Bedroom 2.0 setup for TV, Movies and music.

[willhub]

Hi,

I'm contemplating keeping my CEOL PICCOLO DRA N5 amp and putting it in the bedroom and looking for some speakers that have reasonably good bass for their size or rather mid range and good quality.

Possibly considering second hand and would like to spend at Max a hundred quid.

My main setup has Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s so maybe something around that level, if Ican get something in that price range better then I'd put the wharfedale in the bedroom and the new speakers in the main room.

Cheers.

 

[FurryLemon]

https://www.richersounds.com/jbl-speakers-per-pair.html

 

[hornetstinger]

If you like the wharfedale sound stick to the brand?

 

[willhub]

Those JBLs seem a bit small? Yea nowt wrong with the wharfedale but the 9.1s ain't sold and I want to make sure I'm getting best value for money

 

[Broken Hope]

https://www.richersounds.com/q-acoustics-q3020-matte-graphite.html

 

[a1ex2001]

You can still get the 9.1's on ebay new for a little over £100 or go second hand and save a few quid!

 

[lucid]

The problem here is that Diamond 9.1 are really quite good speakers for what they are. Something designed to sell at £200 - and with a parts- and build-quality to match - that had been around long enough for the price to be so heavily discounted that it ended up as a £120 speaker. It's a tough act to follow.

New £120 speakers struggle to compete; they're designed with a retail price of £120 in mind, so parts- and build-quality reflects that, and so does the performance. Speakers designed to sell for £200 or so, but again heavily discounted, is what you need to go toe-to-toe with the strengths of the Diamonds. You're unlikely to find that new for under £100, but maybe close to it with the Diamond 220 at £120. But that's a sideways move or possibly a slight downgrade IMO.

Older speakers - used? Sure, but what?

 

[hornetstinger]

Yeah those 9.1 are highly rated speakers and looking at £100 budget so not much choice. Saying that I bought mint condition Celestion A1 triple bar table drivers for £125 and those originally sold for £900. Mega bargains like that don't turn up often

 

[lucid]

Yep, rare fish occasionally swim past.

Looking around at what's on Ebay - and bearing in mind that these are to be driven by a Piccolo, so there's not a lot of power on tap - then it's a toss-up between something small and more recent with a bass reflex port, or something much older which is likely to be sealed box (Infinite Baffle) and possibly sounds quite bass-light.

There are some exceptions from the 80's that might be worth a look; Celestion Ditton 2 and Tannoy Mercury MKI and MKII (all 89-90dB, bass reflex) and under £100. It's then a question of where they are and what the condition is like. The Tannoys would sound okay, they're not too forward on the top end from memory. Don't know about the Ditton 2s though.

Kef Q1s perhaps? Sensitive, wide dispersion, reasonable bass for a small box but a bit chesty sounding. Again, wouldn't be too critical of the Piccolo's limitations. Nice-looking speakers too, IMO

 

[a1ex2001]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F183685893328

 

[willhub]

Seems like the 9.1's might be easy to obtain so I'm getting the impression I should stick with those, they'll be adequate for the bedroom too.

What about these https://www.audioaffair.co.uk/wharf...MIzqabgOue5wIVBbTtCh0nywpQEAkYBiABEgLvOfD_BwE the 10.1? Or would that be a sidegrade?

I wouldn't mind looking second hand but seems like people use and abuse their speakers, I remember when I was looking at a second hand Monolith, the dust cap on the sub was bashed in, seems a common occurrence and even seen damaged 9.1's.

 

[aoaaron]

For the bedroom, I think active speakers are just plain simpler and convienant and the sound quality loss is indistinguishable for casual listening.

Check out the edifier speakers. If you don't like them, return them but I think you'll be VERY surprised.

 

[willhub]

I've already got an amp though (CEOL Piccolo) which I'd like to us.

 

[willhub]

Guys I caved, got a pair of silver 9.1's for 90 quid, quite like the retro colour and happy with the price.

 

[lucid]

Seems like the 9.1's might be easy to obtain so I'm getting the impression I should stick with those, they'll be adequate for the bedroom too.

What about these https://www.audioaffair.co.uk/wharf...MIzqabgOue5wIVBbTtCh0nywpQEAkYBiABEgLvOfD_BwE the 10.1? Or would that be a sidegrade?

I wouldn't mind looking second hand but seems like people use and abuse their speakers, I remember when I was looking at a second hand Monolith, the dust cap on the sub was bashed in, seems a common occurrence and even seen damaged 9.1's.

Diamond 10.1 - sidegrade.

s/h speaker abuse: It's like cars. Some people look after them, while others allow the kids to run riot and pay no attention to them getting dinged and scraped. That's the quid pro quo with used. For the money you save (and it can be considerable), you have to trade that for the time you'll spend searching for a decent quality example of the right product.

The payback is that, if you've bought wisely, and there's no seismic shift on the market to undermine values such as the Sonos announcement, then selling those same used speakers will get you most of what was paid, and in some circumstances it's possible to turn a profit.


The Piccolo is going to be a second system. I'd buy some used Mission M71 or M72 speakers. They're good, there's enough around that it's easy to skip the scruffy examples, and they're not changing hands for stupid money. £50-£60 will get you a nice pair. Spend the other £40 of your budget on some decent used floor stands for them, or to use with the Diamonds if you don't already have some.

Do not be tempted by the floorstanding version thinking that it's a better deal than the bookshelf speakers plus stands. The cabinet construction isn't what it needs to be to make a floorstander a good purchase. This goes for most budget floorstanders. Large, cheaply-made boxes for a small price premium over the standmound/bookshelf versions; it's just a hook to catch the greedy.

 

[willhub]

It seems I could sell the Diamon 9.1's for a hundred quid which is what I paid for them about 4 years ago, these hold value, whilst a lot of speakers drop like no tomorrow, for example my Monolith Plus was almost 700 new, I bought it second hand for 300 quid, it was scratched which is slightly to be expected from a glossy finished, but aside form that works fine.

 

[lucid]

I wouldn't count your chickens just yet. The used price for speakers is an often complex and sometimes contradictory thing.

Look up some completed sales on Ebay. You'll see the used price spread for Diamond 9.1s goes from £25 to £130. The common selling price is in the region of £60 to £90, but colour, condition, the quality of the listing, the accessories and whether postage is available, or they're collect-only all play a factor. There's also a big effect from having one bidder or a bunch of people chasing the same item. Also remember, with Ebay, you're looking at just what one person was prepared to pay at that time. It doesn't set a price precedent.

Subs are a different thing. Location and transport are big factors.

 

[willhub]

I seen some speakers on eBay, can't remember the full name Powerforce 1000 definitely was in the name, 20 quid, they looked good, perhaps I missed a bargain there.

 

[hornetstinger]

Sound like white van man speakers

 

[lucid]

Sound like white van man speakers

Could be Acoustic Solutions. My guess is it's a brand sold by Argos and the full mail order catalogues. "Ohh, look at the big speakers for £(a very low price)" You see them a lot in CEX and Cash Convertors, just like all the cheap telly brands.