Best AV/Stereo speakers for up to £2000???

spencey

Standard Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
19
Reaction score
1
Points
8
Right I need some serious help as this speaker dilemma is driving me crazy. I want the best AV speakers I can get that will also deliver music exceptionally well when required. I can go to about 2K. The choice however seems endless with the like of the Canton CD300's, M&K Xenon's, B&W MT's, KEF 3005's and so on. How about a recommendation and then I will just go and try it.

Set up is to be run by a DENON AVR-2807 or a Sony STR-DA5200ES. I only want 5.1 sound and room is about 5.5 by 5.5 metres. Picture is shown on a Panny PX60. I think the sub of choice will be the BK Monolith-DF but could be persuaded otherwise.

Thanks
 
Right I need some serious help as this speaker dilemma is driving me crazy. I want the best AV speakers I can get that will also deliver music exceptionally well when required. I can go to about 2K. The choice however seems endless with the like of the Canton CD300's, M&K Xenon's, B&W MT's, KEF 3005's and so on. How about a recommendation and then I will just go and try it.

Set up is to be run by a DENON AVR-2807 or a Sony STR-DA5200ES. I only want 5.1 sound and room is about 5.5 by 5.5 metres. Picture is shown on a Panny PX60. I think the sub of choice will be the BK Monolith-DF but could be persuaded otherwise.

Thanks

You have at least made a good start with nameing a few speaker packages and the best advice would be to certainly go and dem if possible the above speakers preferably with the AV amps you have mentioned, my choice out of them would have to be the M&K Xenon speakers which will give superb performance with movies and are not too bad with music either...you're choice of sub is pretty specific and by all accounts a forum favourite by quite a few members here, but i would also add a few more to the list ie the SVS SB12+ and also don't count out the M&K subs albeit they do come in slighlty more expensive than the others but definitly worth a listen.
 
2k for speakers only or speakers/ sub/ cables/ interconnects?
 
2K for the whole lot excluding speaker cable as its already good stuff and in place under the floor.
 
2k for speakers - have you looked at PMC? Crustyloafer has some very nice ones in his setup. KB always bang on about Monitor Audio ( :rotfl: ). I've got Ruark and they're very musical and sound good with AV as well (the SVS sub helps with the AV). I haven't heard your amps so can't comment on their suitability for what you're aiming for (one is AV and one is hifi?).

Your best bet is to get some demos. And a good sub will underpin your whole AV experience so don't skimp there (I'm sure you've read all the Monolith and SVS threads?).
 
2k for speakers - have you looked at PMC? Crustyloafer has some very nice ones in his setup. KB always bang on about Monitor Audio ( :rotfl: ). I've got Ruark and they're very musical and sound good with AV as well (the SVS sub helps with the AV). I haven't heard your amps so can't comment on their suitability for what you're aiming for (one is AV and one is hifi?).

Your best bet is to get some demos. And a good sub will underpin your whole AV experience so don't skimp there (I'm sure you've read all the Monolith and SVS threads?).

cheek!

heh

oh well, might as well conform to my stereotype :D

Monitor Audio RS series, RS6 fronts, RSLCR Centre, RSFX rears (or RS1 rears) and a SVS PB12/Plus sub....that lot should set you back between £1600 and £1800 depending on how good a deal you can get on them....

good with movies and music, nice clear bright sound, but not bass light in the slightest.....the amp you suggest should work ok with them, altho at some point it would be worth recommending a dedicated stereo amp for two channel music for the RS6 fronts, something around £600 should do to get the best out of them...

other options to persue would be B&W 600 series, KEF iQ, PMC and Quad.....however there are a fair few more options too...best thing you can do is see what the local dealers stock, then go spend a couple days demoing :thumbsup:
 
For 2K I would recommend auditioning the following:

Fronts and Surrounds: PMC DB1+ : £1350
Centre: PMC DB1+M-C: £345

You might just be able to squeeze in a decent subwoofer and keep it around the 2K mark.
 
Although space is not an issue I am thinking of purchasing smaller speakers so that they blend in rather than being a focus point in my lounge? I think the best choice would be the Xeon's. Whats the general opinion between the Kef 3005 and the B&W MT30 as both of these are small speakers which will kick out some good sound. Finally does anyone have any experience with the new Monitor Audio AV pack the RS1 AV?
 
cheek!

heh

oh well, might as well conform to my stereotype :D

Monitor Audio RS series, RS6 fronts, RSLCR Centre, RSFX rears (or RS1 rears) and a SVS PB12/Plus sub....that lot should set you back between £1600 and £1800 depending on how good a deal you can get on them....

good with movies and music, nice clear bright sound, but not bass light in the slightest.....the amp you suggest should work ok with them, altho at some point it would be worth recommending a dedicated stereo amp for two channel music for the RS6 fronts, something around £600 should do to get the best out of them...

