£1000 to £1500 to spend on speakers. 2.0 or 5.1?

nerd

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Hi,

why is this so hard?

About 15 years ago I bought a 2.1 Altec Lansing ATP3 for my PC and I love these speakers. They are quite limited but produce a warm sound, they are a lacking in bass tightness and depth, the mid range speakers are facing down so it looses detail, however they had 2 small treble speakers that give nice detail. The speakers gave a great warm sound and enough high detail to be engaging. When I play Thunder struck by 2 cellos sounded great on these speakers and the only speakers so far that has beaten them were the Rubicon 2s. For the gritty mid range, nice trebles and low bass. The ATP3 are flawed in so many ways, however after all these years I have become so used to the warm sound that I am finding it hard to find speakers to replace them.

What I am looking for is a warm sound but with a wide sound stage and detailed trebles, but not fatiguing, detailed mid ranges and warm bass.

Do these speakers exist?

I have listened to Rubicon 2, and I found the detail good at low volumes but once the volume is turned up they become too bright and fatiguing. I was very disappointed in this as I read so many good reviews about them and was thinking these are the speakers for me.

I have listened to a pair of Opticons 6s, which I found very clear but boring, nothing exciting going on with them. The sound stage were just were the speakers were, not outside of them. The bass was very tight, the treble was tight, but it all sounded like neutral sounds. Which I didn't find engaging or exciting. I listened to some high quality music, a movie and YouTube videos. However I spoke to a guy that owned a pair of Opitcon 6s and found them too bright. Maybe this depends on the size of the room?

I listened to a pair of Opticons 5. I found them quite good for movies. The demo movie was Incredibles. They had a nice low rumble when the mole was digging and some high tones that were projected outside of the speakers when the ice man was creating ice. But the rest of the tones felt quite muted.

Oberon 1 had great stereo separation but were way too bright and fatiguing.

Q3050i I found very boring. Sounded to me like a normal speaker, nothing special, very flat.

I have a pair of B&W DM1800, nice warm bass but lacking mid range, so the it sounds a bit muffled on some sound tracks.

Its crasy that my reference point is an old Altec Lansing ATP3 but I am struggling to find something that meets my needs, of warm bass but detailed mids and trebles, with a wide sound stage, without it being fatiguing.

I am happy to spend up to £1000 for 2 speakers or £1500 for a 5.0 system. Not concerned about the sub at the moment. Sub will come later.

Sorry for waffling for so much but can anyone recommend speakers to me that you think will meet my needs?
 
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Hear out these at your local AV store if possible (Richer Sounds or Sevenoaks)
- KEF R3
- KEF LS50 Meta
- Monitor Audio Silver series
- Wharfedale EVO/Linton
- Dynaudio Emit/Evoke
- Focal Aria

I've heard the KEFs. They are pretty accurate sounding with most of the qualities you are looking for.
If you are planning to add a sub later, look at stand mount speakers seriously.

I think UK has good offers during Xmas.
Check pricespy and audiovisualonline.co.uk too

Cheers,
Raghu
 
Last edited:
Hi,

why is this so hard?

About 15 years ago I bought a 2.1 Altec Lansing ATP3 for my PC and I love these speakers. They are quite limited but produce a warm sound, they are a lacking in bass tightness and depth, the mid range speakers are facing down so it looses detail, however they had 2 small treble speakers that give nice detail. The speakers gave a great warm sound and enough high detail to be engaging. When I play Thunder struck by 2 cellos sounded great on these speakers and the only speakers so far that has beaten them were the Rubicon 2s. For the gritty mid range, nice trebles and low bass. The ATP3 are flawed in so many ways, however after all these years I have become so used to the warm sound that I am finding it hard to find speakers to replace them.

What I am looking for is a warm sound but with a wide sound stage and detailed trebles, but not fatiguing, detailed mid ranges and warm bass.

Do these speakers exist?

I have listened to Rubicon 2, and I found the detail good at low volumes but once the volume is turned up they become too bright and fatiguing. I was very disappointed in this as I read so many good reviews about them and was thinking these are the speakers for me.

I have listened to a pair of Opticons 6s, which I found very clear but boring, nothing exciting going on with them. The sound stage were just were the speakers were, not outside of them. The bass was very tight, the treble was tight, but it all sounded like neutral sounds. Which I didn't find engaging or exciting. I listened to some high quality music, a movie and YouTube videos. However I spoke to a guy that owned a pair of Opitcon 6s and found them too bright. Maybe this depends on the size of the room?

I listened to a pair of Opticons 5. I found them quite good for movies. The demo movie was Incredibles. They had a nice low rumble when the mole was digging and some high tones that were projected outside of the speakers when the ice man was creating ice. But the rest of the tones felt quite muted.

Oberon 1 had great stereo separation but were way too bright and fatiguing.

Q3050i I found very boring. Sounded to me like a normal speaker, nothing special, very flat.

I have a pair of B&W DM1800, nice warm bass but lacking mid range, so the it sounds a bit muffled on some sound tracks.

Its crasy that my reference point is an old Altec Lansing ATP3 but I am struggling to find something that meets my needs, of warm bass but detailed mids and trebles, with a wide sound stage, without it being fatiguing.

I am happy to spend up to £1000 for 2 speakers or £1500 for a 5.0 system. Not concerned about the sub at the moment. Sub will come later.

Sorry for waffling for so much but can anyone recommend speakers to me that you think will meet my needs?
Pls try taking a demo of Harbeth , Dynaudio and Spendor if it suits your tastes. Should be warm sounding
 
Pre-owned Harbeth or Spendors for 2 channel could fall in your budget .
Gosh, this is turning out to be a nightmare. There are so many different speakers out that, that I need to listen to figure out if I like them. I think the music shops are going to get annoyed with me.
 
Gosh, this is turning out to be a nightmare. There are so many different speakers out that, that I need to listen to figure out if I like them. I think the music shops are going to get annoyed with me.
You can even audition the Wharfedale Linton which is known to be warm sounding. Infact you have a lot of good choices of speakers in UK .
 
Gosh, this is turning out to be a nightmare. There are so many different speakers out that, that I need to listen to figure out if I like them. I think the music shops are going to get annoyed with me.
Well ...
It's your money, so the stores better be nice to you in hope that you actually spend it there :D
Both the stores I mentioned have good deals on demo pieces.
I bought my speakers (KEF R300) that was a demo item.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
I have heard good things about the KEF LS50 Meta but some reviews say they are bright because of the metal tweeter?
The original LS 50 had this problem, not the newer Meta version. If you can stretch your budget by another 1K, go for their active version. You won't repent.
 
Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers in Walnut finish at a Special Offer Price. BUY now before the price increase.
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