Bookshelf speakers £50 - £100

neonraver

neonraver

neonraver

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I have a fairly old Sony Micro HiFi and the speakers have started to go. I'm not very experienced in this area and I know very little about audio equipment but I am going to get some new speakers to replace them and try and keep the HiFi unit as it still works fine and has features such as a DAB radio that my girlfriend likes to use.

I use the HiFi as my PC audio system so I listen to music and listen to my in game audio with it. It's rated at 10W and I know this isn't much but at it's loudest it is fine for me.

I have been looking around at speakers on the internet and have found a set that look good but I wanted to get the opinion of someone with a bit more expertise than me. I have been looking in the £50 to £100 range with obviously the lower the better.

Here is what I have come up with from my search: Roth Audio OLI RA1

Using bespoke offers I can get the price down to £69 which seems pretty good.

My questions are:
1) can I get any better speakers for the same price/less?
2) will my old HiFi be able to power them just fine? (The connectors look fine)
3) If 10w isn't enough, would this be fine?

Thanks in advance!
 
I have a pair of Oli1, which are the predecessor to Oli RA1, and they are great speakers. I am sure are RA1 are just as good.

Alternatives are Wharfedale 9.0 speakers, and Mordaunt Short M10. Both can be had from Richer Sounds for £50-£60. Both are great speakers, particularly the Wharfedale's. You can't really go wrong with any of the three.

While all of them can handle in the region of 60-100W, 10W will be enough to drive any of the speakers. The Lepy amp won't put out much more power than the Sony stereo, so you might as well stick with that.
 
I think Marsman sums it up pretty well. The Oli RA1 get very positive reviews. I'd go with them tbh. :)
 
I'd be surprised if the 2020i are not better. How much better though is hard to say. I would go for the 2020i if the larger size is not a problem and you can afford the £50 extra. £120 looks like a nice price for them.

RA1 would be a great choice if budget is tighter and smaller is preferable.
 
Rossi~ said:
Wharfedale 9.1 @ £100 are the best budget speakers IMHO. Seriously, they rival middle weights with ease. If it wasn't for their age, they could be sold at £250 today.

http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-2442-wharfedale-diamond-91-speakers-pair.aspx
Click to expand...

Certainly agree about the 9.1's. I have them myself as my main speakers. They make me smile every time I use them. A bargain for 100 smackers. I did try them on my desk before I got the Roth's some time later, but they looked way too imposing. :D

Personally, I couldn't use them a consumer stereo or a mini T amp. I think they deserve better. When I first got mine, I used them with my Sony consumer stereo (which I'd had for years), while I decided which integrated amp to get. Whilst they certainly sounded better than the Sony speakers, with an integrated stereo amp, the difference was quite vast.

I think spending £50-£60 on a pair of small speakers to use with a micro system or a small T amp is ideal. It's not a lot of money to spend, and if micro system speakers are being replaced, they will do a fantastic job. When you're spending £100 though, I feel it's a shame not to get the most from them.
 
Marsman said:
I'd be surprised if the 2020i are not better. How much better though is hard to say. I would go for the 2020i if the larger size is not a problem and you can afford the £50 extra. £120 looks like a nice price for them.

RA1 would be a great choice if budget is tighter and smaller is preferable.
Click to expand...

Re-looking at the 2020's they're a little bigger than I thought, so perhaps a big large (same reason I ruled out the 9.1's). Shame really, as they can be had for a shade under £100, so a good buy.
 
You can get the wharfedale 9.0s - not as good as 9.1 obvs but a bit smaller - at richer sounds for £39 if you are VIP club. I'm pondering those myself
 
I've got four Wharfedale 9.1s for my surround sound set up. Brilliant speakers. If you an stretch that wee bit further for a pair then you'll be well rewarded.
 
dl8860 said:
You can get the wharfedale 9.0s - not as good as 9.1 obvs but a bit smaller - at richer sounds for £39 if you are VIP club. I'm pondering those myself
Click to expand...

