£400 for speakers?

cartwrim

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Hi All,

I am looking to purchase a new separates system and have pretty much decided on a Marantz CD6002 and Marantz PM6002. I have auditioned these with several pairs of 'bookshelf' speakers priced between £100 and £400 including Kef IQ3's, Wharfedale Diamond 9.1's, B&W 686's, B&W 685's, Epos M5's, of which the B&W 685's were my favourite.

Then I started thinking, £430 for speakers + stands, could buy a nice set of floorstanding speakers!

So, I am willing to pay for the 685's + stands but should I look at the possibility of floorstanders at this price to match with the CD / Amp? I am not too worried about the extra bass floorstanders could offer, I thought the 685's were bassy enough and I don't like to listen with too much bass - is this all the floorstanders would offer above standmount in this price range?

Any (relevant :D) opinions welcome,

Thanks,
Matt
 
The difference is, as you say, primarily better bass extension.
My Quad 21L2s are basically 12L2s with a taller cabinet and the bass response is down to 35Hz rather than 45Hz.
This doesn't mean they'll sound 'bassy' or 'boomy' though, just that they can reproduce lower frequencies.
I personally like the look of floorstanders and find the price differential between equivalent bookshelfs isn't much different than the price of decent stands.
 
Thanks for quick reply - I do like the look of floorstanders and I appreciate that speakers on stands are pretty much the same size but my living room is not that large and I think they may 'look' a bit large. If they would greatly enhance the aural pleasure I would have some but not if there's not really that much difference.

As a side note, as I said above , space is really at a premium in my living room and I have thought about wallmounting speakers - would this greatly detract from the sound they can reproduce on stands? Or assuming I mounted them correctly and they didn't rattle about would they just lose a bit of bass through not having a 100% solid mount?
 
Wallmounting speakers is OK as long as they've been specifically designed for it.
Many have a rear firing reflex port which will obviously not work if it's blocked by a wall.
The B&W 685s and Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s are suitable for wall mounting.
I don't know whether it will give the best sound, but if space is a premium perhaps that doesn't matter.
Not sure about the other speakers you mentioned.
Wall mounts tend to be much cheaper to buy than floor stands too.
 
Floorstanders aren't necessarily better than standmounts. True you may get better bass extention from some but standmounts can give a better overall and intergrated sound sometimes. Why do you think monitors are used in mixing studios and the such. I have always been a fan of them as i haven't heard a floorstander yet that i could live with, though i haven't heard many just the ones i have didnt do it for me.
 
You like the B&W 685 speakers, but the next model up from there is the floor standing 684 which is substantially more money.

B&W 684 @ £699.95 / pair

B&W 685 @ £379.95 / pair

Now the floor standing 684 is a lot more speaker. It has TWO 165mm Kevlar cone woofers in a ported cabinet. So, in short, if you are going to buy a floor stander for the same money, generally speaking, you are going to have to buy less speaker. Do you see what I mean?

Wharfedale 9.1 and 9.4 are an example of virtually identical speakers that are available in both bookshelf and floor standing.

Wharfedale 9.1 @ £129.00 / pair with 50 to 24,000hz response

Wharfedale 9.4 @ £179.00 / pair with 40 to 24,000 response

My advise is, don't second guess yourself. You found speakers you want at a the top of the price range you can afford, and the B&W have a first rate reputation for being quality speakers.

The nearest speakers, after a quick check on the web, are the

EPOS M12.2 @ £379.95 / pair

QUAD 11L2 @ £379.95 / pair

The Epos are highly rated and there is no denying the quality of the Quads, but you have already checked out several speakers and have stated a preference for the B&W.

Any of these speakers are an excellent buy for the money. But again, you already know what you like, so I say follow that and go with the B&W.

Probably doesn't help much, but there it is.

Steve/bluewizard
 
The nearest speakers, after a quick check on the web, are the

EPOS M12.2 @ £379.95 / pair

QUAD 11L2 @ £379.95 / pair

The Epos are highly rated and there is no denying the quality of the Quads, but you have already checked out several speakers and have stated a preference for the B&W.

Any of these speakers are an excellent buy for the money. But again, you already know what you like, so I say follow that and go with the B&W.

Probably doesn't help much, but there it is.

Steve/bluewizard

It does help mate, thank you! :thumbsup: I will try and hear the Epos and Quads before making my mind up for sure - I am certainly leaning towards standmounts, to be honest I prefer the look and don't really have the space atm for floorstanders.

So, as a general opinion, if I spend ~£370 on speakers, will I make them sound like £50 speakers by wallmounting them?! If I decide I have to wallmount them, is there any tried and tested method for getting the best out of whatever I buy?

Many thanks,
Matt
 
Matt

The Quad 11L2s are great speakers and if you hunt around you can find them advertised for around £250. However, they are not really suitable for wall mounting as they are rear ported - Quad recommend an 8" gap.
 

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