Front speaker pair up to £2k (+centre)

[proux]

My system (see below) has grown far more than I expected, and my speakers are now the obvious weak link. I plan to replace the fronts and centre, and will keep the rears and sub for now. My listening is mostly music in 2-channels (CD more than vinyl), and only about a quarter is 5.1 (music and movies).

I am looking for speakers that I will want to keep for many years, and they have to look as well as sound the part. I listen to all kinds of music, currently mainly jazz and world / fusion. The room is 4.5 by 3.5 m, and they will be about 20-25 cm from the rear wall. Final important point: the centre speaker must NOT exceed 50 cm width.

I have shortlisted Waterfall Victoria and Opera Callas for their stunning looks. Has anyone listened to those, particularly with Arcam kit? Will try to audition this week. From more "conventional" looking speakers I like PMC FB1+, Rega are nice, but Proac are out due to looks, and Monitor Audio also out due to the massive centre speaker.

There are plenty more, so suggestions very welcome!

 

[Scott_Mac]

PMC work well with Arcam, i don't get on with MA.... Dynaudio are my personal faves and they too work well with Arcam, the Audience 42C centre is only 37cm wide too.

Your budget would get you Focus 140 and Audience 42 Centre which is a stunning combo!

EDIT: Thinking about it actually, you'd get Focus 220 (floorstander) and 42C for that budget... which you'd probably appreciate the extra scale the floorstanders bring in the music you listen to. For me the 110's were fantastic and in my room the 220's would have been waaaaaaaaay too excessive, you should be fine in your room size but a demo of the 140's vs the 220's is probably adviseable!

 

[Helicon]

Shame Proac's not an option as the D15's are fantastic speakers.

Have a look at the Spendor S6e or S8e's.

 

[Crustyloafer]

Another vote for the PMCs here, the FB1+s and the TB2M+C- make a spectacular combination and partner particularly well with Arcam electronics.

 

[Arcam_boy]

ypu this time I'd go with the PMC's even though I don't think there the best looking speakers available there sound will make up for it. Although I've never heard the 700 series speakers in action you could try the 704's with the HTM7 centre which I can only imagine will sound great and look very nice indeed

 

[nuttyboyz]

I would look at the Neat Elite SE and Centrum centre speakers,the Elites are absolutely stunning for the music you like.

 

[proux]

Many thanks guys. Dynaudio and Spendor were obvious omissions, I shall investigate. I will also try to see the Proacs in flesh before discounting. I heard the PMC DB1's with arcams and was mightily impressed for their size. Don't know much about neat, the list grows as expected!

Not many votes for the more "elegant" speakers i see, I wonder how my wife will take it. At least she likes the look of the Castles, so maybe she won't even notice if the PMC's appear instead.

 

[Helicon]

If you want something slimline, there's the Proac Towers at £1995. Maybe a little more than you were going to pay, but a very small footprint.

 

[proux]

Thanks again. Neat Elite looks very promising, and the Proac tritowers are on the tall side (size and price!), but I will try to check them out too.