Here we go again!!!!! Wife friendly Speakers needed!!!!

[wacker293]

Hi Guys

Im in need of a set of wife frendly speakers...ive got a budget of about£150 i know its not alot but its all i have!!

the speakers will accompany a cambridge audio a1 Amp and squeezebox classic.

the speakers need to be extra small due to limited room and wife friendly factor.

i could possibley folk out for a sub later on to help with sound quality.

this sort of size would be great.

Audio Pro Mondial M1 Absolute Sound And Vision

or this

Audio Pro Evo 10 Absolute Sound And Vision


any ideas guys?

 

[Badger0-0]

any ideas guys?

I could say grow some balls.

But I won't.

It would have to be the Evo 10.

I'd recommend the XTZ 93WMT as a massive improvement at £170 if you order before friday, but doubt your missus would let you do it.

Sorry if it seems like I'm taking the ****.

The truth is, I am

 

[Badger0-0]

Seriously, here's the link;

http://www.avforums.com/forums/speakers-power-buy-special-offers/835677-xtz-speakers-powerbuy.html

Large, but maybe you can sneak them past her, given the style?

 

[BlueWizard]

I hate to sound rude, but what you really need is a speaker friendly wife, not wife friendly speakers.

You need to point out to your wife that speakers are for listening to, not looking at. Though I do find them very nice to look at myself.

Whether, budget or luxury, you are spending a relative fortune on these speakers. That money is wasted if you don't like the result. So, you can flush your money down the toilet for something pretty, or you can make some compromises on something that actually does the job.

Now don't get me wrong, there are some nice bookshelf speakers out there, but the smaller they are, the smaller they sound.

The ideal speakers in your price range would be the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1. They are respected stand alone bookshelf speakers, but they aren't 'wife' small, but, on the other hand, they aren't huge and they sound good. Priced at about £100/pr if you can find them.

If you are not serious about listening, and still want good sounding small speakers, then the Diamond 9.0 are a modest small but still nice sounding speaker. (about £50 to £70)

Personally, you'll likely have to put any bookshelf on a stand, and stands cost money. You can eliminate the stands by getting some modest floorstanding speakers like the Diamond 9.4 (£150/pr @ AVBristol.co.uk).

Another options, might be the Mordaunt Short 902i. Most hear who have heard it say it sounds nice and has good bass for a relatively small speaker (about £120/pr).

But you can only reduce the size just so far before you start losing significant sound quality.

So, again, your wife has to understand, the money thrown into cute little speakers that don't sound good, is money flushed down the toilet. At minimum, you need to consider a standard sized bookshelf speaker, to get acceptable sound quality.

Now, aspects of your personal listening style do come into play. If this is mostly for daily TV listening, then a very compact bookshelf might be acceptable. However, if action videos or music come into play, any thing less that a standard sized bookshelf is going to fall short.

But then...that's just one man's opinion.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[deckingman]

Is it just the size ? - women usually prefer bigger.

Seriously though, I had the same wife problem. However, when we discussed the issue, it turned out that it wasn't just the size that bothered her as such, it was more the fact that my B&W 602s were black and she thought the stands ugly. So, I showed her some floor standing 684s in Cherry, and much to my surprise she said "now they are much nicer". So, I actually ended up with bigger speakers.

Now I'm not proposing that you buy B&W 684s as they are way more than your budget, but maybe it might be worth showing your wife some small floor standers in a nice wood effect. You never know.......

 

[William YZF-R1]

My girlfriend prefers smaller.

She considers my Floorstanders too big, boring & old fashioned. Her preference is for a DAV's system with small speakers perched on tall stands.

 

[ARNOLD AKIEN]

Hi Guys

Im in need of a set of wife frendly speakers...ive got a budget of about£150 i know its not alot but its all i have!!

the speakers will accompany a cambridge audio a1 Amp and squeezebox classic.

the speakers need to be extra small due to limited room and wife friendly factor.

i could possibley folk out for a sub later on to help with sound quality.

this sort of size would be great.

Audio Pro Mondial M1 Absolute Sound And Vision

or this

Audio Pro Evo 10 Absolute Sound And Vision


any ideas guys?

