Standmount Speakers Upgrade

Psiko

Psiko

Psiko

Associate
Joined
14 Jun 2003
Posts
835
At the moment I've got a pair of B&W 601 S3, and I'm looking to upgrade. I'd rather not spend more than £400, and I definitely want to go second hand. Today I had a demo and I've got another tomorrow. I've listened to cm1s which I found far too laid back. I need a more punchy lively speaker. Then I listened to Monitor Audio GS10s, which were amazing. They really brought female vocals to life. However, they might just be out of my budget, and I'm having trouble finding any second hand pairs. I also listened to kef iQ3s, but these weren't really much of an upgrade over my 601s. Does anyone have any suggestions within my price range, that might complement my electronics (arcam a85 and cd82.) Cheers.
 
I made the mistake of listening to the GS10s as well, amazing little speakers. they do come up from time to time on fleebay. The week after I spent £720 on mine new from dealer a set went for £450 on the bay, ex demo from a dealer.
 
Also thinking about upgrade later

Squeezebox V3
Tag Mclaren DAC20
Audiolab 8000Q
Audiolab 8000SX x2
Ruark Etude, Target R2 stands.
 
I listened to the Dynaudio 52s today, and, although I felt they were very good speakers, they didn't really suit me. I ended up listening to a pair of floorstanders at the advice of the guy giving me the demo. They were Focal Chorus 714v and they really were superb. The bass was so deep and controlled, and the sound seemed to fill the room. I'm now torn between the GS10s and these speakers, so I'll just keep an eye on ebay and hififorsale, and see which come up first.
 
Just a heads up, there is a rather nice pair of GS10s on the bay at the moment, 2 days left, starting bid of £295, no bids yet :cool:

edit: in fact there is 2 sets on there, you should be guareenteed a set a good price. both pairs in the Oak as well, same as I have, they look stunning in the flesh.
 
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Brilliant. Thanks for the heads up. I'll be keeping my eye on those. What's the difference between the GS10s and the GR10s? Are they similar?
 
there is a bit of a differance, I think the GS uses a revised tweater or Driver, Id have to check the maunal.

The main differance is in the finish though, the GS look stunning, they just scream quality fromt he rounded edges to the very swish binding posts. But you will pay a lot more for a set of GS then a GR, I havent heard them back to back so I couldnt tell you how much differeance there is sonically.
 
Yeah, I've seen those, thanks. The other two pairs went for over £500 too, which is a bit too much for me. Maybe I'd better look at a slightly smaller upgrade. I'll keep my eye on the GR10s though.
 
Well I think I got those GS10s, which were on buy it now, through the normal auction for £400. I thought that was a pretty good price. I'm looking forward to receiving them now, if Royal Mail can be bothered to get out of bed.
 
Well il be demoing loads of speakers in the coming month with a budget of £500 and will post up a large review of them all. Only thing is, itl take a month.

I would urge you to try to audition some ATC speakers, ive already planned to buy some and haven't heard them yet (recommended by friends).
 
Psiko said:
Well I think I got those GS10s, which were on buy it now, through the normal auction for £400. I thought that was a pretty good price. I'm looking forward to receiving them now, if Royal Mail can be bothered to get out of bed.
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Great price for a fantastic pair of speakers, sure you will enjoy them, just make sure you sit them on some decent stands and use some half decent cable, I use Chord Rumour II (£10 a metre) Just make sure you stay away from bright cables such as QED Silver Aniversary, they will just make the GS10s sound over bright.

They should also see you right for future upgrades, the just get better & better and your source and amplifacation improves, I use them with a Roksan Kandy III amp and Marantz CD63 Ki Sig (with superclock 2 mod), but when I was demoing the speakers I got them to hook em up to a hi end Music Fidelity setup at the end just to see what they were capable of, they just sounded stunning :cool:.
 
kidloco said:
Great price for a fantastic pair of speakers, sure you will enjoy them, just make sure you sit them on some decent stands and use some half decent cable, I use Chord Rumour II (£10 a metre) Just make sure you stay away from bright cables such as QED Silver Aniversary, they will just make the GS10s sound over bright.

They should also see you right for future upgrades, the just get better & better and your source and amplifacation improves, I use them with a Roksan Kandy III amp and Marantz CD63 Ki Sig (with superclock 2 mod), but when I was demoing the speakers I got them to hook em up to a hi end Music Fidelity setup at the end just to see what they were capable of, they just sounded stunning :cool:.
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ooo roksan candy, one of my mates with his modded cd-63 got rid of his roksan as tbh he though tit sounded a bit pants. Got himself some marantz mono blocks, built a pre-amp with some nice black gates in, and had over £100 spare :D

But if you think it's worth it then good on ya, no need to upgrade anytime soon. Il be buying a lyngdorf integrated in the next few weeks (job permitting) and will be demoing MF, Naim, new arcams, primare too.
 
Hi-Fi is such a strange beast, its all so subjective that you really have to take what anyone says as a guide, demo everything, then form your own opinion, one mans clear, detailed sound is another mans shrill, ear bleeding noise.

All I know is for the first time since getting into seperates (about 15 years ago) that I am truly happy with my setup, yes it can be improved (I demo'd a MF amp costing 28k :eek: but it did come with free speakers :p) but until I can afford a sizable leap (MF amp and source hooked up to GS60s) ill just stik with my humble setup.

I also know thats its also far to easy to get caught into the search for hi-fi perfection, find a sound that you like and listen to some music :)

There are some hi-fi bargins to be had out there though, just wish I was better with a soldiering iron.
 
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