other options to persue would be B&W 600 series, KEF iQ, PMC and Quad.....however there are a fair few more options too...best thing you can do is see what the local dealers stock, then go spend a couple days demoing :thumbsup:

May I be cheeky and suggest an alternative to KB regarding the MA's? No objection?.... Well then! This is just my tuppance, but if you're looking for speakers to go with either of the above mentioned amps then I would think about the new MA Bronze series. It's very good and runs the Silvers hard in a straight fight. I know I bought the Silvers myself, but that's because I also bought slightly higher electronics too to go with it. I'd only buy the silvers over the bronzes if the amp you buy now is only a stop gap to something higher in a year or two. But hey! Go and get a demo!

Oh and if you're looking at style systems, don't forget the MA Radius 270's with a decent sub. The only problem is that I started by wanting some, then heard the bronze series, and then the silvers! :D
 
Also try the Spendor, Proac and Dynaudio speaker ranges. If music is more important, go for hi-fi speakers. If movies are more important, try out some dedicated home cinema speakers and see how they sound for you with music.
 
By the way, have you tried Yamaha recievers? I was very impressed with them too. Sorry to throw confusion in!
 
In theory, £2k gets you into the big league, certainly if you're (a) looking at something with musical ability, and (b) don't mind going s/h.

Can I suggest that the first thing you do is stop thinking about brands, and start considering what kind of technical solution you want. At the lower end of the market, virtually everything will be a multi-driver ported speaker.
Get above that, and you get a whole bunch more options including infinite baffle, electrostatic, ribbon, horn, single drivers etc. All of these have advantages and dissadvantages and it would be worth considering some more. For example, when compared to a "typical" 2-way ported floorstander:
- Electrostatic tend to be very clean, and detailed, though have issues with absolute loudness and bass depth
- Ribbons are often hybrids now using dynamic bass drivers and ribbons for the rest of the range. Again very clean, better power handling and bass capability than electrostatics, but often suffer from coherence across the audio range because of the different technology in use
- Horns have dynamics to die for and are awesome at putting the band infront of you, but demand a very good source and don't texture aswell as standard speakers.

Let us know more of what you're trying to achieve, maybe we can steer you slightly better, instead of simply saying "buy X brand, cos I have some".
 
Mr_Sukebe

I dont mind what I purchase just so long as they give me exceptional Movie play back and that they sound good when I dock my ipod to listen to music. I have to confess that I am a novice and dont know much about all this AV stuff.

I do know that my current set up is just mashed together as its mission floor standers (773) with a mission center(77C) and then some small mission bookshelfs (m31) being run by a Yamaha DSPA5 amp which sounds OK with Movies but terrible for music.

Perhaps I need to upgrade the amp and change some of the speakers?

Please recommend my best option.
 
Dynaudio Audience range works very well IMO, there are a lot of options available at the price point - the Dyns are probably best suited if you want a system to do music aswell as movies... if it's movies only then i think the likes of M&K, Kef etc probably have a more suited system in the range.

Audience 42 Fronts, Audience 42C Centre and Audience 42W and SUB-250 will set you back £1600 and will sound very musical, changing the fronts to Audience 122 increases the cost by £600 but is definitely worth it, reduces the need for front stands though. You may get some good ex dem deals around Xmas, Audio Excellence offer good winter savings at the mo including 10% off first product bought, 12.5% off second item and 15% off subsequent items though Dynaudio may not be part of it...

Or a random off the wall choice: Mission Elegante £2099 - http://www.creative-audio.co.uk/Missonelegante_E82.htm
 
my two bobs worth would be to look at the ProAc Response series, which will provide great flexibility for both AV and stereo. If the budget doesn't stretch to the Response series then the Studio series are also worth considering.
 
Mr_Sukebe

I dont mind what I purchase just so long as they give me exceptional Movie play back and that they sound good when I dock my ipod to listen to music. I have to confess that I am a novice and dont know much about all this AV stuff.

I do know that my current set up is just mashed together as its mission floor standers (773) with a mission center(77C) and then some small mission bookshelfs (m31) being run by a Yamaha DSPA5 amp which sounds OK with Movies but terrible for music.

From what you've written, you're using an Ipod, probably with "lossy" files, via an AV amp, and then wonder why music sounds pants.
Back in the old days, the line was "garbage in, garbage out".
The problem you have is NOT with your speakers. The simple fact is that you have a rubbish source (in relative terms).
To resolve that, you need to buy yourself a decent CD player and decent dedicated stereo amp. You can stick whatever speakers you like on the backend, all they'll do is show up how poor the rest of the system is.
Still, it's your money...
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom