speakers between £600-£800

[bluesilver]

Hi all,

I just want to get some info on what you think the best speakers are in this price range.
The source will be a Denon 1920 and the amp with either be the Marantz PM7001 or the NAD 352.
I'm after the best quality of sound I can get, not just brute force. They will be used for HC use but mainly for stereo use. The speakers I'm going to demo are:

MA RS6's and 8's
Kef IQ7's

so my question is, are there any others that you think should definitely be on my demo list for between £600-£800? Any problems with the ones on my list?

thanks all

[GW43]

If you want to give stand-mounts a try, add the MA GS10 - they are a step up from the RS range in terms of quality, and go almost as low as the RS6 in the bass dept. You'll need another £100 or so for decent stands - but there are plenty of things like Atacama SE24 on E-Bay that would be less than that. There's not a lot to go wrong with 2nd hand stands!

Choices you mention seem sound!

[Knyght_byte]

aye, i'd back up the move to a pair of GS10's.....gorgeous speakers for music.....and even if you dont think the lovely bass from them is enough you can always add a fast sub to go with them ;-)

one thing i would suggest tho, they thrive on as good an amp as you can afford, if you cant hit over £800 for the amp now, i'd actually suggest getting a high power cheaper amp now, say around £400, then sometime in the future get a much better amp when money allows :-)

[OneDesi]

At the risk of putting my foot in it am I right in saying you are looking for a 2 channel setup (hence the choice of amp) and you will add home cinema to it somehow later?

If this is the case a budget of £1000-£1200 for speakers and amp could get you some quite serious audiophool stuff (especially ex.dem or dare I say it second hand!).

Let us know your thought pattern and I will try and give you my honest opinion.

[mhuk05]

Denon 1920 is dvd player? Is it much of an upgrade audio-wise on a 1910 because I thought the 1910 wasn't much a CDP.

[bluesilver]

hi all, just to clarify things..

I want to get the denon 1920 for it's upscaling qualities and I've head that it isn't bad audio wise either.
I do already have a surround amp, the denon 1905. I am going to hook up either the NAD or the Marantz to it so I can have good stereo through the NAD/Marantz but also have good surround using the Denon with the NAD or Marantz in combination by using the pre-outs.

I'm actually happy surround wise with the Denon, I think it's fine, but I want something 'cleaner' and more 'precise' for listening to cd's and that's where the new amp and new speakers come in.

Any more suggestions or questions happily welcome

[OneDesi]

Okay this is all IMHO so no offence meant.

For £400 you can pick upa lot of amp if you look around ex-dem (some Cyrus/Musical Fidelity stuff) which will comfortably outperform the stuff you are looking at. For example, I have an old MF X-A2 that would sell for c.£300 and is easily the equivalent of a £5-600 amp. You might even find some Roksan stuff (never heard it but gets good right ups!). You can get newer MF X150/X80 for sub £500 - pity as I just sold the older but better built A3.2 integrated which has an AV throughpass - ideal for your setup!

As for speakers the monitor audio are very good (used to have silver S1/S6/GR20's) but if you can hear some PMC's then you will be really surprised (standmount DB1's are £600ish new and are loads better than my old GR20's). To my ears, MA bass can sometimes overpower. I would say steer away from quad (look nice sound dull) but also look at the stand mount B&W (if you can get the older 8 range ex-dem it is a bargain).

There are some serious second hand bargains to be had for your money and with an amp/speakers there ain't much to go wrong!