In search of a warm, relaxed sound

I tried every bookshelf speaker under £1000 at richer sounds and non of them pushed my buttons. DALI Oberon was the most natural but the bass was too boomy. I was about to walk out but decided to go a level up and found the best speaker I'd ever heard; A Dali Rubicon 2. I'd never heard vocals like it, the bass was tight and fast. They were too powerful for my room so RS recommended the Dali Menuet range. They are perfect for the room they're in, the bass port is designed in a way that they're better positioned close to the wall. Give them a go. You'll need a bit more than 500 euros though.
 
Nice speakers for sure. I would call them warm sounding. Still excellent speakers.

Still I believe QA is better choice.
 
I'm probably a bit too late but was in exactly the same position and just left a mini review on my original post.

I had the original 3020's and loved the sound but they had disappointing bass and weren't great at low volumes.

I replaced them with the 3030i's and the difference is outstanding. More bass, space, clarity and detail. I absolutely love them. Mine are way too close to the wall but I get no bass boom at all. I got them used for £160 and it's the best money I ever spent on hifi.
 
Thank you for your response.
It is super nice that you got 3030i for such a low price.

In the end, I ordered 3030i, since I found a seller where I could return them. I compared them to Wharfedale D320 and to my surprise, not that much of a difference. Maybe I should have broken in the 3030i more properly (I went 15h of listening at moderate to high volume), but at the end I returned them (but they are good, don't get me wrong). Wharfedale D320 for 180€ were better value then 3030i for 400€. And D320 not that far behind in terms of quality. To my taste sometimes even better due to more smooth sound. :) Interestingly...
 
I have had the Mission LX3 MK II they dissapointed in the bass not at all deep and punchy, sold them after a few weeks, they also had a bit sharpness in the upper midrange,lower tweeter.

In the area the Mackie MR524 is better (active studio monitors)
That is surprising. maybe its the room or rest of the setup.

I had the Mission lx1 mk1 and the bass was punchy and strong.
 
That is surprising. maybe its the room or rest of the setup.

I had the Mission lx1 mk1 and the bass was punchy and strong.
guess what, i forgot to take the foam plugs out of the bass port of the LX 3 MK2

It did help a little, but not enough, the upper midrange,lower twweter had some sharpness

Guess what im using now !

There was a good offer on the lx 2 mk 1, not like i uk for under 100 pounds but for 155 euros or 130 pounds (including delivery both ways incase you wnat to return them), i wanted to try them again with my current set up (have just returned a pa amp, one of the better ones, do to a noisy fan so im waiting for a diffrent passive cooled amp).

Ones i got the them they surprised me, what amp i was using the first time i can't remember all i remember is the LX 2 mk 1 was lagging in the bass, and was a little bright, mabye i was using a Marantz PM8005, the LX 3 MK 2 was also serious lacking in the bass even with the foam plugs out.

I again forgot to take the foam plugs out of the LX 2 MK2, stil with the foam plugs in the speakers i had very good bass (very strange since i remeber them as thin and bright), no matter what class d amp or the power pa amp, i had bass alot of bass almost better than my mackie mr624 (now up for sale), theres not as much brightness as speakers llike B&W 600 series and dali oberon but a liveliness in the highs that doesn't make they borring like the Wharfedale diamond 220/225 (buy the 220 if you your are sensitive to teh highs,bright sounding speakers),theres a wide soundstange,bass and not fatiguing, what also surprised me was how loud they can be, the pa amp had a display with wattage indicator, at levels below 1 watt (peaks i noticed was 3 watt) it was not just loud but super loud.

What the h....

Avforums wrote in the review probably the best sub £200 stereo speaker that money can buy & Outstanding value

They are for shure and i wouldn't want a pair of LX 3 MK 2 over my LX 2 MK 1, mabye for the price you atleast at hififreaks.dk can get a pair for, they are the best pair of speaker for under 300 euros,250 pounds, better than dali zensor 1, oberon 1,dali spektor 1,argon alto 5,might be better than the q acoustcis 3010i, (the 3010i is surpose to be better than the 3020i) and for shure are better than the 3020 which to me is serious lacking bass and are super bright sharp,fatige to listen to like dali zensor 1, 3010i or 3030i is the way to go if you wnat q acoustiocs 3000 books´helf speakers, not the 3020 or the 3020i
 
Triangle, Focal speakers are supposed to be warm sounding. You could audition the Triangle Bora speakers.
focal speakers have been renowned for years for being bright . they struggle to get over this reputation sadly
 
Triangle is also not warm sounding
 
Fair enough. I guess it depends on who you ask. It’s just the above speakers are supposed to be on the warm side of neutral. I can’t tell for sure, since I’ve never heard this speakers.

But many praise the Bora speakers.

You have to remember each speaker sound different depending on room, amplifier. As example Monitor Audio is too bright according many people, in my room they sound absolutely amazing.

Two Hearts by Phil Collins as an example. On Dali the upper midrange is bit harsh, but not unbearable bright.
 
