Hifi speakers to audition (£2.5k budget)

Bear

Bear

Bear

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I want to upgrade the next piece of kit on my setup. Currently I run a Unison Research Unico CD, Audio Analogue Puccini SE amp and Celef Stratus (bought out by ProAc) speakers.

As stated above, I am going to upgrade my speakers as they are rather old now, the amp will get upgraded aswell but not for a little while yet. I am going to audition some speakers at the local hifi shops this week and wondering if there is anything I should go out of my way and audition.

Currently high on my list to audition at the moment are the Opera Callas Divina (second hand) and Opera Callas. As I intend to get a Unison Research amp, not sure on sticking with the Unico range or going all valve, I thought getting the Opearas would be best partnering wise as its a sister company and they use the amps to sound out the speakers. All the same I feel I should go out and listen to whats on offer at that price point so any recommendations would be helpfull. Thanks.
 
Whatever you do, don't upgrade just because your speakers are a few years old. I really don't think I've seen or heard that much that is genuinely new and actually improves the breed in speaker technology in quite a long time.
Most of the newer speakers are simply jumping on trends, particularly the one towards smaller (more WAF). Whilst that kind of trend has resulted in some quite pretty speakers, it doesn't take away the basic audio physics and limitations.

So I'm going to suggest that you go out and simply have listen to some different types of speakers, to see what type of presentation you prefer, e.g. dynamic driver floorstanders and standmounts, electrostatics, active and horns. All have their own compromises and advantages. At your stage, you simply need to get a handle on what you prefer.
I'm certainly not going to sit here and recommend individual speakers as they are very personal and should be chosen as such. e.g. I've heard plenty of B&W's, and really didn't get on with any of them.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
Whatever you do, don't upgrade just because your speakers are a few years old. I really don't think I've seen or heard that much that is genuinely new and actually improves the breed in speaker technology in quite a long time.
Most of the newer speakers are simply jumping on trends, particularly the one towards smaller (more WAF). Whilst that kind of trend has resulted in some quite pretty speakers, it doesn't take away the basic audio physics and limitations.

So I'm going to suggest that you go out and simply have listen to some different types of speakers, to see what type of presentation you prefer, e.g. dynamic driver floorstanders and standmounts, electrostatics, active and horns. All have their own compromises and advantages. At your stage, you simply need to get a handle on what you prefer.
I'm certainly not going to sit here and recommend individual speakers as they are very personal and should be chosen as such. e.g. I've heard plenty of B&W's, and really didn't get on with any of them.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice :) Its not that the speakers are a few years old, I bought them over 20 years ago and they were about £250. So I decided to upgrade each component with a budget of around £2k for each piece. I only started with the CDP first as my old one was giving up the ghost.
 
Bear said:
Thanks for the advice :) Its not that the speakers are a few years old, I bought them over 20 years ago and they were about £250. So I decided to upgrade each component with a budget of around £2k for each piece. I only started with the CDP first as my old one was giving up the ghost.
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I have to say that whilst I actually believe that source first is still relevant from a spending perspective, that I now believe that choosing the speakers first is the best starting point. Speakers have more variance in their presentation style than other kit (mainly because there are far more ways to "skin the cat"). You then need to find an amp that will mate well with the speakers, then add a source that fits in. So you're actually working the wrong way round.
Either way, do get out to some good dealers for a listen. Some examples of well done kit is:
- Quad ESLs. Still the only serious electrostatic
- Martin Logans. They make some interesting hybrids that attempt to mate the best of electrostatics, with dynamic driver bass units. Done well, they sound great, but need the right amps to prevent major joints showing between the driver technology
- Living Voice horn loaded. Some of my favourite speakers. Nearly have the control of standard dynamic driver speakers, with some of the bite and dynamics of full horns
- Tannoy Horns. Awesome dynamics, but the bigger units tend to suffer from cabinet colouration
- ATC actives. IMO the best way to deal with dynamic driver speakers. Heard several sets of these, always come away impressed.
As mentioned, all of the above have their own pros/cons, you just need to find out which tweaks your fancy.
 
