Hi Everyone,
First day of registration and my first post. Been an avid reader of various posts here though and really loved the way this enriched me. Long way still before I move up the audiophile curve..currently at 1/10.
Have recently started looking out for building my first Hi Fi i.e. a good system primarily dedicated to music...say upto 80%, with extended listening on weekends. Need the experts here to guide... Tried to keep the post to the point, with the essence of my experience.
So it is Stereo Amp + Speakers now and add a dedicated player or DAC later on.
Budget : around 60 -70 K - Speaker + Amp
Room size : 25X 12 Ft. Speakers would be placed on the 25 ft wall and therefore the front throw is 12 ft.
Source: DVD player/ Ipad/Laptop- CDs (10-20%), FLAC- 20-30%, MP3-balance. Though this would move towards CDs steadily once the system is home.
Logic till now : Have started auditioning with the assumption that need to reach a level to distinguish the various speaker signatures/sounds/empahsis' before moving to more subtle considerations on amp, connection wires et al.
Therefore all speaker auditions have been without much reference/stress to what they are connected.
Lessons till now : No speaker is perfect and it is only relative to other speaker that you can judge whether its 'bright' or 'warm' or 'tight' etc. I m therefore mentioning what each of these were played alongside to give a comparative picture to all who are on a similar journey
Key Tracks used (along with some others):
Rolling in the Deep -Adele - CD
Pour some sugar on me- Def Leppard- MP3
My Heart Will go on- Celine Dion-CD
The wonder of you- Elvis - CD
If I Die young - Band Perry- CD
Note:Not all are played on all speakers. My taste of music is varied- Indian classical, Western Classical specially piano (student of piano), Country, Pop, Rock, Hard rock, Blues, Bollywood, Jagjit singh and whatever my kids want to dance on!
Speakers auditioned
1. Kef Q500 : Played with Denon amp and alongside the Polks. These sounded less brighter than the Polk and therefore considered these to be warm and pleasant for extended listening. Liked the looks. Quoted 48 K.
2. Elac FS 58.2 : Played with Onkyo alongside Energy (cant recall the model) and Acoustics Energy Neo 3. Found these to be more natural sounding, though found very subtle difference with AE. Difference with Energy was stark and didnt find the Energy to be pleasing (say bright). Quoted 40 K
3. Monitor Audio BR6
layed with Cambridge alongside Mordunt (cant recall the model) with Wharfedale 10.7. Found Wharf to be too bright in comparision ( this is despite having the impression created through various forums that Whafs are warm). Found Mordunt to be more pleasing compared to Wharfs. However when played alongside BR6, found them to be very subdued with clarity on vocals and strings going little amiss. However also important is the fact that these are atleast 10 K cheaper. Found BR6 best of the lot, very controlled bass, clear instruments and vocals (although a little subdued). Quoted 51 K and option of 42 K for an old but packed piece (3 year old).
4. Wharf 10.6 : Played with Yamaha alongside 10.5. Found 10.5 to be brighter and bit muddy. No quote rcvd since the main guy wasnt there... indicated around 45-50 K. Overall feel of testing conditions was poor and so was the experience on speakers.
5. Tannoy Mercury V4 : Marantz AVR alongside Definitive BP8. Found the sound to be very clean and pleasing although couldnt differenciate much between the two. But since the focus was Tannoy, liked it overall. Also checked Tannoy revolution, which also sounded good although only difference i would make out was better delivery of bass (say tight) and improved vocals compared to Definitive. Was quoted 32 K for V4 and 63K for revolution.
6. Quad 22L2 : Marantz AVR .Sounded like the Tannoys i.e pleasing sound. But out of consideration set. 77K
Would be auditioning EPOs, Acoustic Energy soon. Would test the monitor m4,m6 and BX5 as well.
Now each has been tested in different listening conditions with different comparisions, so therefore I consider my views being baised by my mood, explanation from the seller and faint (very faint, if at all) remembrance of previous auditions, budget (speaker for upto 50 K). But since I can buy only one and seems there is no one place where on a given time and space i can test all together, I have tried to rank the preference till now
1. Tannoy Mercury V4 - 32 K ( Revolution if budget was there)
2. Monitor Audio BR6 - 51 K ..
3. KEF Q500 - 48 K
4. ELAC FS 58.2 -40 K
5. AE Neo 3 - 35 K
Now this is 'Ear Rating' and not price rating and maybe it may change once i reaudition with final shortlist. Polks, Wharfs and Mordunt seem to be out as of now and I m unlikely to revisit these. Have also tried Bookshelves from B&W and found them to be flat and not to my liking.
Your advise required:
1. Your ranking between Above 4 + EPOS (same budget range) + Acoustic (same budget range) + M6 /BX5
2. Recommended Stereo amps -Remaining amount would go for amp.
Would avoid going for other brands, since to my limited understanding this covers most well known and to my untrained ear, the loss on not testing another brand would be very little. May give a try to Paradigm or Heco or something extraordinary if some of the experts here are strongly recommending, else would give it a pass.
Request all the expert audiophiles for their advise in helping this newbie decide the final one (Most important variable post the audition and shortlist) and also hope my first post is helpful to other fellow community members on a similar sojourn.
PS: Checked the Bookshelves initially with Sub and found FS to be a much better option, therefore not considering BS at all. Next upgrade would be 3-5 years but would be adding a CD/DAC in near future.
