Small bookshelve speakers needed...

Joined
Dec 26, 2004
Messages
3,473
Reaction score
80
Points
790
Location
Southsea
to match Primare A20 amp, source will be from my PC. They will be right next to the walls so I was guessing it would be best for me to look for front ported or sealed boxes? Dynaudio 42w's look good (will try and get a demo) others to look out for? Upto £500 but less is better. Prefer to buy second hand or ex-dem.

Cheers guys.
 
Castle speakers seem to go well with these amps - I know CJROSS uses them with his A30.
 
Nick25 said:
to match Primare A20 amp, source will be from my PC. They will be right next to the walls so I was guessing it would be best for me to look for front ported or sealed boxes? Dynaudio 42w's look good (will try and get a demo) others to look out for? Upto £500 but less is better. Prefer to buy second hand or ex-dem.

Cheers guys.
I think the Dyn 42w wouls be perfect.

Audio-T (portsmouth) stock this brand and you even be able to get some ex-demo at a reduced price.
 
Well you know I like the Dyns.

Have you already got the amp? I ask, because when it comes to avoiding rear ports, sealed active speakers are a good option.

Another alternative is the ATC SCM 7, which is a selaed box. Not the prettiest speaker, but very good.
 
I do already have the amp - found one cheap so snapped it up but I know a friend of mine likes it so I'm sure I can offload it if need be.
 
I'm not suggesting you change the amp, just mentioning that actives are often sealed, and suitable close to walls.
 
Castle Compact speakers are sealed units designed tp place right up against a wall. They're primarily for home cinema but sound great with music if you want something really small (14cm wide by 15cm deep by 20cm high). You could try pairing them up with a subwoofer.
 
I don't know if you'll find these on demo, but these are balanced for use against the wall (even have optional wall mounts) and by past experience of Revolver product should sound good.

http://www.revolveraudio.co.uk/audiovue.htm

Sorry don't have prices, but send revolver an email.

Paul
 
Castle Richmond 3is. £320.

HFN Best speaker below £1000 IIRC in their lastest edition 2005 awards.

As the wise chap says above add a sub and your in heaven (well I am with the older version 2s), they are rear ported but don’t worry they are designed to be used close to walls, I have a set of Castle Clifton 2s that are rear ported and they are used 5 inches off a wall. They are also excellent speakers for “starter” or cheap systems, which are generally lower wattage in the power department as they are a very very easy load to any amplifier (not a worry with the 70W Primare I would add). Then there is the looks and you wont find better finished standmounts below £1000 (apart from SFs Domus Concertino @ £790)

classic_richmond1.jpg


http://www.castle.uk.com/pages/classic_richmond.htm

The only speakers I would consider above these speakers in standmount form would be :

Dynaudio 1.1/1.3 Contrours, Jamo Concert 8s, Sonus Faber Signums or the new SF Domus Concertino. Ie the £1000-1300 range, says a lot about the quality of Castles standmounts IMHO.

PS Nick very nice choice of amp, HFC have just had a group test of amp from the £750-1300 range and the £750 Primare I20 came out with a best buy.
 
Colin it was you who recommended the Primare to me in another thread :D

Still a little worried about the rear port on the castles - they will be literally about 2/3 inches from the wall. Also not a huge fan of having a sub as its another 'thing' to have under the desk...
 
Nick25 said:
Colin it was you who recommended the Primare to me in another thread :D

Last time I seen you were still umming and ahhing !!! Good choice.


Nick25 said:
Still a little worried about the rear port on the castles - they will be literally about 2/3 inches from the wall. Also not a huge fan of having a sub as its another 'thing' to have under the desk...

They have small drivers Nick I would use them that close – remember many people actually bung up rear ports – 2-3 inches is still allowing air movement and as I said these speakers are designed with bookshelves in mind, you could keep an eye on Ebay for Richmond 2s or Isis, these are front ported if it’s a real concern.
 
Nick, any standmounts are limited in bass response due to cabinet/driver size not just the Castles, these speakers are rear ported to boost their performance (and it certainly works for the Cliftons I use in system 2), depends what you want from your speaker system, I think adding the subwoofer to mine was the best upgrade I ever done did, better than the Primare A30.1 amp upgrade, quite simply you cant appreciate what a sub brings to the party until you try one. For example I was happy with the Rich 2s that had about 55Hz of bass, then adding a sub that went down to 30Hz trasnformed the listening experience, even now I have the sub set at 75% of what “it can do” and its still stunning. Adding the sub also affected the mids & highs in some way I find hard to explain. Ian J on the sub forum is a good dude to read, he’s forgotten more on subs than I can remember. IIRC your A20 mk II has pre-outs so its quite painless to add a sub at some time in the future. I would recommend something like a £275 BKE XLS200, heard nothjing but positive reports. But get some quality standmounts in first, you never know Cliftons with port loading may be bassy enough for you.
 
Yeah I think I'll hold on the Sub for now and perhaps add on in later. I'm not a huge fan of bass - I would always trade smooth, detailed midrange for bass any day.
 
Nick,

Top advice given above - any of the boxes they've mentioned would do a fine job.

Despite prosaic looks, the Revolver R16 is also a damn fine speaker. Very smooth & beautifully voiced. An absolute bargain for the money (£300). They've been in my main system for a while now and I really can't fault their performance.

http://www.revolveraudio.co.uk/features.htm

DT

The Signums do outperform them, but they bloody well should do at four times the RRP!!
 
dynamic turtle said:
They've been in my main system for a while now and I really can't fault their performance.

OK, as long as you don't expect them to resolve the FULL weight of the timpani & double bass.

As CJ says, you really need a sub for that, but they can introduce their own set of problems & compromises, so take care.

DT
 
well worth a listen, initially they seem light but the focus is uncanny and natural weight is great. £400 i think and they are frighteningly small for such a great sound
 
Thanks for all the suggestions guys, so we have:
Totem Dreamcatchers
Dynaudio 42W
Revolver R16 (not sure where I can demo these though?)
Castle Richmonds 3I
Epos ELS3, M5
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom