Absolute Best Speakers For ~£200 S/H?

danza

danza

danza

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As per title really. I need some new speakers.

I have a 12'x16' listening room, and my current speakers are damaged. They were smallish standmounters (Totem Rokk), but this time I'd like something a bit beefier, be it standmounters again or floorstanders. Age doesn't bother me (well, nothing more than say 12 years old), neither does the make. I listen to all genres, but mainly rock/electro/funk.

I've seen Mission 782's go for this kind of price and Monitor Audio Studio S6's aswell. I quite like the look of the Wharfedale Pacific Evo 2 range, but I'm not so sure how well they'd perform (remember, my Totems were rather good speakers and cost £700 ish new, so ideally I'd like something of comparable quality).

I have an old Incatech Claymore late 80's amp at 50wpc. It's a pretty dynamic amp, but I think it did struggle a little with the Totems (not quite the easiest load). I have a Naim CD 3.5 as main source, so sound is fast and punchy at the mo, if lacking bass.

Fire away :)
 
I've found a pair of Tannoy R3's that I think I might have a look at. I just think they're a step back from my Totems, but they'll be an easier load and better suited to my room.
 
Best is such a difficult word when it comes to audio. There is so much personal taste to take into account, and balancing the overall system the speakers are a very powerfull tool for changing the sound.

I've been using Mission 753's for years, and love the sound they make, but it's totally different to big Tannoys for example.

Im not sure about the 782's but a lot of missions have a tendancy to have a nominal impedance of 6ohms, but they drop a lot lower than that when being driven hard.. They are not a particularly easy load. Yeah, they are pretty high efficiency, so they go loud, but the to keep the bass under control, I'm using 125W Monoblock amps, which are able to kick out 200+W @2ohms when required.

Monitor Audio, and Tannoy are both good brands of speakers, although Tannoy have gone though both good and bad spells with their entry and mid level speakers (Thier high end has been pretty consistant, assuming you like the tannoy family sound).

Older Mission speakers are nice, but Mission were bought by IAG, which is the same company that owns Wharfdale, and quite a few other HiFi companies now :(. IAG seem to cut a lot of corners, using cheaper componants and using far east labour to keep the prices down... But im not convinced the quality is as good as the original brand names were.
 
I know, I shouldn't have asked for the absolute best - HiFi is far too subjective to get an answer that would suit my tastes. Anyway, I'm off to pick up a pair of Tannoy R3's, so hopefully I'll get along with them.

Just need to look at a new, slightly ballsier amp in the near future I think.

Cheers ;)
 
Why don't you repair the Totem ?............ I was able to drive Celestion SL6s with my Claymore, and then some EPOS14's. The celeston's must have been the mother of all difficult to drive speakers !
Try and find a pair of Linn Katan or Tukan to try as an alternative Bookshelf speaker. Also look at the Dynaudio range, 42's for book shelf.
My old Inca tech is currently driving a pair of Linn Keilidh, but I these lack refinement in my view for what you would be after. But still a cheap, meaty floor stander.

Have you moded the Inca tech, with a few simple mods (there are some brave ones about :eek:) it becomes a giant killer !!!.............it's a very musical amp.
 
I'd repair the Totems, but I want a change really (I do miss the bass of my previous floorstanders TBH). I won't get rid of the Rokks, I may repair them if I get bored in the future (maybe soon if I don't get on well with the Tannoys).

Anyway, I can't believe you have a Claymore! You're the only other person I've ever come accross with one! The problem with mine is it used to drive the speakers with a pair of decent Audioquest leads. I had to have a major shuffle of my gear though, and now the cables I have are 6m a side. I noticed the amp struggling then, or at least a significant loss in performance of the Totems. They're a 4ohm nominal load, and somewhat inefficient (86db IIRC), so probably could do with something a bit meatier really.

The Claymore is standard, although I did fit a new ALPS pot to it when I got the thing (!). I will look at modding the Tannoys if I get along with them - I'm sure there will be room for improvement, whereas the Totems were already pretty sorted for Xover componentry and wiring.
 
Well I don't quite have the Claymore anymore, it's still in the family as I moved it on to my Parents when I "upgraded" it. I did buy it new when they were the mutts nuts, and preferred it to the NAIT and Intek.

I eventually replaced it with a Linn Kairn (new just after they came out) and a LK280 Spark power amp. I tried a the older LK1/Dirak/LK280 and a exposure 7/8/9 and the Claymore was better !!!! Simply more musical.
Then did dem of the Kairn, and NAIM's 42/Hicap/140, and went the Linn route.
This was an upgrade in HiFi terms, but musical the Claymore was not giving much away. It was only when the Kairn got the Switch Mode Power Supply update that I think it really distanced it's self.

