Ideas for Front speakers

[silentsound]

Hi,

New to this forum. Looking for new front speakers to improve the sound quality. Listen to mostly indian music, occationally 80's rock and movies both english and regional.

My current system is:

Sony PFM42PV1 (only DVI without hdcp, no HDMI)
Yamaha RX-V1500
CA DV89 (DVI out hacked to ignore hdcp) dvd player
Mission 701s, 77c1, 77ds(4) for surround and back
Velodyne SPL1200R sub
Marantz CD6002(waiting for delivery)

Looking to replace the 8 year old Mission 701s first then may be the center.

Listening room size 20*18*21(double height ceiling)

My budget is around 50k.

Any suggestion will be appreciated.

silentsound.

 

[dinyaar]

hi,
Buy my speakers(B&W 603 S3) for about that amount hahaha. Whar speakers are u shortlisting? What have u heard? As speakers are a very personal choice. I like B&W some may not. But they have some 601s and 602s at discounted prices which are both very capable stand mounts which i would consider. Regards

 

[silentsound]

Thanks dinyaar.

Being in Coimbatore its hard to audition any speakers at all. There aren't many demo rooms available here. There is a new showroom with psb speakers and NAD components and I'm not sure how psb spkrs sound with my Yamaha.

Based on what I read in different audio forums, Floorstanders doesn't suit the ht environment. Since I have decent sub I thought I could go for a standmount.

One speaker I'm thinking about is the new B&W 685. This is completely based on various reviews I read. I know I shouldn't be buying the speakers like this but I don't see much choice here.

I'm planning to be in Chennai later this month and I'm hoping to listen to some Monitor Audio or Mission speakers. The problem with MAs are the 6ohms impedence. I'm not sure how it will sound with my other 8 ohms speakers.

I'm hoping folks in this forum who have a yamaha receiver will point me in the right direction. Lets see.

Cheers.

 

[dinyaar]

hi,
Psb speakers are good too. I like the image 45 which is a tower and at a decent price. The standmounts in the same image range are not impressive at all. My knowledge on HT and AV receivers is not great so will not comment on ur Yamaha receiver. Though go for the PSB if u like a laid back sound. Since u mention the B&W 685 (45000/-) i would go and hear the earlier 601s(21000/-) or 602(26000/-). The 685 is the new 600 series and replaces the 601 and 602 and to my ears the tonality of all these speakers is similar with all having certain plusses and minuses. But since its so close in performance and such a vast difference in price(older series heavily discounted in BBay) i would buy the older series and save the money for some other audio component upgrade.Another thing to note though it may not matter to some is that the new 600 series is the first to be made in china and not in the UK like all other B&W speakers. Regards and good luck

 

[dinyaar]

Hi,
To add a bit more i dont agree that floorstanders dont suit HT. Maybe the case in a small room but in ur case it will be ok. In a small room the bass from the floorstanders may overwhelm.
Secondly to my knowledge the Yamaha s at least the ones i had seen earlier had an impedance selector on the back panel so i dont see the problem in driving a package consisting of 6 ohm and 8 ohm speakers.

Please do not buy anything until u hear it and hear it for some time to avoid heart ache later. Dont rush things. All this will be available at all times. The PSB and Nad are sold in bombay at LAKOZY and he has the image series. Other speakers to try are the Quads 11L and 12L.They are now old but pretty good. Also hear the KEFs. The IQ series (IQ 5) are ok too.
Hope this helps.

 

[silentsound]

I appreciate you taking time to give some valuable advice. Especially about taking time to listen to the speaker before decide. I'm concerned about that too.

My thinking about not using a flrstdrs in ht setup is that when you have a sub to handle < 80hz frequencies, why do you need your fronts to have that capability. Unless otherwise you like that kind of bass. I can understand in a two speaker hi-fi setup you definitely need flrstdrs to hear the low frequencies. Thats my opinion. May be we could start a new thread to get other opinions too.

I didn't know about the new 6 series being made in China, not that I have anything against it. But it should have cost them less to make it in China. I hope they refined that much to charge 45k.

I heard the KEF IQ5s in PROFX showroom in Chennai sometime ago and I didn't like it much. I thought the bass was little muddy and not tight enough.

Being where I am, I'm unable to audition many speakers. When I visit Chennai later this month I'm planning to visit as many showrooms as possible. Lets see.

One question for you. Why are you selling your spkrs? I thought those are pretty good speakers.

 

[silentsound]

Sorry. Looks like I clicked the submit twice. Duplicate message.

 

[dinyaar]

Hi,
Ya the 603 is a good floorstander for the price but unless u position them properly the bass can overwhelm. My listening area now is very small and i cant really seperate them far enough apart or away from the rear walls as a result i get a heavy sound which does not suit my taste and ears.

So i am looking for a stand mount which i will better suit my 8 X 12 room aesthetically and sonically. And by upgrading to a 705 or 805 (both of which i like) i wont miss a floorstander.

Regards

 

[Colecutter]

I have found that for smaller to medium-size rooms bookshelf or monitor speakers work best. And in any case they image better than floorstanders, and most of the time you don't miss the 20-30 Hz frequencies unless you're into the disco/techno kind of music, or yes, the lowest piano notes. If you're in the market for the new 805S by B&W, you may also wish to audition the ProAc Response 1SC.

 

[dinyaar]

hi,
Couldn"t agree more about small rooms and standmounts. Unfortunately i learnt the hard way. As regards the pro acs have heard a small monitor (cant be sure of the model) which was very musical but i prefer the 805s. Thanks anyway.

 

[PbR]

Hi,

Marantz CD6002(waiting for delivery)
silentsound.

At what rate did you get your CD6002?

Thanks

 

[silentsound]

Hi,

The price told to me was around 23k. But the problem is I'm still waiting for the player. They don't have black colour in stock but they do have silver though.

 

[PbR]

Thanks, I will check in Chennai next week, as I am out of town now....I would pick silver!

 

[Absolute Phase]

Some of the amazing bookshelf ProAc's are the new award winning Studio 110, Tablette Ref 8 & Ref 8 Signature, their best reference bookshelf is the Responce 1sc.

A new one in the responce is the D 2 model.

Rgds

Prithvi

 

[silentsound]

After listening to Elac FS 58, FS127, Polk Audio RTi10, RTi8 and Monitor Audio BR5 I ended up buying Monitor Audio RS6. I liked the clarity, image and of course the price (49k).

Mean time the cd player Marantz cd6002(20.5k) also arrived. Out of curiosity I just connected the cd player alone with my existing speaker for a weak to see any difference. It made a significant difference compare to my dvd player CA dvd89. The bass had a bit more punch to it and overall lot more musical than before.

Its almost a weak since I connected my new speakers also and the soundstage is getting better everyday as I start with almost the same cd. Even the pure direct mode is producing enough bass comparable to my sub in direct mode.

I didn't want to keep my old Mission 701s and Sharp DVD/VCR player sitting idle. I found a pair of used NAD 1240 pre-amp and 2150 power amp for 8k and connected them with my old Mission speaker. Even this setup produces great amount of detail and punch in my slightly smaller bedroom.

Now I'm thinking of getting two used identical power amps to biamp my Monitor Audio RS6s. The search continues...

Cheers,
SilentSound.

 

[PbR]

I too got the RS-6 recently, but am waiting for the CD6002. Have another option as I plan to connect the digital out from the CDP to the (again, recently bought) Paradisea DAC, on to the amp!

 

[silentsound]

What amp do you use?

SilentSound.

 

[PbR]

An old Marantz PM-57....