At the sub £150 price level your options are limited. I agree with BlueWizard on those Wharfedale speakers that he mentions. The 9.1 is surprisingly good with bass but of course can't possibly match the floor standers for bass and the point on speaker stands/floor standers is well made ... you do have to sit those bookcase/stand speakers on something and my own bedroom 9.1 s sit on a pair of old and sold wooden kitchen stools that your wife would not approve of. Still the old stools do work amazingly well and I sometimes wonder if someone should do a review on improvised speaker stands V purpose built and expensive speaker stands. Of course if you already have bookcases upon which your speakers can stand then your stands problem is solved otherwise a pair of decent speaker stands can cost you a significant fraction of the price of £110 /150 speakers.

A fraction smaller than the 9.1 and just a little cheaper at the moment is the Tannoy F1 which is pretty good, has Wife Friendly looks, and is only a little less good than the 9.1 with bass. Both the 9,1 and the F1 are front ported and so can be stood quite close to a rear wall or place in a bookcase if needs must be. Link to Tannoys followed by the link to the 9,1 ...


TANNOY CUSTOM-F1 at Richer Sounds - HI-FI Separates, Home Cinema, Speakers, MP3 DVD Portables, Plasma LCD, etc.


WHARFEDALE 9.1-ROSE at Richer Sounds - HI-FI Separates, Home Cinema, Speakers, MP3 DVD Portables, Plasma LCD, etc.


Both below £100 and you may be able to get the 9.1 s in something other than the rather plasticy rosewood finish that I had to settle for.

Do do some web browsing since Richers will price beat and I got my 9.1 s with £5 off.


There are floor standing speakers that are rather more elegant that the large and imposingly un-feminine run of Macho Floor standers but I'm afraid that it's that price range problem again. See what Herself thinks of these for looks ...

" The newly improved Mission M33is are top value floor-standers. With their sleek, curved front baffles and choice of contemporary finishes, they're stylish too. " at £169.95 they're not too far above your budget ......


MISSION M33i SPEAKERS (PAIR) - available from Superfi UK Visit http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/product_id/2083 for details


Just to establish the principle as it were and to show that Floor standers can be female friendly. Unfortunately there would seem to be some sort of imperative .. probably genetically based .. which Drives some Women into standing ornaments on the tops of floor standing speakers.


Best Wishes,


Arnold.

 

[soupdragon]

but what you really need is a speaker friendly wife, not wife friendly speakers.

Steve/bluewizard

^^^^^

 

[IWC Dopplel]

If you can stretch to older secondhand Sonus Fabers you'll lose no money and they are visually very acceptable even likeable by the Girls

The good news is the older models hold their value and fetch a little more each year. a pair of Concerto's or Concertinos can be found if you shop around for around the £500 mark

 

[Mark.Yudkin]

However, when we discussed the issue, it turned out that it wasn't just the size that bothered her as such, it was more the fact that my B&W 602s were black and she thought the stands ugly. So, I showed her some floor standing 684s in Cherry, and much to my surprise she said "now they are much nicer". So, I actually ended up with bigger speakers.

Well put and to the point. It's frequently the case that it's not the size, it's the simple ugliness that annoys. Decent wood finishing and fabric grilles can go a long way to permitting even larger speakers (ours are 66cm wide). [Let's not get into a grilles affect the sound argument please]. Since I consider the aesthetics up front I find I never have a WAF issue.

As an example, IWC Dopplel has posted some pictures of speakers that I would exclude from audtioning solely on the basis that there's no way we'd want to live with those looks in our lounge. If wacker293's wife feels the same way, well, she's right!

 

[Member 639844]

Pow:

or:

Job done Sorry, I'll get my coat.

 

[martysport]

Hi Guys

Im in need of a set of wife frendly speakers...

Get a good sub that has a good output at 33Hz

 

[ARNOLD AKIEN]

Well put and to the point. It's frequently the case that it's not the size, it's the simple ugliness that annoys. Decent wood finishing and fabric grilles can go a long way to permitting even larger speakers (ours are 66cm wide). [Let's not get into a grilles affect the sound argument please]. Since I consider the aesthetics up front I find I never have a WAF issue.

