Advice with speaker setup needed pls :-)

[Tommo1975]

Hi,

This is my first post on the forum. I have recently upgraded some of my AV kit and wondered if anyone had some good advice as to the best speakers to suit the rest of my setup.

I have an Arcam AVR300 amp and I am playing my music through either my Arcam DV79 player on direct into the AVR through my ipod.

At present I am using a pair of Eltax floorstanding speakers which I bought about 5 years ago for about £250 I think. I also have a KEF centre speaker http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/product.asp?id=3251 and a pair of Celestion AVS 101 surrounds http://www.celestion.com/products/soundstyle/avp100specs.html

I think it is worth replacing the fronts with some new floor standers and I am debating about relegating the old Eltax units to the role of rears when I do this.

Can anyone offer some advice as to what I should go for, my budget is about £1,000. Also has anyone got any experience with the AVR300 receiver/amp and if so what settings should I be using the unit with when playing back audio CD's? Should I bypass all the EQ settings and just use the direct button on the amp?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Kind regards
Mark

PS: I forgot to say, I also have a KEF active sub, don't know the model name but it's a square cube

 

[Gary_W]

Hi

For home theatre use, matching the front 3 is very important in my (very limited) experience. I used to have B+W 602 mains and an old Celestion centre. I changed to the Acoustic Energy Evo series all round and was blown away by the improvement. It wasn't that the old speakers were duffers. In fact, as a main pair the B+W 602 may well win against the Evos depending upon the opinion of your ears. It was purely the match across the front sound field made all the difference. All in, the 5 speaker set was around £550.

With your budget of £1000, I am sure there are far better speakers to look at than the Evos and I leave you in the hands of others on here. My opinion is basically to get at least the front 3 (and ideally all 5) matching tonally.

As for direct mode on the amp. In an ideal world in an ideal room, direct is the way to go. If you wish to find out about the other end of the spectrum where the Behringer Feedback Destroyer is king then pop over to the subwoofer forum and find out how, sometimes, a load of electronics with das blinken lights is preferable But then you'll also want to be spending a grand or more on an SVS sub. So don't go there, it's bad for the wallet....

Gary

 

[Tommo1975]

Thanks for the good advice Gary.

I can't say I'm too interested in playing drum and bass but I want a good degreee of tight bass to the sound and not the boom that I get at the moment through the KEF sub.

My local audio dealer has a great range of speakers and I could easily visit, listen to a few sets and make a purchase but ultimately I am going to end up paying full price when buying from somewhere like this.

If I can get a good idea from others with a similar setup the best speakers for my amp for around my budget then at least this gives me the opportunity to shop around or even scour places like ebay for a bargain.

If anyone else has any good advice I'm all ears.

 

[Dankeech]

I can vouch for the Acoustic Energy Evo 3 package sounding amazing for the price range. Have the Fronts, rears, centre & am soon to get the sub.

If you have a budget of £1000, you could always get the 7.1 package:

Evo 3 Fronts
Evo 1 Surrounds
Evo 1 Rear Surrounds
Evo Sub

There's other options, but it's an option worth auditioning.

Superfi have a good price (£820)
Then buy 2 sets of stands for the evo 1's
( I got alphason AG50's @ £50 pair in delivery), so that's £920 total
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo-1.cfm/Product_ID/1555

If you're lacking in cabling, then the £80 left over would pay for most of the speaker cable too.

Anyway, have an audition if you can. For price and getting a demo, I'd reckon your local Sevenoaks would be your best bet. I was surprised by their price too as was lower than any internet retailer I could find.

I'm no hifi expert, but best money I've spent for a long while.

Regards,

Dan.