Good speakers for house/drum and bass/music with bass

bjs1505

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Hi this is my first post and hoping someone could give me some guidance. Have done some searching but still unsure as to what will be best for me.

Ideally I'm looking for speakers for use with my pc in my room for listening to music with a lot of bass such as house, techno etc. I may also use them for house parties but nothing on a big scale. I've had a good look and there's a lot of choice but I like the look of the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s. I've also seen good reviews about the Tannoy V4's, would floorstanding speakers be suitable on their own for a good bass response?

Also, if I were to go for the 9.1s, would it be better to go for a sub or an amp for my needs?

Realistically, my budget is between £200-300, doubt I'd go much higher than £300 to be honest.

Feel free to recommend any other speakers/amps/subs etc whether they be floorstanding or any other kind as I'm open to options. :)

Thanks in advance.
 
At this price range for your tastess, it's going to be tough. You'll be better off with a subwoofer and smaller speakers, floorstanders with adequate bass for your tastes will rather exceed your budget. The Diamond 9.1s or similar will be OK, perhaps coupled with a BK Gemini, but even that's a tad your £300 limit. May I suggest looking at the classified listings here for other options?
 
You ask if you should get a sub or an amp.
This really isn't an either/or question.
For the type of speakers you're looking at, you need to buy an amplifier. Otherwise they won't work at all. Adding an amp isn't simply a matter of reinforcing the sound or adding bass or anything.

If you can find anywhere with them in stock, it sounds like the Wharfedale Vardus floorstanders could be the sort of thing you're looking for.
They're at the right sort of budget (based on the models you mention) and at that price-point they compromise on outright sound quality in favour of depth and power handling. A pair of these and a decent second-hand stereo amp could be a good bet for you.

I could have got you wrong from your original post, but this is the impression I get of the direction you'd want to go?
 
Thanks for the replies!

Would something like this do a good job for my needs?

Superfi - WHARFEDALE DIAMOND 9.1 SPEAKERS & SW150 SUBWOOFER 2.1 SPEAKER PACKAGE

I guess I didn't word my first post to well. I'm basically trying to guage what system is best for my needs I outlined in the original post. Is a sub and speakers worse than an amp and speakers or does it all depend on budget?

Also, can floorstanders alone do a good enough job or do they need an amp? For example, if I bought something like the Tannoy V4s, would they do a good job on their own in a standard sized double bedroom?

Audioenthusiast, would the Wharfedale Vardus floorstanders do a good job by themselves for a while without an amp, then I could buy one in the future or would it not be worthwhile using them on their own?

Thanks again and apologies for being naive, I'm relatively new to the speaker world!
 
Audioenthusiast, would the Wharfedale Vardus floorstanders do a good job by themselves for a while without an amp, then I could buy one in the future or would it not be worthwhile using them on their own?

None of the speakers in question will do a good job without an amp.
This type of speaker NEEDS an amp in order to work at all.
This goes for the Vardus, the Diamond 9.1, the Tannoy V4... any other speaker of this type that you can mention.
Without an amp, no sound will come out at all. This is what I was trying to get across in my last post.


Therefore "Is a sub and speakers worse than an amp and speakers" is not a comparison at all.
The two options would be amp and speakers, or amp and speakers and sub.

If your budget is already stretched thinly, you can get an amp and speakers now, then add a sub later.

Also, when I said Wharfedale Vardus earlier, I might actually have been thinking of Xarus. I just had a little look and both should do the job. (Xarus are on Amazon brand new at £150)
 
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Ah I see now!

I guess with my budget the other option is a good sub and speakers (not floorstanding) and then add an amp later?
 
Ah I see now!
No , I don't think you do ;)...
I guess with my budget the other option is a good sub and speakers (not floorstanding) and then add an amp later?
Bookshelf speakers (the alternative to floorstanding) will need an amp too. So the 2.1 Wharfedale 9.1 package you linked needs an amp - it won't work on its own.

The only type of speaker that doesn't need an amp is an active speaker. Active speakers have an amplifier built into the speaker itself.