First day of registration and my first post. Been an avid reader of various posts here though and really loved the way this enriched me. Long way still before I move up the audiophile curve..currently at 1/10.
Have recently started looking out for building my first Hi Fi i.e. a good system primarily dedicated to music...say upto 80%, with extended listening on weekends. Need the experts here to guide... Tried to keep the post to the point, with the essence of my experience.
So it is Stereo Amp + Speakers now and add a dedicated player or DAC later on.
Budget : around 60 -70 K - Speaker + Amp
Room size : 25X 12 Ft. Speakers would be placed on the 25 ft wall and therefore the front throw is 12 ft.
Source: DVD player/ Ipad/Laptop- CDs (10-20%), FLAC- 20-30%, MP3-balance. Though this would move towards CDs steadily once the system is home.
Logic till now : Have started auditioning with the assumption that need to reach a level to distinguish the various speaker signatures/sounds/empahsis' before moving to more subtle considerations on amp, connection wires et al.
Therefore all speaker auditions have been without much reference/stress to what they are connected.
Lessons till now : No speaker is perfect and it is only relative to other speaker that you can judge whether its 'bright' or 'warm' or 'tight' etc. I m therefore mentioning what each of these were played alongside to give a comparative picture to all who are on a similar journey
Key Tracks used (along with some others):
Rolling in the Deep -Adele - CD
Pour some sugar on me- Def Leppard- MP3
My Heart Will go on- Celine Dion-CD
The wonder of you- Elvis - CD
If I Die young - Band Perry- CD
Note:Not all are played on all speakers. My taste of music is varied- Indian classical, Western Classical specially piano (student of piano), Country, Pop, Rock, Hard rock, Blues, Bollywood, Jagjit singh and whatever my kids want to dance on!
Speakers auditioned
1. Kef Q500 : Played with Denon amp and alongside the Polks. These sounded less brighter than the Polk and therefore considered these to be warm and pleasant for extended listening. Liked the looks. Quoted 48 K.
2. Elac FS 58.2 : Played with Onkyo alongside Energy (cant recall the model) and Acoustics Energy Neo 3. Found these to be more natural sounding, though found very subtle difference with AE. Difference with Energy was stark and didnt find the Energy to be pleasing (say bright). Quoted 40 K
3. Monitor Audio BR6
layed with Cambridge alongside Mordunt (cant recall the model) with Wharfedale 10.7. Found Wharf to be too bright in comparision ( this is despite having the impression created through various forums that Whafs are warm). Found Mordunt to be more pleasing compared to Wharfs. However when played alongside BR6, found them to be very subdued with clarity on vocals and strings going little amiss. However also important is the fact that these are atleast 10 K cheaper. Found BR6 best of the lot, very controlled bass, clear instruments and vocals (although a little subdued). Quoted 51 K and option of 42 K for an old but packed piece (3 year old).4. Wharf 10.6 : Played with Yamaha alongside 10.5. Found 10.5 to be brighter and bit muddy. No quote rcvd since the main guy wasnt there... indicated around 45-50 K. Overall feel of testing conditions was poor and so was the experience on speakers.
5. Tannoy Mercury V4 : Marantz AVR alongside Definitive BP8. Found the sound to be very clean and pleasing although couldnt differenciate much between the two. But since the focus was Tannoy, liked it overall. Also checked Tannoy revolution, which also sounded good although only difference i would make out was better delivery of bass (say tight) and improved vocals compared to Definitive. Was quoted 32 K for V4 and 63K for revolution.
6. Quad 22L2 : Marantz AVR .Sounded like the Tannoys i.e pleasing sound. But out of consideration set. 77K
Would be auditioning EPOs, Acoustic Energy soon. Would test the monitor m4,m6 and BX5 as well.
Now each has been tested in different listening conditions with different comparisions, so therefore I consider my views being baised by my mood, explanation from the seller and faint (very faint, if at all) remembrance of previous auditions, budget (speaker for upto 50 K). But since I can buy only one and seems there is no one place where on a given time and space i can test all together, I have tried to rank the preference till now
1. Tannoy Mercury V4 - 32 K ( Revolution if budget was there)
2. Monitor Audio BR6 - 51 K ..
3. KEF Q500 - 48 K
4. ELAC FS 58.2 -40 K
5. AE Neo 3 - 35 K
Now this is 'Ear Rating' and not price rating and maybe it may change once i reaudition with final shortlist. Polks, Wharfs and Mordunt seem to be out as of now and I m unlikely to revisit these. Have also tried Bookshelves from B&W and found them to be flat and not to my liking.
Your advise required:
1. Your ranking between Above 4 + EPOS (same budget range) + Acoustic (same budget range) + M6 /BX5
2. Recommended Stereo amps -Remaining amount would go for amp.
Would avoid going for other brands, since to my limited understanding this covers most well known and to my untrained ear, the loss on not testing another brand would be very little. May give a try to Paradigm or Heco or something extraordinary if some of the experts here are strongly recommending, else would give it a pass.
Request all the expert audiophiles for their advise in helping this newbie decide the final one (Most important variable post the audition and shortlist) and also hope my first post is helpful to other fellow community members on a similar sojourn.
PS: Checked the Bookshelves initially with Sub and found FS to be a much better option, therefore not considering BS at all. Next upgrade would be 3-5 years but would be adding a CD/DAC in near future.
Last edited:
is a good offer.
