Which home speakers?

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Discussion

jamiebae

Original Poster:

6,245 posts

214 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
Kef iQ1
Mordaunt Short 902i
Wharfedale Diamond 9.1

Those are the 3 I'm looking at, is there anything else I've missed at under £150 and able to stand mount? I've got Eltax Monitor 3s at the moment but I can't stand mount them and I don't like the look of them much (too black!). I was looking at Kef CF1 too but I've read some pretty poor reviews so have kind of ruled them out.

What do you guys think?

jamiebae

Original Poster:

6,245 posts

214 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
Scott328i said:
I think you should put this in the home cinema section
I don't normally venture that far down the page, didn't realise it existed! hehe

jamiebae

Original Poster:

6,245 posts

214 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
They could be floorstanding but for my budget bookshelfs plus stands look a better bet. I'd rather not go 2nd hand and in an ideal world I'd like to go and buy them from Richer Sounds this evening because I'm impatient!

The rest of my kit is Cambridge Azur 640 CD deck and Azur 340 amp, a Tangent DAB 50 tuner and a Sony DVD recorder (model unknown) if that makes a difference. My living room is pretty small and as I'm in a flat which used to be a ashool and is over 150 years olf the soundproofing is poor so the system doesn't get played loud as I don't want to wake up and find out my neighbours have covered my Lotus in Nitromors.

jamiebae

Original Poster:

6,245 posts

214 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
They have to go on stands and the Eltax are definately going. There's no way of wall mounting them either so I don't really have any other real option.

jamiebae

Original Poster:

6,245 posts

214 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
shirt said:
ok then i'd suggest keeping the eltax's and saving another £150 and buy some quad IIL's

buying second hand isn't that bad if you collect in person. i did so with the wharfedale's and the guy's house was immaculate, had some high end hifi and treat everything with kid gloves as he demo'd them for me. the fact there wasn't a mark anywhere on them and that he was so careful unpacking/repacking gave me confidence i'd gotten a true bargain, which after a year's listening i still agree with.

some second hand B&W DM60- series would be ideal. i would recommend upgrading your speakers above the level of your current set-up, so when you upgrade the amp etc. you won't find them lacking.
I can't keep the Eltaxs - one is currently on the floor, the other is on a bookshelf and they sound rubbish like that. I've looked for 2nd hand stuff but haven't found anything that takes my fancy while remaining in budget and is near enough to collect.

jamiebae

Original Poster:

6,245 posts

214 months

Thursday 22nd January 2009
quotequote all
Looked, listened and went for the Kefs smile

I didn't get a chance to look at the Wharfedales unfortunately but here are some brief opinions on the other stuff.

Looked at some Tannoy ones (What Hifi 5* review) but the finish on them was so utterly dire I didn't even bother listening because there was no way I'd have them in the house.

On listening the MS ones were noticably brighter than the Kefs, but had less bass. In the end I slightly prefered the sound of the Kefs but really it was the aesthetics that won me over, which I guess makes me a tart really!

Very happy with my choice now, even before they've been run in properly they sound a lot better than the Eltax I was using before did.

Thanks for all the help smile

jamiebae

Original Poster:

6,245 posts

214 months

Monday 26th January 2009
quotequote all
Well I have a Cambridge Azur 340 and I'm really happy with it - it looks cool, the remote control is really nice and What Hifi gave it a 5* review so it can't be too bad.