Actives around £300????

[Cool Dude Ted]

Evening all.
Step-father’s (big) birthday coming up. He loves his music and currently has a fairly basic TT, RPi4 and a Topping DAC. These output to a pair of Audioengine 5 powered speakers (these are powered not actives).
Close family members looking to club together to buy him something special but we will have budget constraints.
If we swap out the powered speakers, then we either have to go with an amp and passives or go to actives.
I have zero experience of actives, although have heard a few names bandied about when reading various threads.
Am I kidding myself to think that there might be a pair of decent actives around the £300 mark which would be a step up from what he has now?
Thanks

 

[Andy Stephenson]

Evening all.
Step-father’s (big) birthday coming up. He loves his music and currently has a fairly basic TT, RPi4 and a Topping DAC. These output to a pair of Audioengine 5 powered speakers (these are powered not actives).
Close family members looking to club together to buy him something special but we will have budget constraints.
If we swap out the powered speakers, then we either have to go with an amp and passives or go to actives.
I have zero experience of actives, although have heard a few names bandied about when reading various threads.
Am I kidding myself to think that there might be a pair of decent actives around the £300 mark which would be a step up from what he has now?
Thanks

Ruark MR1 Mk2 £350ish

There are plenty others cheaper than this. Just Google "active speakers uk" loads of choice!

Andy

 

[bencat]

Appreciate it is a present but would used be an option ? If so it would open up the choices and the sound quality .

 

[Cool Dude Ted]

Appreciate it is a present but would used be an option ? If so it would open up the choices and the sound quality .

Hi Andrew.
Good to chat again.
Yes, used would be an option if I could somehow be sure about previous use/condition/reliability, etc.
For obvious reasons, I’d prefer new (even open box) but given that his current speakers are 2nd user (they were mine many moons ago), I don’t think used would be an insurmountable stumbling block.
Thanks
Stuart

 

[Cool Dude Ted]

Ruark MR1 Mk2 £350ish

There are plenty others cheaper than this. Just Google "active speakers uk" loads of choice!

Andy

Thanks Andy. I appreciate the reply.
Stuart

 

[Andy Stephenson]

Thanks Andy. I appreciate the reply.
Stuart

If second hand and passive are ok there's any amount of choice on eBay and Facebook marketplace.

Andy

 

[bencat]

In that case there are a pair of Tannoy good monitors on eBay look in excellecondition and buy it now price of £300 . I think they would be a very good choice. Apologies going this on a tablet and not worked out how to do copy and paste . Just put death in for tannoy active speakers they will come up.

 

[Cool Dude Ted]

Passives would be Ok but only if I can source both speakers and amp for max £300.
Actives are probably the best way forward here.

 

[Cool Dude Ted]

I’ve just come across Q Acoustics M20s and would be interested to know if anyone has any first hand experience.
QA passives seem to be well thought of by many and it seems logical to me that their actives/powered offering may be similarly regarded.
Thanks

 

[bencat]

If they are anything like the passive they will be very good and offer great sound quality .

 

[DomT]

Passives would be Ok but only if I can source both speakers and amp for max £300.
Actives are probably the best way forward here.

Any new studio active monitors at this price are not going to be great and really would only work nearfield. I like the idea of the QAcoustics. I used to own a pair of 3020 and they were amazing. This is probably about as good as you will get at the price. A complete no brainer.

Otherwise I would be tempted by something vintage (Nad 3020 and Wharfdale Diamonds) but it’s always a bit of a risk.

 

[Tintinabulum]

18 bit Meridian DSP 5000s. 24 bit for a few dollars more. Fab sounding.

 

[Pedro2]

JBL 308p around £400 new but judging from the reviews probably the best value for money.

 

[bencat]

18 bit Meridian DSP 5000s. 24 bit for a few dollars more. Fab sounding.

Depends on what you call a few dollars ? Think to buy a decent pair of those speakers it is around £600 which is double the budget ,but I do agree these would be huge step up in quality just a little out of reach .

 

[Cool Dude Ted]

Thank you to all.
I’ve done a bit more digging, watched a few YT videos and read a couple of reviews and it looks as though the QA M20s are probably going to be my best bet for the money available.

 

[Andy Stephenson]

Thank you to all.
I’ve done a bit more digging, watched a few YT videos and read a couple of reviews and it looks as though the QA M20s are probably going to be my best bet for the money available.

Another happy customer!

Andy

 

[bencat]

Great stuff Stuart hope you can find a bargain open box in the time you have I think it will be a really great gift and up the sound quality a great deal .

 

[Chumpchops]

Evening all.
Step-father’s (big) birthday coming up. He loves his music and currently has a fairly basic TT, RPi4 and a Topping DAC. These output to a pair of Audioengine 5 powered speakers (these are powered not actives).
Close family members looking to club together to buy him something special but we will have budget constraints.
If we swap out the powered speakers, then we either have to go with an amp and passives or go to actives.
I have zero experience of actives, although have heard a few names bandied about when reading various threads.
Am I kidding myself to think that there might be a pair of decent actives around the £300 mark which would be a step up from what he has now?
Thanks

I also had A5s. Nice powered speakers, But I swapped them out for iLoud micro minis, also with a Topping e30 dac, fed by streamer. Sounds great. I them upgraded these to the iLoud MTMs. With dsp etc. even better and detailed worth the extra.

 

[Chumpchops]

ILoid Micro Monitors. These are powerful and precise little speakers that fill the room nicely. They are not party speakers, but have enough DSP enhanced bass to groove when needed. Pairs well with the Topping E30, which also offers a little tunability through its filters. they are much admired in that ‘ I can’t believe such little speakers can throw out that sound’ way.


The iLoud MMS are somewhat of a bargain at £270 a pair, the larger MTMs less so at £540. Worth a punt, as you can see from pics, I also had the Audioengine A2s, of which the kids threw a cone after 8 years service. The MMS are in a different league for quality. I also auditioned the Ruarks MR1 (albeit in John Lewis). But they did not offer as much wow as the iLouds imho.

worth a punt

 

[Cool Dude Ted]

ILoid Micro Monitors. These are powerful and precise little speakers that fill the room nicely. They are not party speakers, but have enough DSP enhanced bass to groove when needed. Pairs well with the Topping E30, which also offers a little tunability through its filters. they are much admired in that ‘ I can’t believe such little speakers can throw out that sound’ way.


The iLoud MMS are somewhat of a bargain at £270 a pair, the larger MTMs less so at £540. Worth a punt, as you can see from pics, I also had the Audioengine A2s, of which the kids threw a cone after 8 years service. The MMS are in a different league for quality. I also auditioned the Ruarks MR1 (albeit in John Lewis). But they did not offer as much wow as the iLouds imho.

worth a punt

Thanks for your opinions and photos. I appreciate you taking the time.
Although I’m probably not going to go for the MMS for my step father, I’m wondering if they could do a job for me as kitchen speakers with a Raspberry Pi as source.
At the moment, music for the kitchen comes from a pair of floorstanders in the adjacent dining room through an open door.