As is often the case, I would echo a lot of Mr_S has said, I still go with source first, but if you after a new sound, then yes, find "your" brand of speaker..... They're hard to find but try some Audio Vector, with the ribbon tweeters, they excellent and do things a bit different from the masses..... Which sadly a lot of speakers follow the heard these days, Bass is just Tub tumpers and zingy treble... A few really involve you, aiming more to be technically good Hi-Fi and forgetting about the music !

To that end I looking at build my own again..... TL design with Ribbon tweeter...ala IPL Acoustic website.
 
As it happens, a chap I know has a paid of homebuilt IPL transmission lines. Certainly couldn't call them shrinking violets. They'd BIG, serious full range speakers and were a lot of fun to listen to. The only slight issue was a timing issue with the bass, which he seemed to think he could solve. Most definitely not WAF.
 
Well today I went out to a local hifi shop to audition a few things in the shop. I looked on their web site and saw that there wasnt anything that really excited me but I thought I would go and see just in case to keep an open mind and all that, so I took my CDP and a handfull of CDs and off I went.

This isnt meant to be a review but more some mental notes. ;)

First up was the B&W 805, they were connected up to a Linn Klimax pre/power and using my Unico CD as the source. These sounded pretty good considering I never really like the B&W sound but then that was quite a few years ago and I really havent bothered with them any more since then. Being stand mounts, they didnt really have the bass extention I have been used to, due to having floorstanders.

Next was the Spendor A6. I didnt like these at all coming off the B&W 805. They sounded very thin and the mid/treble sounded rather veiled.

A pair of Linn Magik 104 was up next. These sounded a vast improvement on the Spendors, perhaps they were a better match with the amps due to being Linn. The mids and treble sounded clear and crisp but thought the bass sounded rather boxy if that makes any sense which killed them for me.

Finally a pair of B&W 804s. These sounded the best of the bunch IMO with considerably more punch compared with the 805 being a floorstander yet retaining the sweetness of the treble of the smaller speaker.

Not really sure any of the speakers have really sold it to me TBH and considering the price point, they really didnt make me feel I would be getting something vastly superior for the money. I did get a good audition of all 3 Linn DS boxes and was very impressed with the jump in sound quality from each one but then the cost of each model up is considerably more, especially the Klimax version. Will seriously consider getting the Akurate DS version in the future though.
 
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:D ..... DS is good innit ...... I have the Akurate version, but without the latest power supply upgrade which is top on my list to have done....

For speakers have a read through this thread ......
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=16162702&posted=1#post16162702. Lots discussed....

Re IPL Mr_S... I'm looking at the ones with small 5" drivers, for better transient speed and dynamics..... small room any way, currently with Kabers.
 
Bear,
Everything you've just tried are simply standard dynamic driver speakers. As mentioned, they're all just slight variances on the same theme and there won't be a huge difference. Get out there to try something genuinely different. If you're anywhere near Nottingham, try Definitive Audio, they have some ace kit.
 
9designs2 said:
:D ..... DS is good innit ...... I have the Akurate version, but without the latest power supply upgrade which is top on my list to have done....

For speakers have a read through this thread ......
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?p=16162702&posted=1#post16162702. Lots discussed....

Re IPL Mr_S... I'm looking at the ones with small 5" drivers, for better transient speed and dynamics..... small room any way, currently with Kabers.
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Thanks for the link to that thread, I have already been looking at it :D So far I have found places to audition some:

Focal 1027s
Opera Callas
Opera Grand Callas
Diapason Adamantes III
Diapason Karis
Living Voice Auditorium 2
ProAc Response D28

Im having trouble soucing places that do some of the speakers you have listed unless I travel into London and I hate going into London.:o
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
Bear,
Everything you've just tried are simply standard dynamic driver speakers. As mentioned, they're all just slight variances on the same theme and there won't be a huge difference. Get out there to try something genuinely different. If you're anywhere near Nottingham, try Definitive Audio, they have some ace kit.
Click to expand...

I understand what you are saying, its just a matter of finding a place that does something different. Unfortunately most places do the same old stuff and I only really went out to this place to set a line to work from as I havent really been out to look at anything at this price point before. That said, Im off to Noteworthy in Aylesbury this week and they have some horns.
 
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