Speaker upgrade.

Prophet · 2 Mar 2011 at 10:38

I've been using a pair of old Wharfedale Modus 8 floorstanding speakers for the last few Months. Overall they're not bad and as I'm borrowing them I can't complain, however I'm looking to replace them with something better.

My music taste covers just about everything so I'm looking for some speakers which can handle Classical to Rock and Pop. Not being a speaker expert the only downside to the Modus 8's are their heavy bass which is too much for my room.

I'm using an old Technics CD player and a NAD C355BEE Amp, which work surprisingly well together.

Looking to spend no more than £500 on the speakers.

Any ideas guys?

Martynt74 · 2 Mar 2011 at 10:48

You can usually get some B&W CM7 (i think) for around that price on ebay. They'd be pretty good, although B&W's tend to be quite bass heavy aswell so might be worth listening to first.

Prophet · 2 Mar 2011 at 11:02

B&W's are great speakers but like you say I think they'll be too bass heavy. The Wharfedales don't boom as such but they're just too low which takes away from the mids and highs.

lucid · 2 Mar 2011 at 11:27

Orange Peel said:
My music taste covers just about everything so I'm looking for some speakers which can handle Classical to Rock and Pop. Not being a speaker expert the only downside to the Modus 8's are their heavy bass which is too much for my room.

I'm using an old Technics CD player and a NAD C355BEE Amp, which work surprisingly well together.

Looking to spend no more than £500 on the speakers.

Stand mounted speakers are a bit more controlled and generally more adept that similarly priced floor standers in your price range. You would have to set aside some budget for speaker stands though, so bear that in mind.

New
standmount - B&W 685 (not my cup of tea, but you should have a listen)
tower - KEF IQ5SE would be worth a listen.
standmount - Focal Chorus 706v

Secondhand -

Focal JMLab Chorus 714S
Focal JM Lab Cobbalt 816s
Ruark Equinox
Ruark Prologue One
Ruark Broadsword
Ruark Talisman II
Monitor Audio BR5
Monitor Audio RS6

or perhaps something from Castle - the Castle Conways if you can find a pair

Prophet · 2 Mar 2011 at 11:38

The KEF IQ5SE are on offer at a few shops and are smaller than most speakers so could be what I'm after.

A friend has some Ruark Prologue 2's which are really nice. He may be selling them soon so I'll enquire as to how much he wants for them.

Just wish I could listen to them first. Most of the shops local to me don't have the speakers I'm interested in or won't set them up!

Martynt74 · 2 Mar 2011 at 11:56

What shops do you have? I've generally found Audio-T to be incredibly helpful when its come to letting me demo things

Prophet · 2 Mar 2011 at 11:58

Richer Sounds and Superfi are the two main shops.

RS has moved away from doing demo's and now seem interested in shifting boxes and Superfi are too pushy, wanting me to have what makes them the most profit.

Martynt74 · 2 Mar 2011 at 12:10

Yeah i've always found Superfi unhelpful.

One thing that might be really usefull would be to pop along to This as it doesnt look like its too far from you.

Its run by the forum Hifi Wigwam and is basically a load of people showing off their systems. There are all sorts of different budgets and may give you an idea of what you want.

Here is a spreadsheet of the people taking part
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc...ZwSWl5UnB3LWc&hl=en_GB&authkey=CJmwk_QO#gid=0

Prophet · 2 Mar 2011 at 12:25

That looks like a great event and only 40 minutes from my house

Nick1881 · 2 Mar 2011 at 14:17

I might go to that show too, very close to me.

Thanks for telling us :-)

9designs2 · 2 Mar 2011 at 22:30

Better to understand the problem before recommending speakers

Generally speakers don't boom or have heavy bass, rooms do, or incorrect placement does....
So what size is the room, and where are the speakers placed, how far from the corners and walls ?.. Have you tried stuffing something in the ports to damp down the bass ?

Prophet · 3 Mar 2011 at 00:15

9designs2 said:
Better to understand the problem before recommending speakers Generally speakers don't boom or have heavy bass, rooms do, or incorrect placement does....
So what size is the room, and where are the speakers placed, how far from the corners and walls ?.. Have you tried stuffing something in the ports to damp down the bass ?

The Modus 8's are known for being heavy on the base no matter where you place them.

The room is 15' X 12' with the speakers 6' apart on the longer wall. They're around 12" away from the wall.

I've plugged the ports which has reduced the base. However the overall sound isn't up to the quality I would like, hence looking for replacements.