What floorstanders?

[David A]

Unusual requirements and am sure pureists will be having kittens at this. We are putting together a nice room in the house - no TV but bookshelves / drinks cabinet - a relaxing room if you like.

I have a KT88 dual mono valve amp - really like it so will use that and a decentish turntable etc.

I need speakers - now here's the catch they have to look nice and probably more look nice than be amazing musically, I'm sure my hearing isn't as good as it used to be and if I want to I've got a very nice comfy set of Beyer headphones.

So what floorstanders. I started looking at Kefs (we have Q900s Q750s in other rooms, saw Dali Oberons, then Quad Z3s appeared in gloss rosewood and my budet thoughts changed I don't need to spend that much though.

Any ideas PH gurus nice looking floorstanders in gloss black or gloss rosewood (like the quads) up to £1500 and don't mind buying used.

[jev]

Sonus Faber would be my recommendation. Maybe a pair of Grand Piano.

[Douglas Quaid]

Arendal 1723.

[outnumbered]

With a valve amp like that, you'll need to be careful about matching speakers, you'll probably want something fairly sensitive, and that will work with an amp which presumably has a fairly low damping factor.

[emperorburger]

Magnepan LRS+

[Ed.Neumann]

Quad Z3 have no bass, like no bass at all.

They actually start to drop off at 52hz, which for such a big speaker is weird.

Beautiful speaker, but need decent subs with them. They actually sound very, very similar to the Quad ESL989, which was probably their aim.


One of my favourite sounding speakers for the money at the moment is the Monitor Audio Silver 300 7g, great sound for the money, they go down to a proper 30hz so fill the room nicely even at lower levels and the top end is sweet, really nice finishes and colours too.

They are 8ohm and 88db, but don't drop below 4ohms at all.

These can be had for around £1700.

I would definitely demo them, and listen to them with others up to £4-5k, I think you will be impressed.

[Panamax]

Budget is a big factor but I've never heard a poor speaker from any of,
Sonus Faber
Focal
Kudos

And Richer Sounds will sell you some Dalis at remarkably reasonable prices.

[David A]

Ed.Neumann said:

Quad Z3 have no bass, like no bass at all.

They actually start to drop off at 52hz, which for such a big speaker is weird.

Beautiful speaker, but need decent subs with them. They actually sound very, very similar to the Quad ESL989, which was probably their aim.


One of my favourite sounding speakers for the money at the moment is the Monitor Audio Silver 300 7g, great sound for the money, they go down to a proper 30hz so fill the room nicely even at lower levels and the top end is sweet, really nice finishes and colours too.

They are 8ohm and 88db, but don't drop below 4ohms at all.

These can be had for around £1700.

I would definitely demo them, and listen to them with others up to £4-5k, I think you will be impressed.

Well I’ve got an SVS PB 12 ultra/2 which is about the size of a chest freezer so that could work

[Bonefish Blues]

How about a substantial standmount with integrated stands in a rather lovely poplar wood. Horn means very sensitive easy to drive and a lovely sound to boot. Zingali Overture.2S.

https://www.audioasylumtrader.com/ca/ca.html?ca=29...

[David A]

Bonefish Blues said:

How about a substantial standmount with integrated stands in a rather lovely poplar wood. Horn means very sensitive easy to drive and a lovely sound to boot. Zingali Overture.2S.

https://www.audioasylumtrader.com/ca/ca.html?ca=29...

Maybe but don’t like the look of those. How they look is very key for this room.

[Bonefish Blues]

David A said:

Bonefish Blues said:

How about a substantial standmount with integrated stands in a rather lovely poplar wood. Horn means very sensitive easy to drive and a lovely sound to boot. Zingali Overture.2S.

https://www.audioasylumtrader.com/ca/ca.html?ca=29...

Maybe but don’t like the look of those. How they look is very key for this room.

No worries, I'll keep the news from my pair

[Deranged Rover]

Looks most important you say?

Sounds like you need a pair of Bang & Olufsen Beovox/Beolab Pentas. Usually some refurbished pairs on eBay for your budget and they're lovely speakers.

The Beovoxes are fully passive and the Beolabs have built-in amplifiers, but they can still accept a loudspeaker-level signal, so you can still use your valve amp.

[David A]

Deranged Rover said:

Looks most important you say?

Sounds like you need a pair of Bang & Olufsen Beovox/Beolab Pentas. Usually some refurbished pairs on eBay for your budget and they're lovely speakers.

The Beovoxes are fully passive and the Beolabs have built-in amplifiers, but they can still accept a loudspeaker-level signal, so you can still use your valve amp.

Afraid I don't like the look of them - thank for the suggestion though.

Trying to decide if Iike Martin Logan electrostatics now - they are a lot less money than they used to be, in fact almost tempted for one of the rooms that bookshelf speakers in - just because !

[matt666]

Those Martin Logans do look interesting, I considered them for a while but I'd need to see and hear them - electro-statics don't tend to do bass very well, (although the MLs have a woofer and you can always pair a sub of course)

If you like Kef the R5s are good and well within your budget (old ones, not the Metas), you might even stretch to the R7s.

The really nice finishes are on the Reference series though which might be a bit out of budget

[David A]

matt666 said:

Those Martin Logans do look interesting, I considered them for a while but I'd need to see and hear them - electro-statics don't tend to do bass very well, (although the MLs have a woofer and you can always pair a sub of course)

If you like Kef the R5s are good and well within your budget (old ones, not the Metas), you might even stretch to the R7s.

The really nice finishes are on the Reference series though which might be a bit out of budget

Yes the MLs have sub in the bottom of each one.

Kefs - realised I have R500s not Q550s for the smaller kefs I have ! However, sort of / part of what my criteria are is "not a box shape" so they are out too.

[tonyg58]

If you can, get a listen to a pair of Paradigm 700F speakers, I think you will be impressed.

[mk2 24v]

Floor standing Mordaunt Short Avianos or maybe some Rega speakers?

Have a few pairs of Aviano bookshelf speakers, and they are a nicely balanced sound (and quite bassy if adjusted as such)

[NDA]

The KEF LS50's ? Within budget and in black.

Not floor standers, but can go on a stand easily enough. I have been very impressed with the imagery from the KEF's.

I have the LS60's, but they're not quite what you're looking for.

[Hian]

I have the Quad Z3 running on a Bryston 4B3 amp and a Kef sub. Has a nice clean transparent sound, and I also run an Anthem STR pre-amp with room correction. I demoed the Z3's a few years ago against Dali, B&W, Kef, Focal and was surprised to find I preferred the Z3's as I'd only bought Kef speakers for abut 25 years,
Whichever way you go, suggest you take your amp with you for a demo or have a home demo of the speakers you shortlist. Wharfdale floorstanders (or Linton?) may be a good option or something from the JBL Classic range.

[Magnum 475]

If you're happy to look at used, that budget should get you a nice set of Martin Logans. For the uninitiated, they're an electrostatic hybrid - you get the purity of electrostatic mid-range and treble, with a more robust bass.

I have a set that have just passed their 20th birthday and still sound great, so buying a used set shouldn't be too scary. Just make sure that your amp can cope with the impedance curve of MLs!

Failing that, as already mentioned:

Sonus Faber
Focal
B&W (probably 805 standmount in this budget)