Makabura
Standard Member
I need a bit of advice. I am looking for a pair of budget bookshelf speakers (up to 500€, preferebly around 300€). I am going to run them with Cambridge Audio AXA35 in a small room. I want a relaxed, realistic sound with no listening fatigue. Mostly I listen to jazz, rock, ambiental and classical music.
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Around half a year back, I picked up Q Acoustics 3020i. I liked them, but they were a bit lacking in bass (just enough to make me wonder). I changed them for KEF Q350, but after some time with them, I started missing natural, acoustic sound of 3020i. So I sold KEF Q350. Than I thought that I would find a compromise of natural, sweet sound and bass in Wharfedale Diamond 12.2. Not so, for my ears they were fatiguing; very forward, not relaxing. This surprised me, since most reviewers described them as easy going (I must be sensitive and small room with reflections also contributed to fatiguing sound). Now, I changed my Wharfedale 12.2 for a much cheaper Wharfedale D320 with the idea of having relaxed sound with bass. Well, in my room, D320 are really bloated in bass if listening of axis, e.g. in corners or near a wall (much, much more bloated than any of the above mentioned speakers; ps, all the speakers where properly driven in). This brings me to this day...
I try to remember myself that the perfect speakers at this price does not exist, but since I can still return D320 to Amazon, I thought to ask you for an advice.
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So far I have these ideas:
1) Go back to Q Acoustics 3020i (300€) and have a bit less bass,but natural sound.
2) Buy Q Acoustics 3030i (400€), but here I am afraid that the bass would be bloated, since they are punchy.
3) Mission LX-2 MK II (300€) looks like a good deal, but are they fatiguing? I heard them with my amp briefly and they were lively and realistic. They made an impression on me, but didn't get a chance to listen to them for more than 20min at low to medium volumes.
4) Keep D320 and stop the search, since there will always be something not best to my taste.
For other brands that I researched, Dali's might be too bright, same goes for Triangle Borea and B&W. Elac's might be similar to KEF in neutrality and spatiousness, but might lack a bit of warmth and naturalism plus they are described as picky with amps a bit (never heard any of the here mentioned brands, except KEF).
Any idea or experience with mentioned amp and/or speakers (maybe even in a small room) is much welcome. Thank you.
-. -. -. -. -.-
Around half a year back, I picked up Q Acoustics 3020i. I liked them, but they were a bit lacking in bass (just enough to make me wonder). I changed them for KEF Q350, but after some time with them, I started missing natural, acoustic sound of 3020i. So I sold KEF Q350. Than I thought that I would find a compromise of natural, sweet sound and bass in Wharfedale Diamond 12.2. Not so, for my ears they were fatiguing; very forward, not relaxing. This surprised me, since most reviewers described them as easy going (I must be sensitive and small room with reflections also contributed to fatiguing sound). Now, I changed my Wharfedale 12.2 for a much cheaper Wharfedale D320 with the idea of having relaxed sound with bass. Well, in my room, D320 are really bloated in bass if listening of axis, e.g. in corners or near a wall (much, much more bloated than any of the above mentioned speakers; ps, all the speakers where properly driven in). This brings me to this day...
I try to remember myself that the perfect speakers at this price does not exist, but since I can still return D320 to Amazon, I thought to ask you for an advice.
-. -. -. -. -. -
So far I have these ideas:
1) Go back to Q Acoustics 3020i (300€) and have a bit less bass,but natural sound.
2) Buy Q Acoustics 3030i (400€), but here I am afraid that the bass would be bloated, since they are punchy.
3) Mission LX-2 MK II (300€) looks like a good deal, but are they fatiguing? I heard them with my amp briefly and they were lively and realistic. They made an impression on me, but didn't get a chance to listen to them for more than 20min at low to medium volumes.
4) Keep D320 and stop the search, since there will always be something not best to my taste.
For other brands that I researched, Dali's might be too bright, same goes for Triangle Borea and B&W. Elac's might be similar to KEF in neutrality and spatiousness, but might lack a bit of warmth and naturalism plus they are described as picky with amps a bit (never heard any of the here mentioned brands, except KEF).
Any idea or experience with mentioned amp and/or speakers (maybe even in a small room) is much welcome. Thank you.