speakers circa £1k

The 52SE's should be OK - they're rear-ported aren't they?

Don't know about the contours though.....

 

I demed some valve amps with contour 1.1, it was an abysmal failure.

 

You could try Living Voice Auditoriums. Unobtrusive, but beautifully made standmounts in a variety of finishes, with a lush rich sound, and a huge soundstage. Very high efficiency as well. Normally available for approx £800 s/h

 

standmounts?

well sort of.
more like floorstanders with wee plinths


nice speakers though (although I am biased with these)

 

Would be lying if said LV's hadn't crossed my mind. Also, there are some Audio Physics floorstanders around with very tempting price tags.....

 

Contour's are also rear-ported, and a more difficult load then the 52 SE. Agree with Penance.

 

wouldn't go for any of the above. An experience of some Contour 1.8mk2s have left my Dynaudio experiences really very poor indeed. The original N805s are shite tbh- some JAMO Concert 8s thrashed them. The 805s lacked life and were very tedious.

I heard some Black Orchids which are effectively the AC Leisures. Huge lack of midrange though treble was quite sweet. Bass was found wanting.

The Tannoys are good for £500 but not in the same league as some £1k speakers, lets face it!

If i were u i'd listen toms some JM Labs Electra speakers. As mentioned earliere, Ditton is selling some for £550 or so. They imo are comfortably better than any speakers that you have listed.

 

Thanks for your input Rory. Are the N805's really that sh*te? I've heard nothing but fawning praise for them everywhere, hence the shortlisting.

Given how little I like my current JM's, I've kind of been warned-off the brand - psychological block in full effect! Do the Electra's sound anything like the Chorus "S" series? If so, its a big no-no!!

Love the DC1's - very good for the money, but I reckon I can do better and they are a fairly difficult load, IIRC.

DT

 

I like the ruark equinox's you mentioned before. I remember wanting a pair when they were new, back in 1995 but they were too much. The Ruark floorstanders are very cheap used now - models like Talismans and such are really great speakers, and kick about for £250. I still rate them better than most. Probably too big though if DT is looking for a standmount.

Interesting what you say about the Black Orchids. They dont have a lot of bass, but then if a small room is what you have, that can be a good thing! The treble on those ribbons is sweet though, isnt it?

I know I keep mentioning them, but the little Proac 1sc's are great. I always like them every time I hear them. A real quart in a pint pot. A floorstander in a cute little package. Guaranteed WAF!

The speakers that got me into hifi in the first place were Epos Es11's. I couldnt believe how clear they are. Epos Es14s arent very much either. If you dont want masses of bass and like detail and clarity, awesome. Too much choice, too many different sounds, too hard to make a reccomendation!

 

now, i have not heard the 805S, i have only heard the earlier 805 that you mentioned previously. But B&W stuff has always sounded overrated to me. You're paying for a brand name. Flame me, flame me :JOEL: . The Electras use the same drive units as the Utopias. Certainly quite a few step ups from the bottom of the range Chorus range you might want to ask Ultrasonic. He has Tannoy DC1s and bought my Electras from me

 

my brother has some ES11s. They've recently been replaced by some Celestion Kingstons but i remember being very pleasantly surprised by them. Quite a nice tight sound. I do like the old school Epos/Mordaunt Short sound

 

As stated before, I dont have much comparative knowldege to go on, but ...

I really liked the Electra 905s. Speaking to JMLab reps at exhibitions, its clear that they are regarded as benefitting from the technologies developed for their top range, but sold at much less price. The 905s were about £1100 RRP and thought a bargain at that for those reasons.

I moved to floorstanders for three reasons:
1) easier access to bottom end
2) waf disliked the black stands
3) opportunity knocked, as Shrink wanted to buy the epos es30s at a bargain price and so needed to sell the epos es22s.

The 905s do have a lovely mid-range. Mine are doing duty in the dining room just now but are too good in that role.

Rory, thanks for highlighting the Electra 905s, which I know you also owned.

 

There's a guy selling some Revels F22 for £1200 (hifi for sale), can't think of anything better at that price or upto £3000. Wm

REVEL
M22 Speakers

Price: £1200.00

RRP: £1700.00
Description
Cherry finish standmount beautiful looking and sounding

Contact: Philip
Seller: Private seller

Telephone: 07979754988
Telephone:

Email: [email protected]

Location:

UK

 

DT

for petes sake don't buy off opinions expressed by me! I didn't feel the SFs I heard were good vfm,they seemed pretty ordinary,but you really need to hear them yourself

 

Rory, I wouldn't write off the whole Dynaudio range because of a single listening session. Just for example I listened to 1.3IIs and 1.8IIs on the same day and IMO the 1.3s were far better, at least with my amp, which didn't have the horsepower to drive the floorstander I suppose.

It is after all, a matter of personal taste, but I still like them.

 

no, that is a fair point Dev. I had incredibly high expectations of Dyns though and they have left me with a rather sour taste in my mouth. Power wasn't an issue either- my power amp is 175w/8ohms. I am obv happy with what i have now though

 

100% WAF in our house!

 

they are nice looking LE. The stands match the veneer nicely too.

 

Mr Ear!
Does your telly have a much better picture as it's standing on a steel and glass support? :JPS: