Bookshelf speakers under 30k

sound_machine

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Hi All,

I am looking for Bookshelf speakers for under 30k.

Am looking to pair it up with a Marantz PM 6003 and I mostly listen to Rock and some Pop music and sometimes Hindi music(old Pop albums like Silk Route, Euphoria, etc.) in a small room. My source, will be a Mac or PS3 for the time being, but am looking to upgrade to a dedicated CDP asap!

Few of my requirements are:
Has to be front ported(space constraints)
Tight bass and smooth high's

Am yet to review any speakers, will do so starting this weekend!
Any suggestions on the brands that are known to gel with the Marantz and what to look out for in the market?
 
Some brands I like are.

Paradigm Titan Monitors
PSB Image B6
Kef Q300
Epos Epic
Usher S or Old V series

All these should be with in your budget , if you bargain well u can save money for stands too. :)
 
i am using Wharf Evo 8 for the same purpose. all things are same but the only diff is i am using a dac too.
wharfs gel well with marantz. i am also thinking of getting pm5003 to pair with them
 
Thanks all for the reply.

@Kittu: Apart from the Paradigm Titan Monitors, KEF Q300, and Usher's, the rest all seems to be rear ported(which is an issue because of space constraints). I am not sure if I can audition the Paradigm and ushers, as dealers in Hyderabad are limited, but am definitely looking forward to audition the KEF Q300.

@shivakuru: I didn't come across your thread before posting this, else apart from the budget, the requirement seems to be the same. Will look forward to audition the Focal Chorus 706v if I come across in Hyd!

@denzong: I have heard good things about the Wharfedale speakers, apart from a few bad reviews here and there, but am waiting to decide on them after auditioning to them once. Vectors, the dealers in Hyd for Wharfedale, does not seem to have stock of the same and hence am unable to audition them so far!

@Acuity: Where did you audition the Monitor BX2? Would love to audition them. I had audition the BW 685 at Vectors, but I felt that the speaker was not worth the price and the bass was not as per my liking!

Immediately after putting up the post, I decided to go and audition bookshelf speakers in Sound and Vision. Met Uday there who was good enough to give us demo's for 3 bookshelf speakers that he had. Prior to auditioning, I had read that most people didn't have a good experience in Sound and Vision, however, I had a decent experience with Uday who demoed the 3 set of bookshelf speakers he had.

First up, he showed the PSB Alpha B1 with a NAD mini-hifi system(not sure about the model). I found that the bass was lacking in these speakers, though the mids and highs were decent. He had to connect a sub woofer to bring out the bass from a track. Maybe it was the placement of the speakers, but after reading numerous reviews of the speakers, I was a little disappointed. He quoted 13k for the PSB!

Second up, he auditioned the Paradign Atom V4 with a NAD Amp and a NAD CDP. After moving from the PSB, found the bass to be a little boomy and the highs and mid's were missing, though it sounded much better than the PSB, the mids and highs wasn't as good as the PSB. Was quoted 18k for the Paradigm.

Finally, auditioned the Infinity Beta 10 with the same setup as the Paradigm and it definitely sounded the best among the three. There was sufficient bass and the mids were good too, though the highs were a little pitchy. It had an overall good range, and the entire package sounded good! Was quoted 23k for the same. This has been the best speaker from what I have auditioned so far.

Looking forward to audition the KEF Q300 and the Monitor Audio BX2 and whatever is available in Hyd in the coming weekend.

Few CD's that I took along for auditioning:

Ultimate Santana(classics): For certain guitar pieces that I have been listening since childhood.
Jack Johnson - In between dreams: For the acoustic guitar sound and the sliding if the fingers across the strings(don't know what its called).
Coldplay - Viva La Vida: For the minute details in bells and chimes and orchestral swells.

Will have to carry more CD's for the next round of auditioning.

Cheers!
 
F u get a chance to hear them somehwere and like it then I can try to bring from here from distributor. Its not made of veneer wood but its real woodi
 
Hi sm,

I suggest you to audition Mordaunt Short Aviano-2, before you take a call.
For your music preference it wont let you down.
Its a good match for PM 6003.

N.Murali
 
Any idea on the cost of Mezzo 2?.

@shivakuru: I didn't come across your thread before posting this, else apart from the budget, the requirement seems to be the same. Will look forward to audition the Focal Chorus 706v if I come across in Hyd!

Immediately after putting up the post, I decided to go and audition bookshelf speakers in Sound and Vision. Met Uday there who was good enough to give us demo's for 3 bookshelf speakers that he had. Prior to auditioning, I had read that most people didn't have a good experience in Sound and Vision, however, I had a decent experience with Uday

Sound_machine - I too felt that our requirements were exactly identical.

Absolutely true about the experience at Sound and Vision. My experience with both Uday and owner Shantanu were extremely pleasant. I was also
very skeptical after reading about Sound and Vision. Infact when me and my friend entered S&V, Uday started off asking "whats your budget", "We deal
with custom design only", "these Sanus fabers cost 5 lakhs", "we normally give demo only for 5 minutes". I thought "oh my" very true to what others
have experienced and thought I would leave, but I continued to talk to him and slowly he started to respond and started to become more courteous.
He gave me a demo of the same set of 3 speakers that you auditioned and ofcourse I had similar opinion about the speakers interms of performance,
placement etc. Later I spoke and met Mr Shantanu couple of occasions and he has been extremely courteous thus far.
 
