Speaker Choice

P

pauli

Guest
Hi all,
I currently have a pair of MS25i and am interested in upgrading. They are driven from a Denon 3802 and there is a REL quake sub also. I have heard my friends' AE1 mk1 and they sound excellent - very clear and presice (admittedly he has some power amps etc etc driving them and a good turntable as well).

I have also heard some EPOS M22 running from a Naim system, and they also sounded good.

My quandry is that I know my floorstanding MS25's are good but a long way off what can be achieved, and I am tempted to go for the AE1 mk111, especially as I have a reasonable sub (pardon the humble!). But am I going the right way moving from floorstanders to bookshelf type? Would I be better going for something like the Epos M22 or something else? They are used for everything - home cinema,classical,pop,mild rock.
 
The AE's will outperform the MS's in almost every respect. But not in the system you currently have. The AE's require much higher quality amplification than the Denon is capable of. Even after adding a power amplifier they will still be held back by the preamp section of the Denon, and if you use a DVD player to pay cd's too.
 
Ok, thanks for that, I am not really looking to upgrade the amp section at this time. Are you saying that my MS25s are getting the best from my amp, or is there somthing else that you would recommend that would be better than the MS25s and get more from the amp without spending cash on something that the amp can't make the best of?

Cheers,
 
whats an overall budget? if you want to get a decent level of upgrade then if you can hit £1,800 you could get a pair of Monitor Audio GS10's plus a Musical Fidelity A3.5 amp (this has a HT input which turns it in to a power amp to be fed by the 3802's preouts if you want to run the new speakers as your front channels as well as be your stereo speakers).....

or even just get the GS10's now and use the 3802, it wont get the best out of them, but it should be able to drive them ok.....then get a dedicate stereo for them at a later date when money is more ample (i do recommend the A3.5, works a treat with them)

their natural sound leans towards bright, but carefully partnered the sound is lovely, open, airy, good snap to midbass, nice deep bass too, vocals are a treat.....for £800 they really do punch above their weight once quality amplification is applied, and even on cheaper amping (ie the 3802) they will still sound better than your current speakers i'd wager.....give them a demo to see for yourself :)

(or you could try a pair of B&W 705's instead)
 
I would get along to a dealer and try a few pairs of speakers out on an AVR-3806 and see what you like the sound of. I would say you're generally better off with a standmount up to around £500 from the likes of Dynaudio and Quad as they tend to be a little easier to control in the bass department, so will sound half decent with your Denon. Decent standmounts at this price will normally improve well with a system upgrade.

Later on if you get better amplification you could transfer those to the rear effect duties and purchase some floorstanders from the same range.
 

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