Dont know what to do.

[Mart]

Some of you may have seen that my B&W's are up in the classifieds as I think its time I moved on to a smaller pair of speakers as I seem to have too much bass for the size of my room.

Thing is. . .

I havent a bloody clue what to go for, the Bee & Dubs are open and detailed in the treble, but because of the amount of bass the mids always seems a bit recessed.

I'm thinking ofthe likes of Ruark Etudes / Templers, Dynaudio 42 / 52, or maybe something from Castle or Rega, not sure.

Any ideas chaps?

ART stiletto, don't get a home dem at yer peril

[Effem]

I personally thought the B&W 603's I bought had a peculiar frequency response that I couldn't live with, that's why I sold them. Tried all sorts of positions, bungs in and bungs out, yet I couldn't get then to sound right at all, much preferring the cheapo Scott speakers I bought off ebay.

I do like the sound of Ruark speakers and wasn't overwhelmed with what I had previosly heardfrom Rega speakers until we blew the cobwebs out of Mr Wigwam's Juras

[paulberry]

I think B&W is a bad buy but with the publicity they do many thinking is a best buy.
It's time do not buy B&W more.
Check Mordaunt Short 906.Or the incredible Usher 520.Or Quad11l.

[Umberto]

I second the recommendation for the little Art stilettos. V nice speakers.

[Effem]

I see there is a pair of PMC's listed on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PMC-GB1-Speake...QQcmdZViewItem

with a sensible Buy It Now price too, although don't know about delivery. chat up Papa Lazarou to wrap them up for you if the guy can't/won't post.

Now there's one area we could help each other out up and down the country . . . . .

[dudywoxer]

The PMC's effen pointed you at would be a good buy, there are also two sets of older Rega's on e-bay ay the moment. If you want new try and have a listen to a set of R3' and R5's from Regas new range, although I understand that there may be a short wait to get them at the moment as the sales volume has caught Rega by surprise. They are a totally different sound the the B&W's. to my old ears much more involving, much quicker, a fair bit clearer (Bright????) not as pronounced in the bass, but it is still present. Nice top end.

[kennyk]

Umberto Vanni wrote:

I second the recommendation for the little Art stilettos. V nice speakers.

I third it, but would also recommend the Expression V6s as worth a listen too. After hearing the Expression V6s I found the Stilletto 6s were less detailed. depends on whether you think it's worth nearly doubling the price... Vivid Audio B1 is a great fun speaker too, but it's getting to silly money at that price.

[The Strat]

What amp have you got Mart - if you have power you could consider 2nd hand 1.3 Contours?

[Biscuit]

i'm going to have to say stiletto's :sw:

I have an incredibly small room Mart, and the stiletto's are pretty much perfect. Small footprint, easy to position, plenty of bass (lol) and superb mid range. Will deficate all over the B&W's.

[hifiwigwam]

I'm saying Rega R7.

[Jezzer]

Dynaudio Contour 1.3mk2! I used to have a pair of DM603 s2's. They were sold in three months. Great bass but a very restrained balance. Splashy treble. Not neutral at all!

There's a used pair of Contour's for sale on the HFC forum. A bargain,with dedicated Dynaudio stands (RRP £265), at under £595. The speaker alone has an RRP of £1,200. Popular speakers as, apartfrom my good self of course,Curtis, Kirk (Picard) andRay70 also own a pair...

[ray70]

Jezzer wrote:

Dynaudio Contour 1.3mk2! I used to have a pair of DM603 s2's. They were sold in three months. Great bass but a very restrained balance. Splashy treble. Not neutral at all!

There's a used pair of Contour's for sale on the HFC forum. A bargain,with dedicated Dynaudio stands (RRP £265), at under £595. The speaker alone has an RRP of £1,200. Popular speakers as, apartfrom my good self of course,Curtis, Kirk (Picard) andRay70 also own a pair...

Indeed I do, and they are a stunning pair of speakers. Thumping bass and open detailed midrange. Be weary of the advert in HFC though - the seller doesn't specify that they are the Mk2 version. TBH though, I'm not sure what the difference is between the Mk1 and Mk2s.

[Picard]

second - or is it third - dyns 1.3IIs. better than others suggested in this thread IMHO; however, it looks like i might be upgradingmy speakersso if you are interested in a potential bargain,PM me.

[Sony6million]

Check my post in the classifieds. What electronics are you using?

[jon]

You could also listen to the slim floorstanders Opera do - nice midrange and decent bass for the size (nothing floorshaking, but with a bit of a kick and nice and tight and tuneful), but seem to cope with being badly placed in odd-shaped small rooms without getting boomy.

btw, if you wind up temporarily speakerless after flogging your B&Ws let me know - might have a pair of standmounts you could borrow while shopping for replacements...

Jon

[Hawk]

What source and electronics are you using? How big is the listening room and how will/are the speakers positioned???

Whatever you decide, dont under estimate the importance of good set up and make sure you hear them in your own room..

Hawk

[Mart]

Thanks for all the replies guys and thanks to Jon for the offer of the lend of some speaks, much apreciated

I was looking at those Stilletto's AK, and going by what people say of em I'm pissed coz they're out of my price range at the moment, hoo hum

The amp I'm using is a Marantz PM 7200 and I'm using a 300 squid Marantz DV 4300 for both cd and dvd replay, found a setting on that turns of all the video circuitry for "optimum cd replay" the manual says, and makes quite a difference, the general idea is to add a dac when wonga is available.

Anyhoo

This afternoon I took myself of to The Hifi Exchange (more lately known as Turntable World) in Darlington, and I'm glad I did.

Spoke to Simon (owner/gaffer/boss) and he sent me home with two new pairs of speakers and a pair of stands and said try em for a week, didnt even ask for a deposit, I was gobsmacked, what a smashing bloke and he knows his stuff.

The speaks are (que P Berry ;))

Usher S-520's, (bit of a minature proac clone) and Revolver RW-16's.

I put the Ushers on first (wow), thentried the RW-16's for a while but they didnt hold my attention for long compared to the Ushers.

The S-520's are tiny, and I didnt thinks small speakers could sound like this, I've been sat listening to them since 3 pm and its now after 4 in the morning, and I still dont want to pack in.

Theyre in a lovely birch veneer thats finished to a very high standard, build quality overall is excellent and Im enthralled with them, so I think theyre gonna be here for quite a while, erm, that is, if someone will amputate my itchy upgrade finger

http://www.usheraudio.com/speaker-s520.html

[purplepleaser]

hi mart, may isuggest having a listen tothe proac response 1sc, they have a brilliant treble,mid anda goodamount of bass for a small speaker. a lot of the reviews of my speaker say that they are the best in around that price range. you can have a look on ebay as they are on sometimes. these speakers really sound the business i listened to some b&w, castle and others around the same money but nothing compared. the treble and mid blew everything away the bass goes lowish but it has speed and attack. i can not recommend these little speaker enough, i have asked on here and hfc about upgrading my system but not my little proacs.i think that i would have to doublethe cost atleast to get what i like from another speaker. these speakers in a small 13ft by 12ft room sound amazing. if you can, go and listen...........lee

[The Strat]

Mart - brilliant. I'm interested in what you say about hi-fi x in Darlington because I would at some point like to upgrade the arm on my LP12 and he might be the place to go if I was confident he would do a good set-up. Hell of a journey from Buckingham though!

Have you had any sleep yet?!

Lindsay