At that price, they are a no brainer. Got a pair for my mum to use with my old amp. She uses them to play music from her tablet and they sound really terrific.

Isn't it £10 off though for VIP? Currently they are £60, so that would make them £50. Still an excellent price though and well worth that. The price does fluctuate between £50 and £60, so sooner or later they'll be back to £40 with VIP discount. :D


If the OP does join Richer Sounds VIP club, then potentially, Wharfedale 9.0 and Mordaunt Short M10 can be had for £40. Great prices for great speakers. At those prices, I'd go for either over the Roth RA1 at £70.
 
That has really given me food for thought, thanks!

I am a VIP member at Richer Sounds but the Wharfedale 9.0s are still coming up as £59.95 and the Mordaunt Short M10s at £49.95.

I do like the idea of getting some speakers from Richer Sounds though as there's a store up the road and they come with a warranty. At this point I could get the Roth Oli RA1s (not from Richer Sounds though) for the same price as the Wharfedales and £10 more than the Mordaunt Short M10s. I don't mind spending the extra £10 so out of those three I want the best for my money...what's the consensus?
 
Well if you'd prefer to spend less than £100 and would prefer the size of the 9.0/M10/RA1, then at least have a listen to the 9.0 and M10 (if you can).

The RA1 aren't going to be better. Different maybe, but not better. I very much doubt there's a lot between the 3 of them. I've got Oli1's on my desk and my mum has the 9.0's. If I had to choose the between them, I'm not sure I could make a quick decision. I would be just as happy owning one or the other.

If you can get a good warranty from RS, I'd go for either the 9.0 or M10. You should be able to get a VIP discount in store.
 
neonraver said:
what's the consensus?
Click to expand...
I doubt you'll get a consensus, and it probably doesn't matter in the end. Any set will be a big step up from the Sony speakers. Go with whichever ticks most boxes i.e. physical size, design (front/rear port/no port), availability, style/design.

FWIW, I'd round up the attributes of the speakers like this

M10 - physically the smallest speakers (4.7ltr) but also the most bass lite of the three designs thanks to the sealed box (infinite baffle) cabinet. This means they'll remain fairly neutral sounding even when placed near corners whereas the ported RA1 and D9.0 will get a touch boomy if hemmed in. They're a relatively easy load on the amp thanks to 86dB sensitivity and 8 Ohm impedance.

Diamond 9.0 - physically the biggest (5.6ltr) and also the one with the deepest bass. Still a relatively easy load on the amp (86dB, 6 Ohm). These are perhaps the brightest sounding speakers in the group. If there's an Achilles heel then it's that they might show up the inadequacies of the Sony micro system when the amp is working hard.

Oli RA1 - mid size in this group (5.3ltr) and in middle position in terms of bass depth. The rear port means they need a little more space behind them to sound neutral so they'd suit a more open location rather than sitting on a desk up against the back wall. Good design pedigree thanks to Richard Allen's involvement so perhaps the most "Hi-Fi" of the three contenders. The top end doesn't reach quite as high as the Wharfedale so it could be a fraction more forgiving of mixed quality sources too. The only real negative though is these are quite power hungry (82dB, 6 Ohms) so the Sony amp will be working a bit harder and closer to the ragged edge of its performance limits here than with the other speakers.

I think that if you were partnering with a decent stereo Hi-Fi amp at 30W+ then I'd still be tempted by the Olis. However, the Diamond 9.0's would give the amp an easier time and you could tame any overbrightness with the Sony's tone controls (if it has them).
 
Thanks lucid, that post is really helpful. I only have a limited amount of space on my desk so i'm going to see how big the Wharfedales are. If they are too big, i'll have a listen to the M10s and see what I think. I do like my bass so i'll check that but on the whole i'm not an audiophile and I doubt i'll be able to tell the difference to be honest.

Thanks for everyone's help. I definitely asked in the right place!
 
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