speakers circa £1k

i`m starting to draw up a demo short list for £1000ish `used` speakers, would probably be standmounts but not necessarily so, would need to look rather sexy and drop dead gorgeous to adhere to wife acceptance factors and would need to be rather less `bright` sounding as my B&W cdm1nt`s do in my hardwood floored minimally furnished listening room, i`m thinking wilson benesch arcs but they may be out of reach financially. i currently use a mj acoustics ref100 sub in my 2 channel system.
any recommendations gladly received.
cheers guys

 

ruark equinox's? some around on hififorsale for £750. Certainly not that bright. Nice, polite, laidback sound with lovely finish and matching wooden stands with external crossover.

 

You know what I am going to say!!!

Von Schweikert VR-1's mounted of iF Designs reference stands. I would pack that MJ box away too if you got the VR-1's for a period so you can really see what they can do prior to 'muddying' the sound with an MJ box!

 

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrmoni&1119063452

These could easily be had for around the $750 mark, that's about £420!!

Contact Yellow Freight to ship them over for you (I recommend using air freight service), and you could be looking at a very good deal. Import Duty will be 4.5% on loudspeakers.

Problem will be in finding the iF stands as I know Roger Stone is no longer having any dealings with the audio industry.

 

You might be able find a pair of Acoustic Energy AE1 Mk3s second hand for around a grand, I sold my last set for that amount.

 

harbeth hl compact 7s one of the best, not the best looker tho', bass slightly soggy, but nice mid. and clean top.
jamo concert 8 very underrated, superb dynamics.
proacs.

 

The looks grow on you, as do the bruises from the battering at the hands of the wife when she claps eyes on them

 

sonus faber cremona auditors seem to be meet the brief.

 

now I just happen to have a pair of standmounts surplus to my requirements: JMLab Electra 905s. Lovely waf, and good sound, and much less than a grand. lmk. Otherwise I'm a newbie on speakers having had so few. I do still have those Celestion Ditton 15s though ...

 

oooooooooohhhh!!!!!!!!! Lurverly lookers......

will they give me......

detail
dynamics
huge 3dimensional, deep soundstage
transparancy
sweet (not harsh) treble
lush mids
powerful controlled bass (not boomy)

and.......

will i get some for a grand?

they`re gonna be on the end of a BelCanto Evo2i (hopefully)

 

cremona auditors are very fine speakers. cheapest i've seen are £1400 ono on hififorsale. a pair on ebay went for £1750. i was considering them instead for my Electra 905s replacement but my Vaessen Boxs came up and they really are in a league above the Sonus Fabers

If i were u, i'd think very very carefully about Ditton's Jm Labs. If you don't have bright sources/amplification they could be very very special indeed- i thought very highly of mine

 

yes, notably huge, 3D, deep soundstage. not heard them with a b/c; with a moon yes, and the two worked very well together. should work with b/c but best to dem. impeccable WAF credentials as well.

s/h prices range from £1300 - £1700. they are sought after.

btw, sonus and jm are quite different. i prefer sonus.

 

Mr Ear

IF Designs are no longer available,Roger has packed up and moved on.The stands retailed at £450 and he made very little I am told and the market was just too small.Lovely stands though,even my wife likes them (and they do bring the best out of my VR1s).

I've yet to hear a pair of Sonus Faber I actually like btw.It must be me............

 

i heard Sonus Faber Grand Pianos and also the Cremona Auditors. I wouldn't say theres a 'house sound' so i think you do have to listen to the individual SFs. I was tempted to hear some VR1s incidentally, but i think i made the right choice

 

I heard the Concertos and didn't rate them

 

Err,...that's what I had already stated

Pricing of the iF stands was a little more variable than £450 too as there were a choice of at least three types of stand and even at the reference level, choices of sound damping and finish. My stands would normally have a RRP of at least £550, but they do indeed bring out the best in not only the VR-1's but any stand-mount.

It was also true that Roger made very little profit, but I can assure you that that was not the main reason he has changed track

 

sorry,didn't see the second post

whats he doing now? the bloke who sold me Rogers own Tallis stands lives in Kendal,(and has some very nice bikes!) said Roger was contemplating several ideas

 

Not sure what Roger will be doing next, he said he would drop me a line as soon as his new email is up and running. I did speak to him just before the recent London audio show to see if he wanted to visit with me but he could not make it down.

 

Cat,

I'm also looking for some standmounts under a grand (less than £700 ideally) and have drawn up the following shortlist:

B&W Nautilus 805
Sonus Faber Concerto
Pro-Ac Tablette Reference 8
Revolver RW16
Triangle Solis
Dynaudio Audience 52SE
Monitor Audio GR10
Aurum Cantus Leisure 3/5
Tannoy Sensys DC1
Spendor S8E
Dynaudio Contour 1.3 Mk2

Annoyingly, two of my top 5 have been reviewed recently (hifi+) and this usually always results in their used prices jumping a bit .

WAF is also high on my list, as is efficiency. They'll be on the end of a 30wpc valve amp or weedy 72wpc SS amp. With this in mind ATC, PMC and other b*stard infinite baffle loads are out. I know the spendor and aurum loads will be difficult too, but I really need to give these babies a fair audition as they seem to offer excellent VFM & have good reps.

The Nautilus 805's are top of the list, but they're around £1100-£1200 used (with HNE stands), which ain't loose change

Hope this helps

DT

Saab, if you have the time, please could you flesh this statement out a little? These speakers are quite high on my shortlist!

 

I would take the dynaudio's off the list then.