Tannoy Mercury V1 for Movies & Music?

[donka]

Tannoy Mercury V1 for Movies & Music?
I'm looking for a decent set of stereo speakers to pair with a Pioneer receiver for use when watching movies and listening to music via my Apple TV.
I'm looking for something relatively discreet since these will be either side of my Samsung 55" LCD and don't have the desire for a full sound system - just looking for something to add a bit of substance. I had looked at compact floor standers such as the old Tannoy 633 but they are proving hard to source. Would the Tannoy Mercury V1 be suitable - I know they are not floor standing but would they offer a suitable amount of bass for movies etc? I'm not looking to shake the house, just add a solid bit of oomph to the soundtrack.
Any alternatives for the same kind of money? Happy to buy second hand for the right thing but the Mercury V1s come in at £99 new.

 

[BlueWizard]

The Tannoy Mercury V1 are very good for their low price, but then they are low priced bookshelf speakers, you can only expect just so much from them. But if your budget is really only about £100/pr, then they are a worthy consideration.

SuperFi.co.uk might still be closing out the excellent Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 for about £90/pr. That is about a £250/pr retail speaker. The currrent Diamond 10.1, also a consideration, are about £150/pr.

Actually, I just checked the SuperFi site and the special on the Diamond 9.1 no longer seems to be on offer, but they still have the speakers for £99/pr.

Again, you can only ask just so much from bookshelf speaker. While far above your budget, the Tannoy Mercury V4 can be had for a pretty attractive price (also from SuperFi) -

Superfi - TANNOY MERCURY V4 FLOOR STANDING SPEAKERS (PAIR)

That is a lot of money, but it is also a lot more speaker.

At roughly £100/pr, there is not much that will come close to the Mercury V1 or the Diamond 9.1.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[donka]

Thanks for taking the time to reply - much appreciated. One of the considerations is keeping the misses happy so a more discreet speaker works. I'm actually thinking along the lines of a Wharfedale Diamond 9.2 or 10.2 as it may be a good compromise of size and performance for movies etc. A bit more money for the bigger speaker but I'll try and work something out. It should prove a nice quality improvement over my larger Eltax setup that I am replacing.

 

[donka]

I'm now thinking about the Diamond 10.2 for £175 as a good stereo alrounder for music & movies. Does this seem like a worth purchase?

 

[BlueWizard]

£175 is a pretty attractive price, and these are more serious speakers. I think you will typically find these at closer to £200/pr.

The Bass Cone is a 6.5", not that much bigger, but about 1.7 times the surface area, so it will move more air. The bass response goes down to a very satisfying 40hz.

Although, the video camera in the linked video doesn't go low enough to do justice to the Diamond 10.2, you can hear these are pretty clear speakers -

http://www.avforums.com/forums/speakers/1663620-diamond-10-2-lepai-ta2020-amp-impressive.html

Clear as they sound, the video, and no YouTube video, can do them justice.

And, if you have not seen them in person, here is another video that gives you a good sense of their relative size -





There is not much to compare them to in this video to get a perspective, but hopefully it is of some help.

Steve/bluewizard