Favourite speakers under INR 20k

[ddeora]

Recently I auditioned quite a few speakers with my NAD C352 amp including MA BR2, Dali Lektor 1, Quad 11L2, PSB B15, PSB B25 & B&W 685

Of these, I thought the BR2s paired the best with the NAD amplifier. In fact they sounded a wee bit better than even the MA RS6 and a few other floorstanders tested. The Dali Lektor 1 also sounded amazing, especially for their size. The 11Ls sounded decent but not as appealing as the BR2 and Lektor 1. The PSB & B&W speakers sounded awful and almost lifeless, which was a big disappointment given their fabulous reviews. Maybe they had not been broken in as yet. I ended up buying the BR2s as I felt they were a slight upgrade from the pair of wharfedale 9.1s that I was using, which btw also are an amazing pair of budget speakers.

In short, If I had to choose:

for budget of 10-15k : Wharfedale 9.1 (or maybe the newer 10.1; no downside, extremley versatile speakers, great value for money)

for budget of 15-20k: Dali Lektor 1 (only downside is the small size)

for budget of 20-25k: MA BR2 (downside is overpriced in India and can sound a little muddy on certain tracks; also model is getting old)

Again, this is based on pairing with my NAD C352 amplifier and my taste in music.

Cheers

 

[thevortex]

Recently I auditioned quite a few speakers with my NAD C352 amp including MA BR2, Dali Lektor 1, Quad 11L2, PSB B15, PSB B25 & B&W 685

Of these, I thought the BR2s paired the best with the NAD amplifier. In fact they sounded a wee bit better than even the MA RS6 and a few other floorstanders tested. The Dali Lektor 1 also sounded amazing, especially for their size. The 11Ls sounded decent but not as appealing as the BR2 and Lektor 1. The PSB & B&W speakers sounded awful and almost lifeless, which was a big disappointment given their fabulous reviews. Maybe they had not been broken in as yet. I ended up buying the BR2s as I felt they were a slight upgrade from the pair of wharfedale 9.1s that I was using, which btw also are an amazing pair of budget speakers.

In short, If I had to choose:

for budget of 10-15k : Wharfedale 9.1 (or maybe the newer 10.1; no downside, extremley versatile speakers, great value for money)

for budget of 15-20k: Dali Lektor 1 (only downside is the small size)

for budget of 20-25k: MA BR2 (downside is overpriced in India and can sound a little muddy on certain tracks; also model is getting old)

Again, this is based on pairing with my NAD C352 amplifier and my taste in music.

Cheers

Hmm...the Image B25 as well as the RS6 are far better speakers than the BR2. And NAD is not a bad pairing for the PSB although I am not so sure about the Monitor Audio. But then a lot depends on our own perceptions as well.

 

[nirrej]

Hi Psychotropic,

Why don't you consider the Mission M31i also in this shootout,
and post your opinion.

Mission and Wharfedale come from the same company IAG.
They have a decent trade agreement with Indian dealers and
hence thier products can be bought in India for the
same price as in UK.

If Mission M31i is really as good as the 5 stars it has got
from an UK based AV mag, then it should be the best
"value for money" Bookshelves, considering it's price tag of around 10K.

 

[psychotropic]

hey nirrej, i know reviews are not conclusive, but the general feedback i've seen all over for the latest line of mission speakers is that while they are good value, they are not very musical, which is why I am not really inclined to try out the Mission models. Also since I've upped my budget to 20k, I am not really looking at the 10k range speakers, unless I hear of something that at 10k performs like a 20k speaker . I arrived at and am updating my shortlist on the basis of non-audition feedback, and now at this late stage i am also a little reluctant to add more candidates , i hope you'll understand.

Hi Psychotropic,

Why don't you consider the Mission M31i also in this shootout,
and post your opinion.

Mission and Wharfedale come from the same company IAG.
They have a decent trade agreement with Indian dealers and
hence thier products can be bought in India for the
same price as in UK.

If Mission M31i is really as good as the 5 stars it has got
from an UK based AV mag, then it should be the best
"value for money" Bookshelves, considering it's price tag of around 10K.

 

[nirrej]

Also since I've upped my budget to 20k, I am not really looking at the 10k range speakers, unless I hear of something that at 10k performs like a 20k speaker .

PSB Alpha B1, MA BR2, WH 9.1, M31i, Ms 902i etc, retail for around 10K(converted into INR) in Europe.
In India we pay an inflated price for PSB's, MA's, etc
So i guess Missions may be not be much inferior in quality to the other
budget bookshelves.

Another thing about Mission M31 is it is slightly bright like MS 902i,
and hence i guess it may complement your NAD amp, which is laidback by nature.

by the way you forgot to audition MS 902i:lol:
i know that you don't want to lengthen your audition list.
but considering that you have spent so much time patiently,
i guess you will buy the time to include these speakers also.

My experience with MS 902i was good. It had a bigger soundstage and better detail than Wh 9.1. The reason i didn't go for Ms 902i was it was slightly bright and hence a "no-no" for my Marantz amp.

 

[psychotropic]

hehe, true true, which is why the Usher S520 that sells at 300-320 pounds (24-25k INR) should be excellent value for 20-21k INR

PSB Alpha B1, MA BR2, WH 9.1, M31i, Ms 902i etc, retail for around 10K(converted into INR) in Europe.
In India we pay an inflated price for PSB's, MA's, etc
So i guess Missions may be not be much inferior in quality to the other
budget bookshelves.

