Wanted : Standmounters £500/£600

OK, I've been given permission to move the main system (Audio Note CDT2, TACT RCS 2.0 and TACT S2150) into my office/spare room. I have everything I need apart from a nice pair of speakers to listen to .

Suggestions please for some decent sized standmounters (no space for floorstanders); in the £500/£600 range (s/h is no probs). Preferably with soft tweeters.

Fire away :MILD: .

 

I heard a set of Spendor S3 when I was auditioning for my turntable. I used the smallest room that the shop had (closest to reflecting my own hutch/hovel/alcove), and used quite a bit of test material (Kings of Leon at one end of the spectrum, Paul Simon at the other (50 ways.... & Still Crazy)).

£600 new. Small. In my test, driven by a Rega Brio (38 wpc, so not overly muscular). They sounded lovely.

Try and shoehorn them into a test, you never know.

 

as they've recently been superceeded you may be able to find a pair of B&W cdm1 nt's at that sort of price. they are very well respected and even though they have metal dome tweeters they aren't harsh at all. worth a listen
cheers


julian

 

Dynaudio Audience 52s.

 

I'm often reluctant to recommend the speakers I own but I was in a similar situation a while back and ended up getting a pair of Monitor Audio Gold Ref 10's. Very nice indeed - amazing bass from such a small enclosure and, despite the metal tweeter, not a hint of brightness (not to my ears anyway).

The rrp is £800 but there are usually a few ex-dem pairs floating around at the £600 mark. I was even more fortunate as I found a second hand pair in good nick complete with stands for £400!

Definitely add them to your audition list.

Matt.

 

vOOdoo.

YOu cOuld try wOrking yOur way thrOugh the similar thread DunkybOy started a little while back HERE

It's gOne Off On several tangents and went a bit bOllOx, but perhaps wOrth a read.

 

Cheers mO !

 

Okay, here are a few from my recent and not-so-recent experience:


Favourites:

ATC SCM-7 - lovely mini-monitors, with great dynamics and bass for their size, that great ATC midrange, speed and tautness, and just a great sound overall. Well worth an audition at £480. If you're really lucky, you may be able to find a second-hand pair of the SCM-12s (£999 new), which are bigger, with more grunt, deeper, more dynamic bass, and a slightly more open and expressive midrange IMO. Note: ATC passives have a reputation for needing real muscle to drive properly, but in my experience they can sound fabulous with "lesser" amps, especially in a small room at sensible levels (the SCM-12s sounded great driven by a 30wpc Pass Aleph 3, for instance.)

Dynaudio Contour 1.3 Mk. II - these were £1300 new, but have been superceded so can be found for £600 or so secondhand. These are top notch monitors - great bass, great dynamics, wonderful neutrality, and Again, these have a reputation for demanding meaty amps, but I've actually heard of people using them with valves with good results (!) Michaelab has these, so he can probably tell you more about them than I can. If these are too big for you (or too dear), the Contour 1.1s are meant to be similarly excellent.

Acoustic Energy AE1 Mk. II - these have also been recently superceded, so can probably be had for considerably less than their £800 asking price. They are another great mini-monitor, with once again great dynamics and bass, though a somewhat warmer quality than the ATCs or Dyns, IMO. Very appealing, though once again, they like a lot of muscle.

Leema Xen - these are a fair way out of your budget at £1K, but I feel they're worth mentioning just because they're so superb. As mini-monitors go, these are some of the best I've ever heard. They truly are tiny, but the cabinet is incredibly solid, and the drivers and crossover are top notch. The end result is a tiny little speaker that sounds much larger than they look, and that pulls off one of the best "disappearing acts" of any speaker I've heard. They just vanish behind the wonderful, transparent image that they throw, with no hint of box signature whatsoever. They're also incredibly cute. If you look around you might get lucky and find a secondhand pair within your budget. Probably more likely in the pro sector, as the pro version of the Xens (identical but for an uglier front baffle) has been around a fair bit longer than the domestic ones (which are very new).


Still Good, But Not Quite To My Tastes:

Sonus Faber Concertino - these are £600 new. They sound wonderful and seductive in that inimitable SF way, with a great midband, though not a terribly neutral or accurate sound. You can probably get the larger Concertos secondhand with your budget - maybe even the Signums if you're lucky.

Monitor Audio Gold Reference 10 - already been mentioned, but I thought I'd give my take. IME (based on several in-store demos, so not the last word), these are very powerful, dynamic speakers, with excellent resolution and very precise imaging. Their balance doesn't seem to be terribly neutral, though - seemed to me a bit "boom and tizz", i.e. lots of treble, lots of bass, not too much in between. What they do, they do very well though, so if you like their sound, they're excellent.

Jamo Concert 8 - these are Jamo's high end standmounts, which are very well rated abroad, but for some reason get almost no mention here in the UK. They're very chunky things, and beautifully built. They have a really coherent, integrated sound - treble, midband, and bass blend very well. They're also very dynamic and powerful. They do seem to me to be a bit overly "etched" in the treble, though (much like the Monitor Audio GR10s actually), and their balance didn't quite sit right with me for some reason. Not sure why. They were originally £1000+ but because they're so unknown here, you can often find them new or nearly-new for much, much less.

