Floorstanders under £200

Cambridge Audio S70 Oak | Speakers Per Pair | Richer Sounds

I've had many a speaker in my home from budget through to £1k and for value for money, these have gotta rank highly against anything around the £200 mark. Build quality is excellent and sound is relaxed, open and airy with plenty of detail and reasonably good bass- not really really low but nice and tight, not boomy. You could listen to these speakers for hours - well worth an audition. Sounded really good in my room paired with a Marantz amp...
 
Are you looking for finesse or power? Typically you can't have both in this price range.

For example, if you want rock the house power, then certainly these speaker will accomplish that and then some -

Wharfedale XARUS5000-BLACK from Hughes Direct

But, as good as they sound, and as powerful as they are, they are not what anyone would call refined.

Unfortunately, at £200, the choices for refined speakers are slim.

If you simply want big powerful speakers, might I recommend these -

SuperFi.co.uk - Wharfedale Diamond 10.2 Bookshelf speaker

Diamond 10.2 Bookshelf, priced at £220/pr, 6.5" (165mm) woofer, response down to 40hz @ -6db.

Or as an alternate -

Google-UK Shopping Search - Monitor Audio Bronze BX2 Bookshelf Speaker

Monitor Audio BX2, priced at about £225/pr, 6.5" (165mm), 42hz @ -3db (estimate 36-38hz at -6db).

I guess at this point, I would ask, how desperate are you for floorstanding, and how satisfied were you with your Eltax speakers? Obviously you want to upgrade, but knowing how satisifed you were, would give us some sense of the level of sophistication you are looking for now.

Also, as originally mentioned, some sense of what you are look for these speaker to do. If these are loud hell-raising party speakers, that is one thing, but if they are for quiet contemplative listening, that is quite another thing.

While there are under £200/pr speakers available, and while they do work, they are not going to be great speakers. Still, not everyone is looking for great, some people are just looking for good fun speakers.

But, you need to refine your requirements a bit for us to make productive recommendations.

Steve/bluewizard
 
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Thanks for the answers :) Bluewizard - my Eltax speakers are ok for what i need them for. I only wanted floorstanders for the looks but at low prices im guessing bookshelf speakers are better. I do like listening to them on full, as i like entertaining but would compromise power for a better sounding speaker.

Would it be worth upgrading now then or saving up for a better pair of speakers ?
Again thanks for the answer
 
Consider this, if you got bookshelf speakers, you would need stands for them, and that is going to run close to £100/pr. That raises you budget to £300.

But for near that same £300, you could get these -

SuperFi.co.uk - Wharfedale Diamond 10.4 Floorstanding Speaker (Pair)'

Twin 5" woofer, response down to 38hz at -6db, price at £329/pr.

Comparing a single 6.5 inch speaker to a single 5 inch speaker, the 6.5" is about 70% larger. So, you see that two 5" is actually bigger than a single 6.5", though buy a small amount.

Because of the larger cabinet, the Diamond 10.4 has every so slightly better bass response than the bookshelf Diamond 10.2.

If you factor in the cost of Stands, it seems to me that the Diamond 10.4 is the better deal. But, the overall price has risen substantially from you original £200 budget.

I think I can safely say that these speakers are far more sophisticated than the Eltax. This is a very common speaker, available from hundreds of sources, so it shouldn't be that hard to find one to audition.

The next nearest competition would be the Monitor Audio Bronze BX series, but I think the BX5 floorstanding is over £400.

The £200 budget, which I realize in not a hand full of peanuts, is a little low if you want a good quality speaker. Now if you just want loud annoy the neighbors speakers, we can probably come up with something in the original price range. But for sophistication and refinement it takes a little more cash.

Here is a recent thread discussing the Wharfedale Diamond 10.4 -

http://www.avforums.com/forums/speakers/1456423-wharfedale-10-4-a.html

My Walls are Vibrating!!!

Pay attention to the discussion of the bass aspect of the speakers.

Steve/bluewizard
 
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The 10.4's seem to have caught my eye, and they seem to be alot cheaper on SuperFi then Richersounds where i was looking on. If i get these i will probably remove my sub from my set-up.

Would it be better to get rid of my Eltax speakers totally, or use them as well as the Diamond 10.4's?

Thanks for the detailed answer, helps a lot
 
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Floorstander speakers under £200 in my experience are either A.) a lot of empty box or B.) have a very lose flabby sound. If you want new then bookshelf speakers would be where my money would go. Or alternativley go used in which case something like a pair of used Acoustic Energy 109's or 120's could be up your street. I heard these some years ago and the bass is really nice and tight, lovely speakers.