 

[thevortex]

I have heard the Mission M series bookshelves more than once and was not impressed by their musicality - I am afraid. They are by no means bad and they produce impressive bass for their size, but human voices through these speakers were just not that appealing. Such were my impressions.

But they are very good value for money indeed. Their Elegante series looks futuristic with the speakers themselves looking like alien heads. I have not heard them though.

 

[alpha1]

I htink - I have posted this before on this same thread, but try Quads for once (fi your budget is stretching to 25K), esp for vocals.

 

[psychotropic]

hey alpha, my budget is definitely not stretching to 25k, sadly. 20k it remains. I was saying 22k because i really liked the BR2 and had heard it's available at this price, but now i am thinking it would still be irresponsible, so I'll stick to 20k.

I htink - I have posted this before on this same thread, but try Quads for once (fi your budget is stretching to 25K), esp for vocals.

 

[grubyhalo]

...i am thinking it would still be irresponsible, so I'll stick to 20k.

............

 

[thevortex]

hey alpha, my budget is definitely not stretching to 25k, sadly. 20k it remains. I was saying 22k because i really liked the BR2 and had heard it's available at this price, but now i am thinking it would still be irresponsible, so I'll stick to 20k.

psychotropic - forgive me if this is unwarranted. But the items that you are buying will stay with you for a long time for good or for bad. So, spending say another 5 K even if it means waiting for another month or two to save up would be better than getting a cheaper alternative. That would be the way I would look at it. I am not saying that you should splurge and not worry about your budget. Just that you should probably buy the speaker which appeals to you the best in a price range - give or take 3 to 5 K.

 

[psychotropic]

haan absolutely, but that's why i was mentioning that 20k is actually a stretch budget for me. Of course is something costs 22-23k and is significantly superior to my 20k choice i may consider it, but the fact that it is grossly overpriced in India, will also definitely affect my perception of its value. The BR2 was the best of the lot I've heard so far. But I am hoping with all I've got that the Usher will exceed it. Many reliable accounts tell me it will. Let's see

psychotropic - forgive me if this is unwarranted. But the items that you are buying will stay with you for a long time for good or for bad. So, spending say another 5 K even if it means waiting for another month or two to save up would be better than getting a cheaper alternative. That would be the way I would look at it. I am not saying that you should splurge and not worry about your budget. Just that you should probably buy the speaker which appeals to you the best in a price range - give or take 3 to 5 K.

 

[Raghav]

I also feel damn bad paying more for something when you know its true price. Going by international prices of speakers, Wharfedale 10.1 is priced very close to UK Prices. In fact all their models are.

Can we have some sort of speaker price comparison - Indian and UK. This will help us identifying brands which charge an unwarranted premium in India. These would be avoidable brands for me.

Raghav

haan absolutely, but that's why i was mentioning that 20k is actually a stretch budget for me. Of course is something costs 22-23k and is significantly superior to my 20k choice i may consider it, but the fact that it is grossly overpriced in India, will also definitely affect my perception of its value. The BR2 was the best of the lot I've heard so far. But I am hoping with all I've got that the Usher will exceed it. Many reliable accounts tell me it will. Let's see

 

[psychotropic]

excellent idea for a thread Raghav, why don't you start one? We can just fix a markup (or mark down, such as in the case of the Usher) percentage to each speaker, so we can know how overpriced or not they are.

I also feel damn bad paying more for something when you know its true price. Going by international prices of speakers, Wharfedale 10.1 is priced very close to UK Prices. In fact all their models are.

Can we have some sort of speaker price comparison - Indian and UK. This will help us identifying brands which charge an unwarranted premium in India. These would be avoidable brands for me.

Raghav

 

[r s arunachalam]

ADD Polk Audio RTI A3 to the list. MRP-22K but avl. for 18K and Dali Lector 1.

Is it all contains 5.1 speakers i.e front rear and subwoofer
thanks
rsa

 

[Raghav]

excellent idea for a thread Raghav, why don't you start one? We can just fix a markup (or mark down, such as in the case of the Usher) percentage to each speaker, so we can know how overpriced or not they are.

thread started. Needs lots of data to update.

http://www.hifivision.com/speakers/6012-speaker-prices-compared-inr-gbp.html

Raghav

 

[psychotropic]

hey mr. arunachalam, these are prices for pairs (2 speakers), and not for 5.1 setups.

Is it all contains 5.1 speakers i.e front rear and subwoofer
thanks
rsa

 

[thevortex]

Psychotropic - I trust you will be taking your NAD amp along with you for the audition. That is one way to find out how the amp drives the Ushers which are quite low in efficiency.

Look forward to your feedback and all the best on the trip.

 

[saran]

You can get the BR2 for 19k in chennai, the Audio people guys always Over quote the price and when you ask for discount and ready to buy they will come down a bit. last time when I went there for enquiry they quoted 21k for BR2 and then after discount they came down to 18.5K.

hey alpha, my budget is definitely not stretching to 25k, sadly. 20k it remains. I was saying 22k because i really liked the BR2 and had heard it's available at this price, but now i am thinking it would still be irresponsible, so I'll stick to 20k.

 

[thevortex]

You can get the BR2 for 19k in chennai, the Audio people guys always Over quote the price and when you ask for discount and ready to buy they will come down a bit. last time when I went there for enquiry they quoted 21k for BR2 and then after discount they came down to 18.5K.

I can attest to that. It is all about bargaining and haggling there.