New speaker time!

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Hey all, I feel the need to upgrade my Tannoy Mercury V1's. Recently moved into a slightly larger room and don't feel like they are filling the space enough and also don't feel like they are doing my Marantz PM6004 justice.

I currently have a budget of around £250 for speakers. I haven't had any floorstanders before but I could be tempted considering I have the space. If not I was looking at Monitor Audio BX2's.

I am going to head to superfi next week to have a look at some speakers and give some a listen (and mostly to hear the difference between floor standers and bookshelf). Has anyone got any other suggestions I should definitely have a look at and any other experiences of the speakers I have mentioned above?

Cheers
 
For £250, you'd be much better off buying bookshelf/standmount speakers again. £250 really isn't enough for decent floor standing speakers. £250 bookshelf speakers are going to sound a lot better than £250 floor standing ones, due to the fact that much more material goes into the cabinets and thus, more cost too, which in turns leaves less money for the actual drivers.

BX2's do look one of the best buys for your budget. Highly recommended by many. Even better if you can get a demo.
 
Definately bookshelf for that money floorstanders will be poor.

Maybe look on ebay for some decent ones... Depends what sort of sound you like... Some brands to consider... Dynaudio, PSB, B&W..
 
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By all accounts the Tannoy V1 are pretty good speakers at their price point. I think you're right to look at the MA BX2. They're another star performer.

If your budget is firm then I think it'll come down to a battle between the BX2 and the floorstanding Tannoy V4. Both sets are £250. I think you're heart will say "Tannoys". You'll appear to get so much more for your money, and they're another set of good speakers if the reviews are to be believed.

The pro's of the Tannoys are deeper bass and significantly better efficiency (91dB vs 86dB) than your current V1s. This means your amp won't be working as hard so the dynamics should sound better. The con's are construction quality, bass tightness and less forgiving about room position. If the speakers are within 18" (45cm) of the side and rear walls then the extra bass they produce can get a bit overwhelming because of the room boundaries. The construction also affects timing. It's much harder to produce a well braced cabinet that deals effectively with the stored energy for £250 than for £500.

The MA BX2 will be a tougher choice for you because you'll want the more impressive-looking floorstanding Tannoys.

The pro's of the BX2 are efficiency (90dB) and construction. This means excellent dynamics and really good bass accuracy thanks to solid cabinet construction. In fact, the construction is so solid that the BX2 weigh only 1kg less each than the floorstanding Tannoys. That's quite surprising given that the Tannoys are almost 3 times the dimensional volume. The extra weight in the BX2 means that they handle stored energy far more effectively. Bass notes stop and start with greater precision. Musical timing is better. You should also find them a bit more forgiving of room postion. That might be a big help when you get them home.

The con's of the BX2... well, they won't go as deep as the V4's, they'll sound different tonally - you might like it or it might turn you off them completely - and finally they're not floorstanders. That's not their fault of course. But if you've set your heart on something big then you're going to have a harder time listening objectively.
 
Maybe some second hand Dynaudio audience 52 or maybe some B&W 602s3... Should be able to pick up any of those for about £250 on ebay... Depends what sort of sound you are looking for.... Best thing is to demo them first because how are we supposed to know what sort of sound you like... Those speakers I listed are all good but you may or may not like them. BX2 you can get new at least although they are not as good as the other ones second hand.
 
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All my speakers have been second hand. I loved my bx5 floorstanders and only upgraded due to already having an rx center

It was too hard for me to demo so I just got them off recommendations

If you are near me you are welcome to a demo at my house, can even hook up bx5s or rx6s
 
Thanks for your helps chaps, great advice as always Lucid! I have convinced myself the BX2's will be the way forward. I just don't think I can spare the room that is required for the floorstanders (i.e get them far enough away from the walls).

I do quite like electronic/bass music so I think the v4's might have benefited me there for the low down grunt but like others said I think it would have become too much and the bx2's definitely look smarter and more subtle too.
 
Picked up some BX2's from sevenoaks :D They only had the demo ones available so took those home for £200 (were on sale for £250) one slight little scuff on the woofer but hardly noticeable.

Very impressed so far and find I can turn off all adjustments I had made on my amp for my previous speakers. The clarity is simple stunning with these!

Had a listen of

followed by
https://soundcloud.com/goldroom%2Fgoldroom-saguaro-mix-2013

Am suitably impressed, find the bass sometimes booms a tiny bit on certain songs but I'll blame that on my room. Thanks for the suggestions chaps
 
Glad it worked out for you. Did you listen to the Tannoy V4 or any other speakers in comparison?


Also, if you find the bass a little OTT and can't move the speakers away from the walls a little to compensate then do consider bunging the bass ports. I believe the speakers are supplied with them in the box from new. But this sort of thing often gets lost or thrown away by accident. If so, an old pair of socks will do just as well. :)
 
I did listen to the V4's, allow the initial impressions were pretty outstanding they didn't provide nearly enough clarity and overall 'tightness' of music. I imagine they would have been awesome for gaming but overall am happy with the choice I have made.

Yup have got the bass bungs but moved my room round a little bit and now isn't quite as boomy on some songs... overall very happy though!
 
Ah, good. So what was said about cabinet design aiding musical precision was something you could easily recognise in a dem?
 
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