Acoustic Energy Ae109 Speakers Excellent condition!!! | eBay UK
 
-- As an eBay Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases --
The 10.4's seem to have caught my eye, and they seem to be alot cheaper on SuperFi then Richersounds where i was looking on. If i get these i will probably remove my sub from my set-up.

Would it be better to get rid of my Eltax speakers totally, or use them as well as the Diamond 10.4's?

Thanks for the detailed answer, helps a lot

Hi Sw1tch. Just to let you know I recently purchased a pair of 10.4's from Audio Affair. As far as I can see, they have the cheapest price on the net for these speakers. i paid £319, and they've now dropped them to £318. I've posted the link below for you. :thumbsup:

Audio Affair | Hi-fi, Home Cinema, Multi Room & Custom Install
 
Thank you very much for the link ubistonk. Do you think they were a good choice as you have a pair?
 
Absolutely. Most people on here have a lot more technical knowledge than I do, but I can safely say the sound quality of these are excellent. At times I've been blown away by them, particularly during certain action scenes in movies. And wharfedale have a reputaion of being great value for money. So yes I would definitely reccomend.
 
Thanks for the replies, havn't seen the AE's before. Dont know which ones to get now :D
 
Thanks for the replies, havn't seen the AE's before. Dont know which ones to get now :D

I think both sets of speakes 10.4s and the AEs are good ...could be time for you to get a demo
 
Have you auditioned or decided on one of these nice sets of speakers yet ?
 
I havnt had time to yet, plus dont know where has the AE's retail near me. But should be able to go and check the Wharfedales soon at richersounds :)
Thanks for the replies
 
Worth checking the C audio s70 if your going to r sounds- would be interested in how they compare with the wharfedales
 
Worth checking the C audio s70 if your going to r sounds- would be interested in how they compare with the wharfedales


I would but they don't do them in the colour I need, beech or close to it.
 
Im off to Richersounds to listen to a few this week, before making my mind up.
 
The Acoustic Energy Neo 3 is above your stated budget, but is still reasonably priced and as you can see, they are regarded as a very good speaker for the money. Function and size wise, they are about the equivalent of the Wharfedale Diamond 10.4.

I hadn't initially thought of these when I suggested the Diamonds, but this is certainly a speaker well worth having a look at and a listen to. The current model is the V2 (version 2). There are a few places that still have the Version 1 of these and they would very much be close to your budget. Though the Version 1 have been on close out for a while now and are getting very difficult to find.

However, at the standard price, the Neo 3 are priced very close to the Diamond 10.4, and most definitely are worth looking into.

Again, to some extent, it depends on your expectations, there certainly are speaker at about £200. If your expectations are low, and your needs are very basic, they are worth considering -

Sony SS-F6000 4-Way Floor Standing Speakers

Sony SS-F6000 Floor Standing Speakers - AskDirect

TIBO XTREME 400 SPEAKERS (PAIR) - available from Superfi UK

WHARFEDALE VARDUS VR400 SPEAKERS (PAIR) - available from Superfi UK

Eltax CONCEPT 180 Black | Speakers Per Pair | Richer Sounds

ELTAX CONCEPT 400 Black Floorstanding Speakers - Audio Visual World

Cambridge Audio S70 Oak | Speakers Per Pair | Richer Sounds

The Wharfedale Vardus VR400 are probably OK if you don't want super deep bass, and the Cambridge S70 is probably a reasonably refined speaker with acceptable bass. Both worth checking out. In terms of size and general design, the Cambridge S70 is very similar to the Diamond 10.4 and the Neo 3.

Though a trace over your budget, here is another worth considering -

INFINITY Primus 360 BK (PRIMUS 360) 3-Way Dual 6-1/2" Floorstanding Loudspeaker - www.hiwayhifi.com

But, I think if you can possibly push your budget up closer to £300, you will be much better off for it.

Steve/bluewizard
 
Thanks for the reply Steve :) Tomorrow i should be listening to the CA s70's and the Wharfedale CR30.4's. I have managed to up my budget to £350.
As i dont know anything about speaker set-ups, how much does what amp you use matter?
 
If you are testing speakers, then try to get a test on an amp roughly in the price range you plan to spend, or roughly the same as the amp you have.

Again, if you want more power and weight, then the cheaper speakers are probably OK. But if you are looking for some refinement, then Cambridge S70, Wharfedale 10.4, Acoustic Energy Neo 3 are all well worth giving a listen to.

The Infinity Primus 360 are also worth a look. As you can see here, it is possible for them to cost as much as £400 per pair -

Infinity Primus 360 - Google Search

Steve/bluewizard
 

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