WTD speakers £500 - £1000 range

[Rabid1981]

new or secondhand speakers to match my copland cd and amp, slightly less bright then my Quad 11L's, but nothing to warm, rounded treble, and not overtly bassy, as they will reside in a fairly small room.

All advice and suggestions welcome, regards

liam

[HighFidelityGuy]

EB Acoustics (http://www.ebacoustics.com/) have a couple of models that might suit your needs. They're very simple but high quality stand mount speakers with a 30 day money back guarantee. Definitely worth a try I reckon. :)

[Rabid1981]

funnily enough, was wondering about some EB2's the other night, am curious about them, but not ever having seen one, to see how well they are made. or getting a demo, does put me off a little.

[DSJR]

The Spendor S6 and S8 (original and "E" versions) sounded superb with Copland driving them. Full bodied, open mid if set up right, civilised and with a totally non-gritty treble, these beautifully finished speakers would do the job and now at the right price as well. the current Spendors have obviously been cost-counted in their simpler cabinets. The S8 is a far less fussy speaker to get right than the equivalently priced PMC FB1(+), which has classic transmission line issues IMO and uses inexpensive drivers for a now £2K speaker.

[Stratmangler]

I rather enjoyed hearing these at the recent Manchester show http://www.castle.uk.com/Knightseries/Knight2/tabid/91/language/en-US/Default.aspx

[Chivas]

You're welcome to have my 12L2's for £300.. :-) With the 6.5" drivers they will be far less bright than the 5" drivers of the 11L's

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7777&highlight=quad

[Rabid1981]

thanks for the offer, i may consider it, but if i am honest, i fancy a change.
really liked my quads though, in boxes atm waiting to be picked up.

so am without speakers atm, hence the urgency to get some replacements in, thanks for the spendor recommendation, but i belive they are both floorstanders, really should have said standmounts only, dont have the room for anything like that.

[DSJR]

Have a look at the S series styling. Even the S8 doesn't have any larger a footprint than a typical speaker stand.

The only way a small stand-mounter can reproduce mucho bass IMO is if the bass unit is significantly under-damped and/or the port is tuned too high to thump up what bass there is. Either this or reduce the midrange down to make the bass appear more powerful (the LS3/5A had loads of eq response "correction"). The best compromise is a slightly larger cabinet, well sorted bass driver and a very carefully tuned port - I quite liked the old Sonus Faber Concerto's on their adjustable stands. Not as tight and mid-forward as the exquisite little Signums they made for a while and without the bouncy but rather squidgey bass of the Cremona Amator.

[Rabid1981]

I am sure the footprint is the same, but your right a proper and well designed floorstander will produce deeper and more plentiful bass. Exactly what i dont want atm, as my quads produce to much of the unrefined type atm,hence why i am looking at another standmount, but with a shade less bass boom, to somthing more defined and informative.

on a side note, i am getting abit fed up with my k701's. my sen hd600, are more flattering and so much less fatiguing, the k701 are great with vocals and accoustics, but irksome elsewhere, what do think of a closed can to replace them with, for a similar price?

[DSJR]

I have owned HD600's and if you like the more restrained tones they give, you really will like the spendors, neither of which i've suggested to you will boom or bloat their way through a musical piece, the later "E" series especially.

Anyway, good luck with the search:)

[peter]

I have a pair of Proac Response D15 in Yew finish for £700 (2,000 new IIRC) if interested I can post pictures. These are actually floor standing but very low profile. the Bass Port is bottom firing so they can be placed with more room flexibility. They look very nice with the grilles removed.

Peter.

[Marco]

Hi Peter,

It's always best to post pictures anyway when you're advertising stuff for sale, as it's sure to garner people's interest ;)

So let's see those Proacs, dude! :)

Marco.

[peter]

Oke dokey Marco...

Here some hastily prepared ones:

These are not Mint condition as can be seen here - small ding in the top edge of left speaker:

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/albums/album1380/DSCN1676.jpg

Top surface is 10" x 7.5", port is in the bottom

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/albums/album1380/DSCN1667.jpg


http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/albums/album1380/DSCN1666.jpg

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/albums/album1380/DSCN1668.jpg

I put a 50p near the ding for scale.

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/albums/album1380/DSCN1671.jpg

The finish is lovely:

http://www.saabphotos.com/gallery/albums/album1380/DSCN1677.jpg

Have the grilles (perfect, but trust me you won't use them), have the boxes so can ship, but that would cost extra.

Peter.

[DSJR]

These were better than many pro-Acs as I remember and that "ding" could be repaired by a master joiner (there are people out there dedicated to fine furniture restoration and these cabs are worth it) and you may be able to do something yourself with a suitably coloured wax-stick (sorted my BC2 cabs this way if you son't look too closely).

[peter]

that "ding" could be repaired by a master joiner (there are people out there dedicated to fine furniture restoration and these cabs are worth it) and you may be able to do something yourself with a suitably coloured wax-stick (sorted my BC2 cabs this way if you son't look too closely).

Excellent point Dave, as always.

The (mirrored btw) finish is otherwise just fabulous, very tactile and inviting. Makes my Oxford TT seem like a packing crate.

[Chivas]

on a side note, i am getting abit fed up with my k701's. my sen hd600, are more flattering and so much less fatiguing, the k701 are great with vocals and accoustics, but irksome elsewhere, what do think of a closed can to replace them with, for a similar price?

If you don't like a fatiguing sound, I won't go for closed cans, I've never listened to closed cans where I didn't find the bass boomy! Perhaps impressive for the first 5 seconds, but very fatiguing after that. I know the Grado RS1 and RS2's are highly rated. I also own the HD650's, but grew tired of the veiled sound and thought it became a little boring. Recently bought the Grado PS1000, love them, especially the sound staging and transparency, but perhaps a little too transparent! Find them a little edgy with speakers and not much forgiveness for anything other than new/mint vinyl as you can hear every little tick and pop and vinyl noise is not spared either.

If you're after closed cans though, there is a pait of ATH1000 for sale at £250 on this forum - a steal! If I could justify it, I would go for them.

[Chivas]

FYI, I auditioned a lot of standmount speakers in the £500 - £1000 range and the ones that stood out for me were the Quad 12L's and B&W CM5. I loved the CM5's, but in the end settled for the Quads based on price. The CM's aren't the most laid back speakers though, but great sound staging (for their size - they are quite small) and quite transparent and lively, oh yes, and beautifully made! I thought them very exciting speakers! Not too bass heavy though. I think you should audition them if you can.

I didn't care much for the Monitor Audio's, too little detail, rounded and smooth, actually made a violin sound "syrupy" to my ears.

Chivas

[Rabid1981]

thanks for the offer of the proac's, must say they look glorious, but i really want to stick with standmounts, however if i dont find anything else suitable by the end of the weekend, i maybe getting intouch with you. cheers

as for closed back not sounding the most relaxed, i am not so sure, the denon's i auditioned once, were fairly laid back, they were the ah-d7000, they sounded glorious to me, makes me wonder why i ddint buy them.... oh yes i remember 600 notes said so.:stalks:

[val]

new or secondhand speakers to match my copland cd and amp, slightly less bright then my Quad 11L's, but nothing to warm, rounded treble, and not overtly bassy, as they will reside in a fairly small room.

All advice and suggestions welcome, regards

liam
Hi Liam , if you really want something musical and resolving please have a look at Jean Marie Reynaud Trente
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue5/trente.htm
I am selling all my system soon - please pm if interested
Val

[peter]

PROAC's (post #13) now SOLD.

Peter.