Speakers + Integrated amp - £1000

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Viper

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Morning all

I'm in the market for a set of speakers & integrated amp with around £1K at my disposal.
I have a fairly standard listening room, with the usual soft(ish) furnishings (carpets etc) & am able to site the proposed speakers away from any walls. Listening path to the said speakers is uncluttered.
Musically, i mostly listen to Soul/R & Blues music, so i am looking for a combination which will enable me to enjoy the output
Sound wise, i do not like the warmer presentation - or any of the terms 'wooly, warm, safe etc' - I do prefer the more cleaner presentation, without crossing over into the fatiguing area.
Ideally i would like both units to have good engineering/design principals & do not mind dipping into the 2nd-hand market.
Any recommendations for partnerships that i should investigate.

Best wishes
 
Firstly, cool name - Viper ;)

For £1k I'd buy a Melody SP3 from Cattylink (£550 delivered). Apparently very neutral for a tube amp. Push-pull 35 watter, so quite powerful. Some very reviews out there on the web.

Speakers is a tough one. I'd normally recommend Revolver R33's, but feel they may not have quite the gutsy presentation you're after. Very nicely voiced and incredibly smooth for the money (polar opposite of Focal or B&W).

Usher Audio have a good reputation, although I haven't heard any myself. They make very nice looking speakers for seemingly very good material value. Only ever heard good things about them. Maybe there's something in their range that would suit your tastes?

Alternatively, I really both PMC & Spendors. you might be able to find a pair of FB1's or S6's for £5-600. Both are very capable speakers with a strong heritage.

DT
 
theres a million answers viper, and it's all just a matter of personal preference.

With 1k, I'd be looking at about £800 on an amp, and £200 on the speakers.

I saw a decent pair of standmounts - so very cheap I've almost bought them about 3 times!!. They are decent, and pretty much representative of the kind of standmount you can expect in the £600-£800 price range.

B&W cdm1 original RRP £650........ £150!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.definitiveaudio.co.uk/stuff.htm

Cheap as chips. You could sell them for what you paid on E-bay any day of the week.

That leaves you £850 for an amp. Perhaps £800 as you would need stands.

I'd get a chunky fat valve amp, but you could get an 80w Unison Research Unico, a good choice for people scared of valves.

http://www.ukd.co.uk/

go to ''bargain corner''. They have the 50w and 80w unico's ex-dem.
 
Thanks for the replies chaps

The Unison 'Unico' looks an interesting piece of equipment.
One to do more research on.

It's certainly a minefield out there, i've been taking an interest in ATC speakers, they seem to have a good reputation for component & sound quality (another one to research & listen to)

PMC speakers appear to be worth a look at too.
I am just anxious to avoid the 'muddy:warm' presentation.
It would appear from initial research that both ATC & PMC do not subscribe to that sound - but, proof will be in the pudding (so to speak).

Thanks
 
Both PMC and ATC have love it/hate it reactions from people.

Fans of both speakers (which are very different to each other) say that ''active'' is where the action is.

Considering that you will still probably need a pre-amp, I would say active PMC and ATC speakers are likely to be beyond your budget right now.

A ''passive'' pair of ATC's won't leave you a lot of money for an amplifier.

I strongly reccomend spending the lions share of your budget on the amplifier. Cheap amps are (by and large) awful things, cheap speakers can be suprisingly good.. especially second hand..
 
well if you like that sort of presentation then my money would go for cyrus gear for the amp what ever you can get for the money,
as for speakers if you can grab some monitor audio gr10's. I have used all this gear personally and it was not to my taste to "clean" for me as i prefer a warmer sound. the cyrus gear is transparent fast and dynamic with an easy upgrade path
 
Hijack....

My Arcam A85 / P85 combo up for sale... list of awards as long as your arm, and they drive my PMC's a treat! PM if interested..

aquapiranha
 
A Rotel 1062 integrated with a pair of Castle Richmond 3i speakers on some stands would be a good, hassle-free, available 1K solution. A lot of fun and not warm and wooly.
 
Thinking out of the box...

A shameless plug! Been thinking recently that I need to have a clear out of redundant kit and spotted this thread, thought I'd mention a couple of things I have:

How about a SUMO Athena IIb & Polaris IIIb pre/power and a pair of Yamaha NS-1000M?

The Yamahas are about as far from wooly warm or safe as you will ever get with an exceptional combination of easy weighty bottom end from the 12" woofers and stunning resolution and airiness from the Berylium mid & tweeter. Looks may not be to everyone's taste but these are world class loudspeakers.

The SUMOs are a line only preamp and 120wpc MOSFET power amp, well regarded in their day with a neutral grippy sound that works well with the Yamahas. They're solidly built in the American style but not particularly big, esp the preamp.

If you want something with "lifestyle" looks, this is not the kit for you. If you want serious performance for your cash, this rig deserves serious consideration. Very close to your budget too...
 
Hi,

There are a pair of ATC SCM12 at Midlandaudiox-change for £645. In the special offers under loudspeakers.

http://www.midlandaudiox-change.co.uk/

There plenty of options for £1000. Going for older speakers can be a could way of getting what you want. I must admit, I like the look of the suggestion of the Sumo & Yamaha speakers.

Also ring round dealers as they will have items new, ex dem and 2nd hand that may suit.


SCIDB
 
You can get a Sugden A21 for 300/400 quid it spanking new nick,leaving endless options for speakers.

Re the B&W CDMs mentioned above,I hated them,the bass is very personal imho.I won't attempt to describe the bass they offer,because its a personal pov.
 

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