B&W CDM-1NT - I had two auditions with these speakers. The first was with some lowish-mid-level equipment (Marantz CD6K KI-Sig CD player, some £400ish integrated amp), and although they had some of the sweetest, most luxurious treble I'd heard, the bass was rather soft and undynamic. The second demo was with a Linn Ikemi CD player (£2K) and a Bonnec power amp (several grand's worth) and in this system they sounded very nice indeed. Gone was the soft, undynamic bass, and they just sounded very good overall, including the very sweet, lovely treble. They weren't the most dynamic speakers I'd ever heard, and although the bass was much improved, I had heard better. Furthermore, the balance again didn't quite sit right with me (though in hindsight this may have been more to do with the electronics than the speakers), so I decided they weren't for me. I will say, though, that they came VERY close to the Nautilus 805s with the same partnering equipment.

JM Lab Electra 905 - I'm currently using these in my system until my new ATC Active 20s arrive (next week hopefully...) and they're very good speakers. Sadly, they just don't like the Classé CA-100 power amp I'm driving them with at the moment - the sound is unnaturally lightweight and bright (very strange as the Classé isn't a bright amp by any means). They sounded very nice with an Arcam Alpha 10P, though. They are good, dynamic speakers that produce a great sense of scale. They're probably best-known for their tweeter - the Focal titanium (I believe?) tweeter is wonderfully sweet and articulate, though with the wrong recording and/or the wrong partnering electronics, it can seem a bit "hot" and over-bright. The bass is decent, though not hugely meaty or powerful. The midrange is also somewhat recessed in a way that I know appeals to some people, but not to me. Overall, very good speakers. Were originally £1200, but have been superceded so can be had for £600 secondhand (if you can find any). Come to think of it, if you ring Retro Reproductions here in Edinburgh you can probably have my pair. (PM me if you'd like the phone number.)

AVI Pro-Nine - I remember liking these quite a lot, though it was a while ago since I last heard them. Very articulate, tight, fast, detailed, dynamic, with excellent imaging. They are a bit bright and forward, though, so definitely a matter of taste (and probably very dependent on the right upstream electronics).

PMC TB-2 & DB-1 - I've not heard these, but I had a good long listen to their bigger brothers, the FB-1s, which were excellent. Very even, neutral balance, with great dynamics, and incredibly deep bass (I imagine the standmounts don't quite live up to the bass performance of the FB-1s). Well worth a listen I reckon.


Anyway, hope that helps. Please do keep in mind that a lot of these impressions were garnered during speaker auditions more than 2 years ago (I ended up with ATC Active 10s after about 2 solid months of demoing in every hifi shop in Edinburgh and Glasgow!) My tastes and sensibilities may have changed since then... (The ATCs, Leemas, and JM Labs were all heard very recently, though.) Anyway, as always take them with a pinch of salt, and listen for yourself before making any commitments!

Dunc

 

Now that's what I call an extensive reply...

-- Ian

 

Duncan - you are a gent .

Cheers .

 

No prob. Let me know if you have any questions.

Dunc

 

little bit of a plug,if you like the Sonus Faber concertino Homes,i have for sale, only 1 year old,soft dome tweeters,very nice vocals,midrange,no bass really thought due to box/driver sound,asking around £410 including Atacama stands.

 

great reply Duncan

I heard the jamOs quite a few years back and loved them. I'd not heard much to compare them to previously, but they impressed me very much at the time! If you try and audition them vOOdOO, be aware they've since changed the name, and I think the styling too (???).

I remember Tony saying something about MA releasing a platinum range, i've not seen anything else about them, but if they're due soon, then you can expect the Gold range to get a price cut.

 

voodoo,

IMO the best, most musical small speaker is the Proac Response 1sc. They have an electrostatic quality midrange, a smooth detailed treble, surprisingly powerful bass and a fast, open sound. I reckon they would go very well with your tact gear, having heard what Merlins could do.

They would be slightly above your budget, you could probably pick some up s/h for £700. However, I strongly urge you to hear a pair if you can.

 

I've got me spectacles on so lets make it vO-OdO-O !

Great feedback guys; looks like I'll be surfing the net for a while trying to dig out a good deal on some of your suggestions .

 

I second Dynaudio Contour 1.3MkIIs - can be had for £600 s/h. Fairly fussy about amps though - need something with a fair amount of balls.

Michael.

 

Michael, power's no probs : 150w of Class D.

The Dynaudios certainly get a fair few mentions and their price has dropped quite a bit s/h due to the 1.3MKIII's (S.E. model I believe).

 

There's the Contour 1.3 SE and the Contour "Special 25" (both now discontinued AFAIK) ...and of course the fact that the Contour 1.3MkII itself has been superceded by the Contour 1.4 has had a negative effect on 1.3MkII prices.

Still the 1.3MkII is an incredible speaker and for £5-600 it's an unbelievable bargain (I only paid £600 for mine :MILD: )

I've heard the Special 25 and it really is pretty special - probably the best standmount I've ever heard but it's also big bucks (and limited edition).

Michael.

 

Last time I looked, Definitive Audio (nottingham) had some in used at £400.

 

Stand Mounters for 500 - 600 I would start by looking at Harbeth Compact 7s or HL5s and Spendor 2/3s or 1/2s.
Save money for some *really* good stands whatever the standmounter you get. I use SoundAnchors, others use big heavy Targets. BY general consensus open frame stands are best (unless you are a mana fan) for BBC type monitors. Probably goes for ATCs as well.
If you want to spend less try a pair of Spendor BCIIs...