New speakers advise

SamyBoy13

SamyBoy13

SamyBoy13

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Hello guys my tannoy speakers just have been damaged while moving. Thus I'm looking to buy another pair. Ideally used as I would get more for the money.

I've found dali Spector 2 for 120 as a customer return yet they have damaged front girl but otherwise perfect condition and working order. I also found used 2nd hand dali sensor 3 for 160 and I'm not sure what to go for. I listen to everything starting from rock, edm, dubstep to chart music and tropical house. At the moment I've got demon dab37 with 30 rms at 8 ohm. I'll be upgrading tho in the future but not yet.

Any ideas how would those speakers compare?? I heard speaker 2 at richer Sounds and was impressed by how they sound. Could demo sensor 3 as ones on display were browned. Also any other recommendations?? I seen few New ones such as qcystica 3020 for 120 in Richards. I'm unsure on what to go for and any help would an apreciated
 
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From your list, the logical choices would be

#1 Dali Zensor 3

#2 Dali Spektor 2

#3 Q Acoustics 3020

Much as I like Q Acoustics, the 3020 are made to sell at £120, whereas the Dalis are both pitched at higher price points so you're getting better-made cabinets. You said it yourself; secondhand gets you a better bang for your Buck.

Spektor is a budget oriented range compared to Zensor. As long as the Zensor 3 are in good condition then you're getting a bigger bass driver, better tweeter, sturdier cabinet and higher sensitivity (88db vs 84.5dB) which will help make more of the limited amount of power from your Denon DAB37. For the extra £40 over the Spektor 2 the Zensor is a better buy.

As for other choices, any recommendations really require a better knowledge of your room. For example, will the speakers be on stands; how much space from the back wall and side walls; are you listening across a corner; does the listening position form a triangle with equal length sides? Also, are there any limits to what you'd consider with used speakers such as age, colour, distance travelled to collect?
 
In my home office I have a pair of Dali Spektor's linked into a Denon mini hifi for my PC and a pair of Q3020's linked to a Yamaha DTS Amp (from Mr @lucid) for my various gaming devices. Both cracking speakers for the money but even though I paid more for the Q3020's and they get better reviews, I would chose the Dali's over them. Having said that both are superb desk mount small room speakers, more scale to the 3020's, better sound stage (to my ears) on the Dali's.
 
Thank you for your advise. I also read back what I wrote and I hate this auto correct thing on my phone.

Further, the zensor just sold so not sure what to do. My room is 3m by 4.5m rectangle and I would place them on a sideboard. I cant place speakers more than 30cm from the wall.
 
There really are dozens of speakers you can choose from. Recent rivals to Q Acoustics and Dali would include Wharfedale (Diamond 220), B&W, Monitor Audio, Focal, Rega, Castle, Tannoy to name just a few. If you're willing to take a bit of a punt there are some older Missions that you could pick up well under the £100 mark, and that would leave you with some budget to spend on isolation pads to get tighter bass and reduce the resonances from the speakers sitting on a big box.
 
SamyBoy13 said:
In terms of sound quality what would be the difference between spektor 2 and sensor 3/2???
Click to expand...

It's a good question. The specifications aren't a million miles apart.

If you had them side-by-side at home then I think a lot will hinge on the quality of the source (the Denon DAB37). Can it drive the speakers sufficiently well to allow the Senzor to show of its capabilities properly? With the best will in the world, I think that might be a struggle. It might also be a challenge to hear the difference with some music types. However, you did say you were looking for an upgrade at some point in the future, so we can't ignore that.

There's also the aspect of your expectations. I doubt the Sensor is going to sound like it delivers a lot more bass or extra treble, so what we're listening for is refinement. Sometimes it's hard to put a finger on what that actually means.

What I'd be listening for the extra sense of realism of instruments and voices, better separation of the individual threads which makes it easier to follow specific instruments, and a greater ability to keep everything organised when the music becomes busy or densely layered.

The Senzor is more efficient. That's going to help immediately when it comes to making the most of the power on offer from the Denon. What I'd expect in a straight A/B demo is for the Denon to sound louder when the volume knob is at the same position; or if you manage to volume level the system to take out the bias of the extra volume, then the DAB37 should sound less strained and more in control with the better speakers.
 
If they were "as new" then yes. Given that they have damaged grilles then personally I'd say it's a bit tippy unless the speakers are very new.

To put it another way, how much would it cost to fix the grilles. Add that to the price of the speakers and that's what you're paying.

Other speakers.... like I said first time around, that depends on your room, the space to the side walls, any size restrictions for the cabinets (height, depth, width), and whether certain colour finishes or speaker age or travelling distance would put you off.
 
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