The mod I did was to replace all of the crimp connection inside (look like they came from Halfords, and belonged on a car bodge job !) with soldered joints, and uses some NAC4 speaker cable inside... So the joints were on the transformer and switch assy. Can't remember if there were any signal leads to update.
There are more adventurous mods, replacing capacitors etc, but as these amps are know to be a bit fragile on the main board, I wouldn't risk it myself.

This transformed the amp, it simple became incredibly musical, smooth and clean sounding.

If you want to replace it, I would say your looking at pre-power set ups, circ 1.5K !!

I would say the CD3.5/Moded Claymore/and Linn KansII would be superb "Classic" 80's set up that musical would be very difficult to beat short of spending many thousands more !

As for "my" Claymore, I hope one day to have it back !! ...and try it again in perhaps a spare room. I'm sure as it's just my Mum now she would like an all in one box to tidy up the lounge ;)!!!


PS..... when I had it was always used with vinyl, Linn Axis then LP12. Before the days of owning a CD player !!!
 
When choosing speakers its important you try and listen before you buy as they are both system and room dependent. I've heard speakers sound great in a shop and terrible in a home environment in a different system and room!
 
marl said:
When choosing speakers its important you try and listen before you buy as they are both system and room dependent. I've heard speakers sound great in a shop and terrible in a home environment in a different system and room!
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I must admit to being the type that normally buys on a whim! I rarely demo stuff properly, and when buying second hand through a private seller, it's nigh on impossible to get a proper demo in your home environment. I'll update later when the Tannoys are in my hands...
 
Well, I now have a pair of tannoy R3's looming in the lounge. I picked them up last night from a guy who had moved to an apartment and had to downsize to a pair of Quad 11L2's. Nice bloke he was too.

Anyway, initial impressions: They're loud. Very loud. They have twin 6" bass drivers, one for mid range, the other for low frequency fun. I can't believe I was satisfied with so little bass before, with my totems only having a single 5" driver. The Tannoys go much, much lower than the Rokks, and much lower than my previous Wharfedale Emerald floorstanders.

The Tannoys project a reasonable sounstage, with fairly accurate imaging, and no sign of sibilance so far. The Totems were better on both accounts, but in no way can they match the sheer scale of the Tannoys. Vocals are less explicit with the Tannoys, which I think is partly due to the silk tweeter, VS the titanium one on the Rokks (which were slightly hissy and bright on occasions).

Bass was better controlled on the Totems, which I expected due to their diminutive size when next to the R3's. The Tannoys are still pretty punchy though in the same frequency range as the Totems. Damn though, the R3's go low. I was listening to Nelly Furtado earlier, I can't remember the track, but it had an organ in the intro - it almost pinned me back!

The finish isn't as good on the R3's, which isn't surprising as the Totems cost more and are much smaller. The R3's cabinets are better built though, using thicker material (looks like 1" MDF). I'm planning on mass-loading the R3's (I have a little sand, but not enough - will get some more). I will also look into rewiring them internally and possibly replace any dire crossover components, if there are any. I'm also going to make a pair of plinths that widen the footprint on the speakers (they're quite unsteady), and will also allow them to be bolted to the floorboards to help 'tighten' the bass, especially at high volumes.
 
Are you using spikes on the R3's or just soft feet? Properly adjusted spikes make floorstanding speakers a lot more stable, even tall narrow speakers like the R3's.

Quite a few Tannoy's seem to have the option for mass loading, seems to improve the sound quite a bit. The old Tannoy DC3000's sounded much better when the mass loading chamber was full.
 
The Tannoy R3's are spiked to the floorboards. However, theyr'e quite unstable, so I am making some plinths for them with the view to increase their footprint and possibly screw them down to the floor.

They are mass loaded, but the chambers aren't full. I'm getting some more sand to top them up. I'm also planning to internally rewire with some braided high quality PTFE insulated equipment wire to the tweeters, and some QED XT stuff to the mid/bass.

Hopefully this will help bring out the laid back top end a little. I might look at replacing any nasty crossover components too, but not quite yet.
 
danza said:
Bass was better controlled on the Totems, which I expected due to their diminutive size when next to the R3's. The Tannoys are still pretty punchy though in the same frequency range as the Totems. Damn though, the R3's go low. I was listening to Nelly Furtado earlier, I can't remember the track, but it had an organ in the intro - it almost pinned me back!
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Childhood dreams;) whoever said music doesnt have much sub 30hz content has never heard a pipe organ lol
 
denon said:
i dont see any mention of b&w 602 s3 which are worth a listen.
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I used to love these speakers, and now for some reason, I can't stand their appearance (I know the wife would hate them too). Not sure what they sound like, but it's too late now anyway!

james.miller said:
Childhood dreams whoever said music doesnt have much sub 30hz content has never heard a pipe organ lol
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That's the one. Good track it is too. R3's go down to 39hz, not quite that low, but still pretty low all the same :D
 
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