As an example, IWC Dopplel has posted some pictures of speakers that I would exclude from audtioning solely on the basis that there's no way we'd want to live with those looks in our lounge. If wacker293's wife feels the same way, well, she's right!

Agreed ... it's a question of Balance .. Both Audio Visual and Aesthetic .. and since you - or rather the OP - do hope to live in Balance and Harmony with the Significant Partner then what is more important than your COMBINED opinion of the Balance between Sound and Appearance?

In the B and W sites showroom pics there are Speakers that, when taken alone, would be utterly unappealing as Decorative Objects ... unless you are looking toward a Dr Who Theme? On the other hand those speakers may well work as Female /Male Friendly as .. and maybe only as part of an Art Deco Based Cinema Room ... and such a Room may well appeal to a 'Casablanca ' loving Female Fan of the Cinema ....

View the 802D at Bowers & Wilkins - The World's leading Home Theatre Brand


But there are other ..Expensive Possibilities ..if those were to prove to be too Lumpen.


Balance ..it's all balance.


Arnold.

 

[IWC Dopplel]

Well put and to the point. It's frequently the case that it's not the size, it's the simple ugliness that annoys. Decent wood finishing and fabric grilles can go a long way to permitting even larger speakers (ours are 66cm wide). [Let's not get into a grilles affect the sound argument please]. Since I consider the aesthetics up front I find I never have a WAF issue.

As an example, IWC Dopplel has posted some pictures of speakers that I would exclude from audtioning solely on the basis that there's no way we'd want to live with those looks in our lounge. If wacker293's wife feels the same way, well, she's right!

LOL, my good friends wife hated his ESL63's and was very happy when he changed to a pair of Sonus Faber's

He is actually looking to sell if anyone wants a pair

 

[BlueWizard]

I think we are starting to get carried away. The original speakers he was looking at were less than £150 presumably per pair. Unless the original poster says otherwise, I think we should keep our focus in that range.

DIAMOND 9 - HI-FI AND HOME ENTERTAINMENT - Wharfedale Hi-Fi

DIAMOND 9 - HI-FI AND HOME ENTERTAINMENT - Wharfedale Hi-Fi

Both well within his budget.

If ShaneCR doesn't mind, I'll post a link to his Diamond 9.4 set up in his living room so you can get an idea of just how big they are -

http://www.avforums.com/forums/speakers/1072531-wharfedale-9-4-granite-slabs-flatfeet.html

Scroll down to post #8 at the bottom. These are floorstanders, but as you can see, they are not huge.

If you buy bookshelf speakers and don't already have arrangements for placing them, you can count on £50 to £100 for speakers stands.

The Diamond 9.4 don't need stands are are roughly £150 to £175, assuming you can still find stock on them.

Other speakers that have been mentioned at the Tannoy Mercury F1 and the Mordaunt Short 902i.

Of the speakers that the original poster mentioned, the Audio Pro Mondial M! only have response down to 100hz. That might work with the right surround system, but are going to be very weak for a stereo system. The Audio Pro EVO 10 has a 4.5" woofer with decent response down to 48hz.

The price on this second speakers is £127, but it is not clear if that is a pair or each. While I don't know, I'm suspecting each.

Perhaps before we go any further, the original poster need to give us an indication of how he intends to use these speakers -

- Stereo or Surround Sound
- Casual background listening or serious music listening
- TV, Music, and/or Video listening

then we need a clear statement of working budget and what you expect that budget to buy you?

This will keep the suggested speakers from varying wildly in price and style.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[Mark.Yudkin]

LOL, my good friends wife hated his ESL63's and was very happy when he changed to a pair of Sonus Faber's

As the proverb goes, "There's no acounting for tastes". Or if you prefer "each to his own". That applies to both the looks and the sound. (That is not meant as a comment on the sound of Sonus Faber speakers).

 

[micks_address]

you could go for some of the monitor audio radius range... they are pretty easy on the eye.. and produce good quality sound.. especially if you can go for something higher in the range like the 225's