best classical speaker /amp combination

Hi

A friend has been asking for a reccomendation.

He has a large room, (actually kitchen/diner/lounge combined).

He loves large scale classical music - like Mahler...



I have my own ideas about good speaker/amp combinations for him, but don't want to monopolise - thought some ZG 2nd opinions would help.

So, what would you reccomend?

1) scenario A: 1k speaker/amp budget
2) scenario B: 2k speaker/amp budget


Once again, this is large scale classical listener in a big room... preferably used gear...

Cheers.

 

i'd say.. find some big tannoys... but even used he's unlikely to get a pair within budget.

I have a pair of the turnberry's and with 100 litre cabinets and the 10" driver, they do large scale classical with aplomb.

He might be able to find some D700's or some older Turnberry HE's withing budget. Partner them to something like a Quad 99/909 combo, and you'll have huge scale, great definition and plenty of power.

 

There's a pair of Tannoy Eatons on the WAD forum at the moment for £350 - rather a bargain I think.....
Traditional thinking : for classical you could go the Tannoy route with speakers and partner with a nice valve amp...or.... go transistor with Quad - I second the 99 / 909 route - which would mean that speakers such as nice dynaudios would be happy.

 

Firstly, this is something I've been trying to address for a number of years as my current room is 8m long and I also have a fair bit of Mahler on the shelves.

Secondly, I think it's a common mistake (though not necessarily here) to assume just because someone listens to large scale classical, that scale and power are all that's important.

Thirdly, I had a Quad 909 for quite a while and though I'd happily have one again, my current Sugden power is preferable in areas that are important to me.

The path I've been following is mainly concerned with vocals and upper strings (several Mahler symphonies include much for voice) and at the moment that means passive pre/class A power/ribbon tweeters. What I'm not getting is as much general breadth, heft and palpable-ness in the mid and bass as I'd like (from a 3 way with a 10" bass). I've been through several (valve) pres and not found one suitable as yet.

The Quad gave more defined bass (but still not great) but I prefer the delicacy of the Sugden. Some Rogers LS7 had a nice way with the mids and I suspect if I'd had either of the Quad or Sugden to use with them they may have stayed even longer. I wanted to try a Compact 7 type speaker to see how it got on in my room and it was much better than I thought it was going to be.

And then there's colouration - from what I've heard of horns (and I have tried) I can't be doing with the colouration. Bigger bass drivers seem to be a good way forward - I have a pair of old Goodmans, 12" drivers in a sealed box, which just have such ease in the bass.


All of which doesn't answer the question but the next speaker I'd like to try is actually one of the big Harbeths or Spendors - but they are way over budget, so there's the Spendor S100 (SP100?) whatever the non-current one is that if I ever see a pair I'd like to try. Which actually does answer the 1K question:

all S/H - TVC/Sugden A21aP/Big box BBC type speaker, should be do-able.

 

Big tannoys and most powerful integrated you can find. Class D might be an answer, Lyngdorf SDAi2175 or Bel Canto Evo2i.

Contrary to received widom, I don't think big tannoys are necessarily best with valves, especially if they have a woofer in addition to the DC driver.

Another approach might be ATC.... there's a pair of SCM 35s on sale on the wigwam, and the biggest baddest Solid state integrated with this should fill a room easily.

 

Valve amps are for people who haven't heard decent SS gear.

 

marley - how about a suggested system? - more useful !

 

I was only playing

What do classical music lovers, look for in a system?

 

well in this case the room is large, so something full range.

A good classical speaker (for large orchestral work) is one that does not draw attention to any single part of the frequency range, providing a neutral sound.

Obviously a suitable amplifier for said speaker...

 

Smooth frequency response to try to get the right relationship between harmonics that is essential to correctly define acoustic instruments, especially violins. And good dynamics to try to portray the massive differences between pppp and ffff in orchestral music (most of us achieve only pp to ff). And both qualities provide essential acoustic information that many systems do not.

Primare I30 and Spendor SP2/3R2. But even these could not get me to tolerate Gustav ("Oh, hear me suffer") Mahler, the biggest phoney in classical music.

Go for Debussy and Ravel, chum. Listen to real music.

 

Blow the bulk of the budged on a pair of big BBC monitors - Harbeth, Spendor Rogers are the ones to look for if the diet is largely classical and you need to fill a large room.
Good transistor amplifiers sound largely alike and differences are blown out of all proportion on forums. £500 on a cambridge 740A or used 840A is all the amp you need. One of the bigger Arcam amps would do just as well.

 

Hi Rob

Which BBC monitor would you reccomend then, with say a budget of £700 and £1600? (used)- to meet the criteria here.


How would you compare, say Spendor BC1s (available for a couple of hundred) with say SPendor SP1's (say £300-£400), and then perhaps Harbeth monitor 30,40 etc?

I have heard perhaps 3 pairs of the above, and certainly not the entire Spendor/Harbeth range.

 

Sounds like a BBC style monitor could be the way to go, or maybe some Tannoy DMT 12" / 15" monitors - but only if he doesn't mind big, ugly boxes.

 

The first thing to know is how exigent he is. A classical listener can have a scale of exigences which goes much behond any other kind of listener. For both budgets he would need to do some compromises especially if he also has a big room. What does "Big room" mean for you?
It will be interesting to know which kind of compromises will hurt him the less.

Without knowing all these very important factors the first thing I would think about is an active monitor which doesn't sound too clinical "boaring" or cold.
I would take in consideration the Geithain maybe a bit less the Klein + Hummel. He should also hear the ATC even if I wasn't so impressed by them maybe he'll like them better than me.

My preference would go for a Geithain of the 900 series (922K would be ideal but it costs 5k Euro new).
I would reccomend to purchase a second hand unit in order to stay in the budget or slightly higher. Also I reccomend to keep the hearing distance as reccomended by Geithain!

For classical music I find Tannoy one of my last choise unless one day I start to change my priorities concerning the sound characteristics and want to start hearing classical music with a sound that has no association with what you hear in concert halls.

About the budget of 1K I would advise your friend to wait a while and save more money. Long term this will be the cheapest solution.

 

BC1s are lovely but little fragile if pushed in a large room so the SP1 is likely a better choice.
The Harbeth Compact 7ES I was using recently is a nice speaker with a big, full bodied sound so perhaps look at the larger HL-5. Should be within budget at £1k-1.5k but rare.

An old Quad 44/405 would drive any of the above well, and the 44 allows some useful tonal shaping if required.

 

BC1s are lovely but little fragile if pushed in a large room so the SP1 is likely a better choice.
The Harbeth Compact 7ES I was using recently is a nice speaker with a big, full bodied sound so perhaps look at the larger HL-5. Should be within budget at £1k-1.5k but rare.
Another to consider is the Rogers Studio 1.

An old Quad 44/405 would drive any of the above well, and the 44 allows some useful tonal shaping if required.

 

Considering all the comments so far, then how about this lot:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....em=&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT&salenotsupported

 

oh-oh... am hearing some comments about WAF!.... ever the problem with big speakers....

keep em coming, especially with WAF>! budget seems flexible.

 

Chris, best for WAF must be stacked Quads

 

oh-oh... am hearing some comments about WAF!.... ever the problem with big speakers....

keep em coming, especially with WAF>! budget seems flexible.