Circa £3,000 floorstanders

[Filterlab]

Suggestions please gents.

I currently have the B&W 683s which are fine loudspeakers, but my front end / amplification could do with a little more on the transducer end.

So, with £3k-ish to spend on used floorstanders, what would you suggest? So far my search has yielded the B&W 702 S2, the PMC Twenty5 26 and the KEF 203/2, but I’m open to more ideas.

The room is 442sqft room so a fairly large space to fill, concrete carpeted floors, and I have a sub already.

[Sherwood]

I used to own a pair of the 3XRS floorstanders and currently own a custom pair of Alnico stand mounts.

These are exceptional speakers and crafted to the highest standards. The absence of a crossover and superb cabinet construction give them an electrostatic like speed of response but with greater dynamics and heft.

https://www.divineaudio.co.uk/product/omega-super-8xrs-floorstanding-loudspeakers/

[hifinutt]

terrible pics but these would be just fantastic , they are underpriced i think . dt8 and d20r fetch that money let alone the superb d38

https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/proac-response-d38-floorstanders-maple-finish.245042/

[AJSki2fly]

How about these

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274434427348

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wilson-Benesch-ACT-Mark-I-Mk-II-Tactic-Driver-Upgrade/224134107926?hash=item342f6f1316:g:pfcAAOSwY35fRiy 7 ( a bit over budget but a great speaker)

or if you can find a pair of WB Vectors, I love mine.

Alternatively if some is not and issue and you could save some cash, from around early to mid 90's

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Impulse-H2-legendary-horn-loaded-HiFi-speakers/193640130017?hash=item2d15d9e5e1:g:Cu0AAOSw83FfSQY l

they are a great horn speaker very easy to drive, lots about them on here

or I have a friend who has a very good pair for sale, they are an OK colour.

[Mand]

I’m sure I saw some Shahinian Obelisks mk1 somewhere for just over half your budget

[Filterlab]

Wow! Great suggestions.

I’d completely forgotten about ProAc. Those D38s are a bargain.

AJS; as it happens I was just looking at those very Wilson Beneach Square 3s on eBay. From the current selection I’d say they have to be top of the tree - I’ve never heard bad Wilson’s ever.

ACTs are out of my price range sadly. Very nice though.

I don’t want to go older than five or so years or much less than my budget, as I want the next speaker step to be a BIG one and keep my inevitable front-end upgrades in speakers for some years.

[hifinutt]

How about these

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274434427348

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wilson-Benesch-ACT-Mark-I-Mk-II-Tactic-Driver-Upgrade/224134107926?hash=item342f6f1316:g:pfcAAOSwY35fRiy 7 ( a bit over budget but a great speaker)

or if you can find a pair of WB Vectors, I love mine.

Alternatively if some is not and issue and you could save some cash, from around early to mid 90's

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Impulse-H2-legendary-horn-loaded-HiFi-speakers/193640130017?hash=item2d15d9e5e1:g:Cu0AAOSw83FfSQY l

they are a great horn speaker very easy to drive, lots about them on here

or I have a friend who has a very good pair for sale, they are an OK colour.

wow , that was a good find for the impulse .. they really are very good , especially if paul coupe does his magic

[hifinutt]

revel make lovely speakers and i think these are reduced as an outgoing model possibly ??

https://www.hifi-forsale.co.uk/moreinfo.php?prod_title=Revel_Performa3_F206_louds peakers&p=speaker&prod_id=83343&offset=

[Filterlab]

I had a pair of Revel Performa M22s some years back; made mincemeat of my Martin Logans.

[Gazjam]

Dynaudio Evoke 50’s or Sonus Faber Sonetto IIIs, or even V’s if you get lucky...
if it were my Dime.

[killie99]

Monitor audio PL300’s , stunningly good speakers, love mine.

[Ali Tait]

Another vote for the Impulse, great speakers.

[Filterlab]

Ok, I’ve now read a bit about the Impulse H2s and they’ve piqued my interest.

What is it about them that makes them so good?

[AJSki2fly]

Ok, I’ve now read a bit about the Impulse H2s and they’ve piqued my interest.

What is it about them that makes them so good?

They are a very natural and neutral speaker, if that makes sense, they also go gown to 20hz, I’ve measured them.

One issue is a slight cross over hump at around, 600hz. Easily fixed with a £1 resistor on each crossover. Some get new tweeters and completely redesigned crossovers, I would resist, you end up with a different sounding speaker that is not better imo. If it wasn’t for my wife I would have kept mine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Filterlab]

I’m guessing it would make sense to have them checked over and sorted by Paul Coupe at RFC, to ensure that all is well? From what I’ve already read he seems to be on the ball when it comes to these.

[fatmarley]

Klipsch heresy IV. But only because I've been watching all the Youtube reviews.

[Ali Tait]

Lot of info here Rob, including the resistor mod-

http://www.acoustica.org.uk/impulse/impulse.html

[Filterlab]

Thanks kindly. :)

[Audio Al]

Rob , Your comment about " No older than 5 years " The H2's don't fit in with this.

Unless as you say they go over to Paul RFC

If you are not keen on the colour of the pair on ebay I could let my pair go , Apparently they are the last pair made before they went out of business , Piano black gloss rear pannels ,Dark zebrano Black / brown side pannels along with the black cloth
My Pair would be £1200 , No less sorry , They also come with the grills in VGC , This would leave you with a very healthy budget for Paul at RFC :)

[Audio Al]

They are a very natural and neutral speaker, if that makes sense, they also go gown to 20hz, I’ve measured them.

