from floorstanders to satelites

[garrynic]

Hi all the misses wants to downsize my speakers at the moment i have mission 753 freedom fronts mission 75 centre m&k k4 rears and a monolith (df) sub i want the front three to be wall mounted keeping the rears and sub all are used for 99% movies so any suggestions on the front three would be much appreciated and how much of a down grade would this be if any? lastly any ideas what the three missions may be worth ? regards Garry

 

[PSM1]

What would the budget be for the front speakers?

 

[NaTT]

if you're wall mounting the front 3 then I would consider the Genelec 8000 series. They can be mounted, but being active you'd have to run/chase power as well as RCA cables to keep it tidy.

The bigger you go, the smaller the gap to the Sub.

This wouldn't be a down grade.

 

[jb001e9634]

I'm using 3 x MA APEX A40 at the front. They replaced MA BR5 floor standers. They are wall mounted and flush fitting with the TV distance from the wall.

Not cheap, but great for movies (with the A10 rears too the sound is very integrated) and good for music too. Maybe not quite as good in isolation as a bigger speaker for music, but particularly with my BK sub connected using the high level connections, music sounds great as well.

I'd recommend them.

JB

 

[Seriously Ltd]

The Apex would sound and look great. If 3 A40's too £ then go for 1 A40 and 2 A 10's.

 

[ShanePJ]

If the budget is even tighter, try some of Monitor Audio's Radius HD speakers. These are ultra compact speakers and paired together with the right subwoofer you can create a sound that will almost match the RX6's.
Just make sure your subwoofer has hi and low level input's.

If you can step upto the Apex speakers though, they are special!

Ragards, Shane.

 

[garrynic]

Thanks for the replies all as nice as the ma apex a40 look and sound by reviews just cant stretch to that price at the moment (worse luck xmas and kids and all ) has anyone any tried m&k l c r maybe the xeon 36 or similar as ive seen prices in the classifieds here for well under £500 for three speakers how would these compare to monitor audio or any others? any ideas what my missions may be worth ? thanks again for the replies regards Garry

 

[alpha10]

I would keep the missions and change the wife

I loved my 753s, can you not persuade her??

Cheers

 

[garrynic]

Hi alpha10 thanks for the reply if i really put my foot down i could keep the missions so are you suggesting dont godown the sattelite route or i may regret it ? regards Garry

 

[Seriously Ltd]

You will not regret it. A sub sat system can sound fantastic. MK fantastic. Monitor Audio fantastic.
What is your budget?

 

[garrynic]

Budget only about £500 at the moment so may just have to look in the classifides here for m&k lcr or similar Thanks

 

[SeanT]

Hi all the misses wants to downsize my speakers

Have you tried saying no? Is she paying?

 

[alpha10]

Hi alpha10 thanks for the reply if i really put my foot down i could keep the missions so are you suggesting dont godown the sattelite route or i may regret it ? regards Garry

Just my personal opinion, yes you will regret it. The 753s may be old now, but they are a rtemendous all round design, films and music, I do not think that with a £500 budget you will be going up in the world!

Can you try/borrow/home demo any kit, that is the only way to really tell if you like the sound of compact/sub arrangements?

Cheers

 

[princep69]

I agree! 753's are excellent for films and music and are very loud with a hell of a lot of clarity!!
You dont get top quality made speakers like that these days.
tell the wife to do one and zip it! lol
or tell her u'd rather keep the missions and buy her something nice! that one will work! lol

 

[garrynic]

Thanks for the replies looks like i will be keeping the missions for the time being (my decision ive put my foot down) ha ha she soon agreed when i told her i would have to spend over £1000 to replace them and probably still wouldnt sound as good so thanks again for the comments regards Garry

 

[hoppaz]

I have just done what you are proposing, moving to m and k xenon 35s. I am on phone at the mo so will do a proper reply when I am on the laptop later on

 

[hoppaz]

Right, backhome now and on the laptop.

If you said to me that you were going to use the speakers for music I would suggest you stick with the missions.

However, in my circumstance we are soon to be looking to sell the house so the missus wanted the av kit tidied up.

I used to have some XTZ floorstanders and centre which used ribbon tweeters but they were large and along with my SVS cyclinder sub, took up alot of room.

Having moved to the M&K speakers I must say that they are a lot louder than the XTZ's were at a given volume. I can only assume that it is down to the difference in ohms and the design of he speaker. In terms of movie enjoyment the M&K speakers really shine. The M&K speakers have a little extra "magic" when it comes to movie as they seem to create nuances (sp.) in certain areas that was not apparent with the XTZs. They are certainly very dynamic. I would not say they are ten times better but they are certainly marginally better than the XTZs by the simple fact they love to be driven loud and love to throw out or embelish on sounds the XTZs didn't (which is a bonus IMO). For music there is no comparison the XTZ win hands down.

