What speakers do YOU have?

[Stuart Wright]

Lets compile a complete list of manufacturers of home cinema speaker systems available to buy over the counter in the UK.
The speakers must be auditionable before you keep them.
So they must be available from shop or by mail order with a full money-back guarantee. And they must be designed for use as complete 5.1 (or 6.1/7.1) setups.

Please reply with additions which I will edit in.

Thanks to rjw, sounddog, wilber, Samir, EvilMudge, bob007, slingshot, Bonesy, Retro, General Skanky, stranger & adi for contributions.

I have moved the details onto a separate page at
http://www.avforums.com/links.php

We are now taking comments from owners. Please reply here with your exact configuration and experiences owning these speakers..

Owner's comments for Paradigm:
Performance series - somewhat underwhelming unless partnered with higher priced electronics, very neutral but not absolutely detailed.
Monitor series - very similar to the above, considerably more detail and resolution, prefers valves and vinyl surprisingly because they let you know just how harsh and unpleasant most digital electronics are.

Performance series configuration (as was)
Four Atom V2s, one CC-170, one PDR-10
Monitor series configuration
Two Monitor 5 V2s, One CC-350, Two ADP-370 Dipoles, One PS1000 Subwoofer.

[alexs2]

Owners comments for Linn and B&W:

Linn...owned a set of Keltiks...superb bass weight and attack,allied with the sort of depth that few subs can manage.
Mid range a bit recessed,with good treble clarity if not outright extension.
Very intolerant of poor ancillaries,in particular amplifiers without very good current delivery into difficult loads.

B&W....currently have Nautilus 805s...bought these as the bass response of the Keltiks was incompatible with a 250yr old house.
Obviously a bit limited in the bass,but superb attack and clarity throughout their range,and superior midrange/treble detail to the(somewhat more expensive)Linns.
These still need amps with high current delivery into difficult loads,and are very revealing of shortcomings elsewhere in a system.

[Apocalypse]

My new Paradigm Studio speakers should be here soon, I'll post my comments when they arrive, I presently have a mix of Reference and Monitor ranges from Paradigm so cannot really comment.

[sounddog]

Have B&W 602s2 / LCR60s3 / 601s2 here.

Great detail, possibly slightly better sounding than the 602s3 (but havn't compared in same room). Wouldn't swap them except for maybe 603, or for CDM floorstanding - oh okay or for a set of 802 but thats just a dream :-)

[ncpl]

Meridian DSP5500 (front), 5000 (back) and 5000c (centre)

...and I love 'em !

Bose oxo sized speakers. All the above poster's speakers are pants!

For the list:

Sonus Faber
Totem
AVI
Blueroom
Epos
Harbeth
Snell

Actually in my house:

Ruark
Kef
Velodyne
Tannoy

[SystemBlack]

Do Eltax count? I got a pair to do rear to my Realistic fronts and I am sorry I didn't get two pairs now, £49.95 a pair from Currys.

[Phil Hinton]

M&K 750THX Select, Left Right and Centre. £375 each.

I have had these speakers for about Four months now. My shop demo was with Sevenoaks Newcastle using Arcam AV8 and P7 Combo. On getting them home they did not sound very good, infact they were just too bright! However i recieved first class advice and borrowed other amplification from 7oaks to double check, along with a salesman(Craig) who spent a few hours at my room changing cables etc.
It turned out that the Denon 3801 I was using, struggled with the 4ohm load, thus didnt sound very good. Using good amplifier the sound was again very good and detailed, very nice sound with music and brilliant with movies, excellent imaging. Now sold the denon and saving for better pre-power combo.

M&K Surround 55 Tripole, £795 pair.
Stunning!! Absolutely first class!! I have used many rear speakers in my ten years as a HC nut, and these are by far the best i have ever used, highly recommended, but expensive.


Velodyne CHT-15 Subwoofer £675.
Bought in Power buy on these forums, they replaced my To Rel Storms. Stunning real bass, music performance is untouched at this price range, movie stunning. Nuff Said!

[Spligsey]

Big fan of Dynaudio (especially pro ranges)..... own BM15's

Big fan of PMC, with the AML1's being the best active speaker i have ever heard.
If money was no object, then i'd have 6 x AML1's

Actually, come to think of it.....i prefer pro studio monitors to 'domestic' Hi-fi units..If you don't mind 'bland looking boxes' (although some are rather cool too) then you can get some devilishly good performance for not a lot of ££'s.

Despite being a big Boothroyd Stuart (Meridian) fan, i am not a follower of their speakers..

I also like M&K in general.

Adzman

[graxxor]

Went through a Yamaha phase over the last couple of years.

Yamaha NS-P510 5.1 speaker package
(MUCH better than P400 series, but a bit more expensive)
*5 x NS-10MMC micro monitors and YST-SW45 sub.
*Buy an extra pair of NS-10MMCs for rears for 6.1/7.1
*Small, cheap and very good.

Sorry, only found them on TCR... Not mail order...

YAmaha NS-300 surround package plus sub.

* Yamaha NS-300 floorstanding fronts NS-300C Centre, NS-100 for all rears (100s are available singly).
* YST-SW800 or YST-SW1500 subwoofer...

Great for home cinema if you're not a fan of THX or Cinema EQ because the treble is a little recessed. Not so good for music though.

Design sucks... Definitely keep the grills on.

Yamaha's centre speakers have always been the weak link and the 300C is no exception. It's rear ported for some unfathmable reason... Keep it bunged or about 50cm from a wall or it's tone no longer matches the front ported NS-300 standers.

Found these available in Sevenoaks Hifi a year or so back.

Sevenoaks do a try at home audition service.

[Stuart Wright]

I have now put the data into a database and once you have logged into the links page using your AV Forums user name and password, you can then edit the data.
User comments for each manufacturer coming shortly.

[LDR]

Mission m53

Price £549/Pair

Very polished & intricate sound, excellent bass extension, fully magnetically shielded. Take about 2 weeks to run them in properly and you will then experience the benefits of these stunning looking & sounding speakers.

Mission m5c

Price £199

Again fully shielded for AV use, tonally matches excellently with m53 (given size dimension & lack of cabinet volume compared to m53), very crisp & clean dialouge.

Love 'em.

NHT, unless they have no importer (was CSE?)