One issue is a slight cross over hump at around, 600hz. Easily fixed with a £1 resistor on each crossover. Some get new tweeters and completely redesigned crossovers, I would resist, you end up with a different sounding speaker that is not better imo. If it wasn’t for my wife I would have kept mine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

:doh: Not the wife again :doh:

:D

[AJSki2fly]

I’m guessing it would make sense to have them checked over and sorted by Paul Coupe at RFC, to ensure that all is well? From what I’ve already read he seems to be on the ball when it comes to these.

I have PMd you

[killie99]

The resistor change for the tweeter on the Aucoustica website refers to the change you need to make if you replace the TC90k with a TC120TD5 due to it's increased sensitivity. In my opinion the TD5 is a far superior driver than the TC90K - no harshness at all but it does require a good bit of experimentation to get the correct value resistor.
I have heard of some people just removing the parallel tweeter resistor and swearing by it but it's not something I tried.

I owned H2's for about 13 years and then Ta'us - the Ta'us are better, no doubt. They're both good speakers but if you're buying a pair be diligent. The foam on the mids and the bass will rot over time so inspect them very closely before buying. A few years ago HiFi Collective got a batch of Seas MCA11's made so replacement drivers may still be available. Replacement bass drivers might be able to be found under a pile of hen's teeth. Replacement surrounds are available for the mids and bass.

If you are going to get Paul to do his magic just be aware that what you have after he's finished aren't H2's - other than the cabinet everything else get's changed (I'm sure he'll do whatever you want to the speakers so retaining the original drivers may be an option he offers).

The Ta'us, which replaced the H2's, has a slightly modified crossover for the tweeter which did improve their sound, gave the upper frequencies a bit more focus.
Here's Martin Clark's drawing of the crossover with my notes:

https://i.postimg.cc/7h1JcxMC/H2-Taus-crossover.jpg (https://postimg.cc/hQjGQRYg)

[JohnJo]

Monitor audio PL300’s , stunningly good speakers, love mine.

They look great I have to say, bet they sound it too.

[Gazjam]

Another +1 for the Impulse H2’s.
Astonishing sounding things, but huge boxes and subjectively (imo) quite old fashioned looking.

Currently working on my custom “Modern white version” set, repaint and refinish, refoaming the bass drivers, upgrading internal crossover wiring, fitting new white speaker cloth and fitting external outrigger feet.
Should look a lot more modern.

[hifinutt]

yes impulse speakers can sound outstanding , as you know i use a pair of paul coupe taus with new external crossover crossover , they are incredibly open and sound like a wall of sound

https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/impulse-taus-conversion-and-restoration.176744/

from a pic at previous owner to show size

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49926649746_b5ac042799.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2j4R8xY)impulse taus and boenicke (https://flic.kr/p/2j4R8xY) by [/url], on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/880/41366616792_2f822dd678_z.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/)P1060107 (https://flic.kr/p/262qHYU) by , on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/885/26538253557_dc51ed813d_z.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/)P1060106 (https://flic.kr/p/Gr6ucP) by , on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/890/26538252537_79e0089905_z.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/)P1060111 (https://flic.kr/p/Gr6tUe) by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/], on Flickr

they are spellbinding to listen to

[hifinutt]

as you mentioned gaz , some decent outrigger feet are good . i use track audio under mine

https://live.staticflickr.com/799/26538253237_4b3370c69e_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Gr6u7i)P1060109 (https://flic.kr/p/Gr6u7i) by , on Flickr

[hifinutt]

this is another pair paul did [ these were my rienzi speakers ]

https://live.staticflickr.com/4694/27822286889_66b3ed9280_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Joyuzx)IMG_9969-625x1024 (https://flic.kr/p/Joyuzx) by [/url], on Flickr

i think these were brumjams which were pretty good

https://live.staticflickr.com/4723/24783478037_ab7a4a0344_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/)IMG_8809.thumb.JPG.3f5bbe2f26810a1ff5e0afc5f6ea30 cc (https://flic.kr/p/DL2Nzt) by , on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/4769/38891064334_6219b3f9c7_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/)IMG_9922-679x1024 (https://flic.kr/p/22fEStY) by , on Flickr

forget who these were , i think might be model below h2 ??

https://live.staticflickr.com/7924/32498609657_2e635f0872_k.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/)IMG_20190319_124850 (https://flic.kr/p/RvMSqa) by , on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/7808/47387522182_14ae6577dc_k.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/)IMG_20190319_124934 (https://flic.kr/p/2fctrow) by , on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/7812/32498616137_cf1a068f5b_k.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/)IMG_20190319_124922 (https://flic.kr/p/RvMUkT) by , on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/7872/46525197155_9ec8c71055_k.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/)IMG_20190319_124838 (https://flic.kr/p/2dTgNcD) by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/], on Flickr

[Audio Al]

Maybe H6's

[Filterlab]

Crikey!

Thanks for the info fellas, I have a lot to think about.

In the meantime (yes, since yesterday) I have put the money into an investment so I'll reconvene my thoughts (and all of yours) pending the outcome of that investment. :)