Fair enough. I guess it depends on who you ask. It’s just the above speakers are supposed to be on the warm side of neutral. I can’t tell for sure, since I’ve never heard this speakers.

But many praise the Bora speakers.

You have to remember each speaker sound different depending on room, amplifier. As example Monitor Audio is too bright according many people, in my room they sound absolutely amazing.

Two Hearts by Phil Collins as an example. On Dali the upper midrange is bit harsh, but not unbearable bright.
Not dali spektor 1

 
Do you mean Dali Spector 1 or the Triangle speakers mentioned in the video?
 
Two Hearts by Phil Collins as an example. On Dali the upper midrange is bit harsh, but not unbearable bright.

Not dali spektor 1
 
I don't care what the guy in the video says...

If you put too much stock in reviews you well never end up with any speaker.

I can’t stand B&W, but many like them. I think Monitor Audio is too soft sounding.

I’d wished they had Dali’s treble. No such luck. Change the amplifier.

Problem solved!
 
Perhaps it’s because I have changed my cables to Nordost Heimdal. 😊😉
 
Amazing cables! You can’t beat cables which are faster then the speed of light.

I recommend them. 😂😂😂. I am joking. Dry humor from me.

Back to speakers. You need to find speakers which suits the amplifier. No small feat to accomplish.

Warm sounding speakers are the Wharfdale Denton 85. I don’t know which speakers OP ended up with.

Did he say which speakers he bought...??
 
If you're on a budget the Wharfedale Diamond 8.1 should be considered.

If you have the space vintage speakers such as Celestion dittons are warm but lack treble brightness.
 
It does seem modern day speaker designers have got +side of neutral when designing their brands, there are alot of speakers we would class as a forward side of neutral out there.
Has customers hearing changed?
 
It does seem modern day speaker designers have got +side of neutral when designing their brands, there are alot of speakers we would class as a forward side of neutral out there.
Has customers hearing changed?
I noticed this also. My guess is that our hearing is the same, and that the majority of people prefer a lively, forward, exciting, to me, an extraverted sound. Speaker manufacturers want to make money, and they will cater to the majority, at least within the market that would buy their product. My guess is what has changed is the technology, that it is now easier, and cheaper, to build speakers this way than it was in the past. There is still a market for warm speakers, but it is a smaller one, hence companies produce less of them.
 
There is also the av market, bigger than in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Strong detailed and forward sounding more directional tweeters might be favoured for home cinema.
 
But forward sounding tweeters can possibly become tiresome of long listening periods. ( That is what I have found many moons passed when demoing certain speakers)
Has the digital age changed the way new speaker designers have created their house sounds?
Can we really class AV as real audio though, with all its speakers and sound processing?
 
Most mainstream speaker manufacturers these days also need to design their speakers for home cinema use so they're not aimed just for music. Its more difficult to design a speaker that sounds amazing for both music and av than a speaker just for movies. If it sounds good with music it may also sound good with music but if it sounds good for movies it may not sound as good for music.

Most vintage speakers were only designed for music.
 
Most mainstream speaker manufacturers these days also need to design their speakers for home cinema use so they're not aimed just for music. Its more difficult to design a speaker that sounds amazing for both music and av than a speaker just for movies. If it sounds good with music it may also sound good with music but if it sounds good for movies it may not sound as good for music.

Most vintage speakers were only designed for music.
This is a very good point that didn't cross my mind (I don't own a TV, let alone an AV system). I agree though, with AV systems becoming increasingly popular in the last 20 or 30 years, this may have influenced how speakers are voiced.
 
I tried every bookshelf speaker under £1000 at richer sounds and non of them pushed my buttons. DALI Oberon was the most natural but the bass was too boomy. I was about to walk out but decided to go a level up and found the best speaker I'd ever heard; A Dali Rubicon 2. I'd never heard vocals like it, the bass was tight and fast. They were too powerful for my room so RS recommended the Dali Menuet range. They are perfect for the room they're in, the bass port is designed in a way that they're better positioned close to the wall. Give them a go. You'll need a bit more than 500 euros though.
What size room are you using your menuets in and how close to the wall are they? what amp are younusing? This information may help some members.
 
Getting the right speakers are difficult. As example I always stream Sheep by Floyd to see if the intro is tiring.

It’s not the best Floyd recording. It’s wise to listen to not so well recordings also.

Many shops put on Keith Don’t Go. This songs sound amazing on an iPad.

This fools the customer to think this kind of speakers are better...
 
What size room are you using your menuets in and how close to the wall are they? what amp are younusing? This information may help some members.
I'm using a Cyrus Stealth Three to power the Menuets. Its a class D with 170wpc. The speakers are on small stands sitting about 12" above my desk fairly close to the wall. The rear port fires down at a 45 degree angle so that you can keep them close to the wall. I'm currently upgrading them to the Menuet SE crossover and Making a before and after video for YouTube.
 

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