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@Murali_n: I will definitely audition Mordaunt Short Aviano-2, however I am a little skeptical about it as, if I am not mistaken, it is rear ported and am looking for front ported ones because of space constraints. I have noticed that you have recommended the MS Aviano - 2 for the PM 6003 in different threads and am sure I will like it too, if only it was not because of space constraints, would have picked it up by now!

@yahoo0212: Will definitely audition the MS Aviano 2 and am looking forward to auditioning the KEF Q300 as well.

@sivakuru: No idea about the cost of MS Mezzo 2, however, as per the August issue of AV Max, the price quoted there is INR 37,500.

I didn't meet Shantanu, but my experience with Uday was pleasant. Though, I do remember Uday mentioning "We deal with custom design only" towards the end of the audition, but he did explain that that's the reason why they don't keep too many book shelf's as most people there end up using them as satellites. He never questioned me about my budget or gave me the worth of any of the equipment. In-fact, he let me try out all the CD's that I had taken with me and also let me operate all the equipment by myself! He changed the position of a couple of speakers so that I could audition properly and also insisted on connecting a sub-woofer to the PSB to show the lacking bass.

Hoping to go to ProFX either today or tomorrow or maybe next week.
 
@Murali_n: I will definitely audition Mordaunt Short Aviano-2, however I am a little skeptical about it as, if I am not mistaken, it is rear ported and am looking for front ported ones because of space constraints. I have noticed that you have recommended the MS Aviano - 2 for the PM 6003 in different threads and am sure I will like it too, if only it was not because of space constraints, would have picked it up by now!

Hi sm,

I am using MS Aviano-2 with Marantz PM6003 amp in a 12x10 feet room, placed at 20cm from back and 50cm from the side walls, have placed a carpet of size 7x4 feet size in the front and am not facing any issues with its rear port.

N.Murali
 
@murali_n: Just wanted to know if there is any significant sound difference when the speakers are placed further away from the back wall?

This will definitely give me more confidence to go for a rear ported speaker and one of them definitely being the MS Aviano 2.

Now the problem comes of auditioning them in Hyderabad!
 
Recently auditioned Mezzo , dont know whether simple or mezzo2. Tried with hk 3390 & CA 550. Not impressed at all due to lack in bass. Mrp 30k but they were ready to let it go for 23k
 
Now the problem comes of auditioning them in Hyderabad!

You can audition Aviano2 here:
SBT Corporation, A Block, shanthi sikhara Apts, rajbhavan road.
(opposite to Yashoda Hospital in a complex called Shanti Sikhara Apartments)

When I called them last week, they said they have Aviano 2 and Mezzo 6
(I think) on demo. Let me know if you need the contact numbers.
 
Recently auditioned Mezzo , dont know whether simple or mezzo2. Tried with hk 3390 & CA 550. Not impressed at all due to lack in bass. Mrp 30k but they were ready to let it go for 23k

Dont know why, almost all of the bookshelves that I auditioned thus far lack
bass including the Focal 807v which costs upwards of 50k. The only bookshelf
(from the ones that I auditioned) that had good bass was the Paradigm Atom
monitors but ofcourse it lacked refinement and sounded recessed.
 
Recently auditioned Mezzo , dont know whether simple or mezzo2. Tried with hk 3390 & CA 550. Not impressed at all due to lack in bass. Mrp 30k but they were ready to let it go for 23k

You exactly tried a slightly bright sounding speaker with an amp which is light on bass department. I used to have HK 970 stereo amp putting 70 W/ch. You won't notice any audible difference with the bass knob at min or max positions. The stereo receiver should be inferior to a stereo amp performance wise.
Even CA amps are said to be light on bass.

You should try the Mezzo 2 with an amp with enough power on bass and can tame the speakers bright character. I used to own Nad 356 with Mezzo 2 and the bass performance was great. The combo used to work very well with prominent bass and airy sparkle for rock, hard rock, jazz and heavy metal. Unless you playing bollywood dance numbers you wouldn't complain on the bass. The front bass port makes it easy on placement.

If you think Mezzo 2 is light on bass then you should stop looking for bookshelfs and move on to a floorstander.
 
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You exactly tried a slightly bright sounding speaker with an amp which is light on bass department. I used to have HK 970 stereo amp putting 70 W/ch. You won't notice any audible difference with the bass knob at min or max positions. The stereo receiver should be inferior to a stereo amp performance wise.
Even CA amps are said to be light on bass.

You should try the Mezzo 2 with an amp with enough power on bass and can tame the speakers bright character. I used to own Nad 356 with Mezzo 2 and the bass performance was great. The combo used to work very well with prominent bass and airy sparkle for rock, hard rock, jazz and heavy metal. Unless you playing bollywood dance numbers you wouldn't complain on the bass. The front bass port makes it easy on placement.

If you think Mezzo 2 is light on bass then you should stop looking for bookshelfs and move on to a floorstander.
Probably the pairing was wrong. But the Shop did not have any other amp. That is why i have specifically mentioned the amp with which Mezzo2 was paired so that readers will at least know what not to pair it up with.
The speaker i loved was paradigm studio 10. Too good when paired with marantz pm 6003. Music just flowed around. Was quoted 39k.
Norge millenium was another excellent speaker will all round performance. But price bracket is different at 12k.
I liked wharf 10.2 too. Very good and fluent sound.

So there are a lot of book shelves with bass adequate for my taste.
 
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