For general tv viewing they definately lack the fulness of a floorstander as the sub LFE gets much less use. It's much lighter in the bass department. I can dial the sub level up on my processor to compensate but this is a bug bear with low level input regardless of the sub / speakers. It just becomes less of an inssue with full range speakers as they provide more of the frequency range.

I am actually contemplating changing my sub and going for a sealed option.This type of sub design tend to offer more mid-range slam which will help the M&K's. The SVS is definately no slouch but its more at home in the lower frequencies than punching you in the chest with fast, clean bass. The increase of speed delivery I feel would benefit the M&Ks immensly.

In terms of WAF the M&Ks win hands down. They look great and once I decide on my sub they will be wall mounted so my AV kit looks neat and tidy.

 

[garrynic]

Hopaz thanks for the detaled reply will have to decide if youve put the cat amongst the pidgeons again or what but realistically would you go for and stick with floorstanders over the m&k given the choice thanks again regards Garry

 

[hoppaz]

As 99.9% of my speaker usage is now tv and movies I would go for the M&K over floorstanders.

There is not much in it if you get the sub/bass balance right. This is the key.

The benefit for me is the whole room looks much bigger (and better if I am honest) and I have a happier missus. If it was just me I would have the room painted black and have the biggest/best system possible irrelevant of looks. In reality I must accept totally different circumstances so will make compromises without trying to compromise on the sound quality / movie experience.

Yes every day of the week you will not get the fullness of full range speakers with M&Ks but get the sub to offset this and you wont have a problem.

I would suggest you trysome M&Ks in your room and see what you think. They tend to hold their price well and if you dont like them sell them on and take a small loss if need be. At least then you could make an informed choice.

One thing you must always be aware of is that in every different room a speaker may sound different so you must accept that you may already not be getting the best out of the missions as it is. A comparison to M&K would help you decide which is best in your room.

Then you could sell which ever speaker you want.

This is my 2p worth.

Another thing I must also share is that I have heard speakers costing very little to those that cost 1000's and without sounding controversial I must say that speakers which cost 100's will provide you with 75-80% of the performance of speakers costing many times more. It just depends on how much extra you are prepared to pay to get to the 100% level. Bear in mind that once you go beyond the threshold you could end up paying double just to gain a few extra %'s - this is the nature of the beast.

 

[garrynic]

Hoppaz do ou think the m&ks would go wll with my b&k monolith sub ?

 

[hoppaz]

Hoppaz do ou think the m&ks would go wll with my b&k monolith sub ?

Never heard one but if you find the mono too flabby shove some socks in to the port to see if this tightens things up. You could use the high level input on the sub so it relays the sound to whatever you set the crossover too. This would help on the music/tv front.

Its trial n' error in everyone's room what they run.

 

[Faffer]

Hi
I have just gone to the Apex 5.0 set-up from some floor stand speakers; I have to admit my floor stand speakers are a good 10+ years old and was not up to much,

Now I did not have to much option with the size as my tv stand limited my options only having 165mm to play with, The Apex fitted this need, That or I would need a projector screen that allows sound to pass.

Day one I have the 2 A10 and 1 A40 set up and so far for movie it has been nice to have the clean sound .. very nice and direct I have been missing so much from my others I did not know until now.

But I am missing the space the other have been filling so things look strange. That and I am waiting for my sub to turn up so I am just using my super small old Yamaha yst sw60.

So now I am looking for a new amp and thinking for music I could use the old floor stand speakers as well on the zone 2 output. So for music I would get it all and movies I have the clean direct sound

 

[Seriously Ltd]

Hi Richard,
What sub are you getting?
What's your budget for a receiver?
I use my Apex mainly for music,multi channel, and love them.
You really do need to let the Apex run in for about 100 hours till they give their best.

 

[Faffer]

I have gone for the bk monolith in gloss black should be ready next week had a call with early next week

Amp mmmm well have been looking at the onkyo 809 so I'd say around 1k but it really depend what's on offer

I watch more movies than music

 

[Seriously Ltd]

Excellent sub. You will have some serious fun with that.
I can't comment on the Onkyo as have never really heard them.

I used to use a Denon 3310 which worked a treat with the Apex. Now I use an ARCAM AVR 500 great for music.

The Apex are superb with movies. As I said run them in for ages to get the best out of them.
There is a big thread on What Hi Fi forum regarding the Apex with lots of info re partnering amps etc.

You should also consider getting an Antimode sub eq from BK. It has had amazing results on my sub.