engineering machined alloy subplatter and Edwards Audio Little Belter Blue drive belt, fitted with an ATF7 moving coil cartridge.
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[oldson]

hoping to bag a pair of M10's by the weekend!! :)

[plastic penguin]

Hi all,
i am looking to upgrade my current speakers (dali zensor 1) which although are fine budget speakers, just feel they lack something.

originally i thought about buying new and have (home) trialed dynaudio m10, m20 and monitor audio silver 50.
liked all the above, especially the m10.
my set-up is basically a desktop system, so using as near field monitors really.
they are mounted on wall brackets either side of my pc monitor.
due to this they are very close to the back wall, which did create a slight boom with the m20 (rectified with bungs).
As nearly all my gear is 2nd hand, i cant help but think i would get better value buying used.
of course this is a bit of a gamble unless its one of the 3 options i have already trialed.
what i'm after is any other suggestions that may be worth a try on the used market?
i am currently bidding on a pair of monitor audio silver rx1's which i think may well fit the bill.
ideally something similar in size to the m10 and my budget is £300ish. any more than that and i think i'd be better off buying new m10's.
thanks for looking

For near field listening I'd be looking at infinite baffle or front firing speakers such as Audio Note AX1s, and shouldn't exceed your budget. Perhaps active monitors will be a viable alternative.

[oldson]

hoping to bag a pair of M10's by the weekend!! :)

seller had to pull out, so still looking

[oldson]

For near field listening I'd be looking at infinite baffle or front firing speakers such as Audio Note AX1s, and shouldn't exceed your budget. Perhaps active monitors will be a viable alternative.

Hi Richard,
the AX1's look interesting but i am struggling to find an advertised price , for reasons that fail me

[Cycleallday]

Audio Note don't generally publish prices - you need to ask one of their dealers like The Audiobarn.

[337alant]

My son bought a pair of the Cambrige Aero 2 speakers and I was seriously impressed how good they sound £299

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWUu8Y-LmCg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk4JO2B8M2A

Alan

[oldson]

Audio Note don't generally publish prices - you need to ask one of their dealers like The Audiobarn.

thanks Mel

[oldson]

My son bought a pair of the Cambrige Aero 2 speakers and I was seriously impressed how good they sound £299

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWUu8Y-LmCg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk4JO2B8M2A

Alan

thanks for the suggestion Alan, i will look into those, though their size may be an issue.
i tried the Dynaudio m20 but it's size was a bit large too as i sit so close to them, though they were rear ported. maybe a front ported option would work .

major stumbling block is richer sounds dont allow free home trials, from what i have read elsewhere.

[Ninanina]

Simon there are some lovely Rogers JR149's in the Private Exhibitions section...

https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?59392-Rogers-JR149-Mk1-Speakers

They use the same drivers as the famous, and expensive LS3/5a's, and in my opinion are probably the best near field monitors ever made... :sofa:

[oldson]

Simon there are some lovely Rogers JR149's in the Private Exhibitions section...

https://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?59392-Rogers-JR149-Mk1-Speakers

They use the same drivers as the famous, and expensive LS3/5a's, and in my opinion are probably the best near field monitors ever made... :sofa:

thanks for the heads-up Bev, but i doubt they would offer the increased low end that i am after. plus they would not suit my wall brackets.

i am going to trial a small sub to compliment my dali's (rel t-zero), will see how that goes.
cheers

[steve-z]

A friend of mine had some JR149s back in the 1970s, from memory they sounded pretty good although he had to upgrade to a more powerful amp to drive them comfortably as they are quite inefficient, about 80db/w I believe, bass was pretty decent using the dedicated wall mounts.


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[Macca]

.

major stumbling block is richer sounds dont allow free home trials, from what i have read elsewhere.

I'd ask them. They let me take their top of the range cd player home on sale or return.

[karma67]

i recently heard a pair of Dynaudio Emit M20's, they are great speakers and well worth an audition.

[oldson]

Audio Note don't generally publish prices - you need to ask one of their dealers like The Audiobarn.

Mel,
when you sold me the RP3 (which i'm loving btw) i could not help but notice that even though you have some high end stand mount speakers , you still use a sub!
its made me think that i may need to follow suit , but within my budget of course.
do you (or anyone else for that matter) feel that stand mount speakers always need a sub?
or was it because your speakers are not close to a back wall?
cheers

[oldson]

finally bagged a 2nd hand pair of M10's off ebay, may still add a sub later. :)

[Cycleallday]

Mel,
when you sold me the RP3 (which i'm loving btw) i could not help but notice that even though you have some high end stand mount speakers , you still use a sub!
its made me think that i may need to follow suit , but within my budget of course.
do you (or anyone else for that matter) feel that stand mount speakers always need a sub?
or was it because your speakers are not close to a back wall?
cheers

Sorry for the late reply, i didn't spot your post,

The sub is from MJ Acoustics and is designed to partner with hifi rather than TV surround sound like a lot of the cheaper subs.

I bought it on impulse and tend to switch it in and out as i feel which tends to infer i am not convinced about its benefit. When in use its set to kick in around 60 Hz so only adds a little to the bottom end (my speakers go down to 50Hz on paper).

They are not a fix for a poor speaker and many are set too high so give a mono sound to all bass notes (think boomy). When just adding a little they can work quite well.

Mine is not for sale but you are welcome to give it a try to see if a sub will give what you what you are looking for. PM me if you wish to try it.

Glad to see you got the speakers you were chasing

Mel

[oldson]

thanks for the reply Mel.
just set the M10's up , such a massive upgrade on my poor old Dali's (which were good for the price).
not sure i'll be needing a sub now but i appreciate the trial offer.
my wallet needs to recover until the new year now at least ;)
cheers