I don't know of any good active speakers in your budget range. They tend to be either very bad (think standard PC speakers) or very good (look up the price of a Meridian DSP8000 if you want a shock - but that is an extreme example) or studio gear. But the studio ones will be above your budget for anything worthwhile too.
Unless anybody else knows of any?
 
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Ha fair enough I thought I did!

So then, would you be able to recommend an amp and speakers (bookshelf or floorstanding) system which would be good for bass around my price?

I'm thinking the Wharfedale 9.1s for £100 which leaves me up to £200 for a good amp?

Thanks
 
Yamaha AS300 comes in at £200 new, or the AS500 at £250. See if you can find a 500 second-hand? Or if you don't like the idea of second-hand then the 300 will do the job.

If you're looking second-hand then Rotel often come up at good value on eBay.

Also take a look around this forum's classifieds for a stereo amp. I don't have time to trawl through the listings for you, but if you want opinions on specific ones you find, just ask.

Tip: You're looking for a stereo integrated amp.
The listing might not specify 'integrated' but if it says 'pre-amp' or 'power amp' then it isn't what you're looking for.
Also, if it says AV amplifier, or any reference to 5.1 or 7.1 then it isn't what you want either.
You might find what you want in either of these areas:
Home Cinema and Hi-Fi Classified Adverts | AVForums.com - UK Online
Amplifier & Receiver Classified Adverts | AVForums.com - UK Online


If you plan to add a subwoofer later, then make sure that the amp either has a subwoofer output, or failing that a pre-out.


For your speakers, yes the Diamond 9.1s are good quality speakers for their price. But it's up to you if you want to sacrifice some quality for a bit more weight and get the Xarus. With the Xarus, you might even decide that you don't need a subwoofer after all. Xarus costs £50 more though.
 
Thanks for your time, it's greatly appreciated!

So I'm thinking the AS300 with either the 9.1s or Tannoy V1s. Would that be a good set up for what I'm looking for (good amount of bass, but still good quality)?

Cheers.
 
It depends on what you mean by 'a good amount of bass'. It might be enough for most users, but given your preferred music types you might find it lacking.
Best I can recommend is for you to go into a shop that sells both and get a demo of them. There's no better way to judge a system than by hearing it with your own ears!

The amp is definitely a good shout (although it does eat up a bigger chunk of your budget than is ideal), it's just whether the speakers go low enough for you.
But as previously mentioned, you can add a sub later on.
 
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Ok, so I've decided to go for the Wharfedale Xarus' coupled with a Marantz pm5004 amp, this seems to be a good set up for a little over my budget. One last thing, what wiring/wires will I require as I haven't a clue what I'll need!
Thanks
 
One last thing, what wiring/wires will I require as I haven't a clue what I'll need!
Thanks
Are you still on the same system plan as you originally were, and you're just using this to play music from your computer?
If so, you'll need a cable from the computer to the amp, and some speaker cable from the amp to each speaker.

For your purposes (and considering that you're already over-budget), then look on eBay for OFC copper speaker cable, as thick as you can find for a good price. 2.5 mm^2 is a good thickness. You should find some at 40-50p a metre. Electical supplier tlc do one too, if you have one near you: 79 Strand Twin Fig 8 Speaker Cable

For the connection from PC to amp, would I be right in assuming that you just have the 3.5mm stereo headphone output?
If that's the case, then you want a 3.5mm to 2 x RCA cable.
Look around and you'll see thousands of these, varying hugely in price. Find one that fits your budget. When shopping for myself, I'd look for something with gold-plated connectors and solid-looking plugs.

If at some point you want to improve the clarity of your music further, I would suggest that this is because the DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter) in your PC is the weak link in your system. That is assuming you haven't got a super-expensive sound card.
Even a cheap external DAC like the behringer UCA-202 (around £20) should give you an improvement.
 
Yes that's the right type of cable. I couldn't vouch for its quality though, it's a brand I've never heard of. It doesn't look bad for its price though.

As it's a laptop you're using, it will almost certainly have an onboard sound card. So I'd definitely expect a noticeable improvement from an external DAC. But as I said before, that can be an upgrade for the future after some more saving.
 

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