budget or mid-range Stereo advise required
- Thread starter Acuity
- Start date
I had a chance to audition these other speakers in Bangalore:
Usher 601 played off a Marantz Amp (I think PM7004)
Wharfedale 10.1, 10.2, B&W 686 and B&W 685 played off a Yamaha AS700 amp
Monitor BX2 and Monitor Gold and Mordaunt Mezzo 2 played off a Marantz Amp (not sure which)
Here is a summary review of my auditions:
Usher 601: The speakers have good bass and produce low frequencies quite well, they can play loud too. But on the flip side, they did not sound sharp and are bit too much on the warmer side for my taste. Even so, somehow the music sounded lively and music sounded like it played at a fast pace.
Wharfedale 10.1 sounded like very average speakers - But in all fairness they are indeed out of the league of the other speakers I have listed.
Wharfedale 10.2 sounded comparable to the B&W 686 only in terms of loudness and bass reproduction (although size-wise 10.2 is much larger than the 686 - 10.1 is about the same size as the 686). But apart from the bass, the 10.2 sounded a bit "vague" and slightly muddled when compared with the 686.
B&W 686 sounded good. Given its size, it was able to go loud and produced good bass quality, the sound was very well controlled. But the overall sound quality paled when compared to its big-brother the B&W 685.
B&W 685 :thumbsup: were really good. They maintained the sound control of the 686 and did even better. It had excellent bass reproduction even in some of the lower frequencies. Control on the high-mids and highs were outstanding. They seemed like very disciplined speakers. A trait that greatly appealed to me.
The Monitor BX2 :thumbsup: sounded excellent as well. Good bass reproduction, and mids and highs were brought out sharply as well. They were indeed a little bit on the bright side. I was told the sharpness was the truer reproduction of the recording.
The Monitor Gold speakers had ribbon tweeters (I believe model GX50) but unfortunately they not burnt in, the seal was opened in front of me. They did not sound great at all. Perhaps would be good after a burn in. So can't evaluate.
Mordaunt Short Mezzo 2 was also an excellent speaker, again nice reproduction of the bass, and all sounds. But compared to the Monitor BX2, it was a little warmer and toned down the sharpness of the sounds. I was told the warmth was a coloration of the real recordings. Presumably to make them more pleasing to the ears for longer listening sessions. And imho its probably true that I could listen to them for longer. If I were to choose between the Monitor BX2 and the Mezzo 2 it would probably come to a toss of a coin.
So I am now trying to decide between the Monitor BX2 and the B&W 685. They are in very different price brackets, while the BX2 is around Rs 28k, the 685s are around Rs 45k. However there is no budget constraint and I would love to hear your opinions on what I should do.
Amplifier
I am trying to decide between the PM7004 and the Yamaha AS500. Again they are in different price leagues (50k vs 25k). Both amps have rave reviews everywhere, but I am leaning towards the Yamaha as it has a sub-out, and I do intend to add a sub in the future. My question is would the Yamaha as500 go well with the MA BX2?
@akhil7j unfortunately I can't find the Epos speakers anywhere to audition in Bangalore or Hyderabad. I also wanted to try PSB, but coudn't get an audition.
Usher 601 played off a Marantz Amp (I think PM7004)
Wharfedale 10.1, 10.2, B&W 686 and B&W 685 played off a Yamaha AS700 amp
Monitor BX2 and Monitor Gold and Mordaunt Mezzo 2 played off a Marantz Amp (not sure which)
Here is a summary review of my auditions:
Usher 601: The speakers have good bass and produce low frequencies quite well, they can play loud too. But on the flip side, they did not sound sharp and are bit too much on the warmer side for my taste. Even so, somehow the music sounded lively and music sounded like it played at a fast pace.
Wharfedale 10.1 sounded like very average speakers - But in all fairness they are indeed out of the league of the other speakers I have listed.
Wharfedale 10.2 sounded comparable to the B&W 686 only in terms of loudness and bass reproduction (although size-wise 10.2 is much larger than the 686 - 10.1 is about the same size as the 686). But apart from the bass, the 10.2 sounded a bit "vague" and slightly muddled when compared with the 686.
B&W 686 sounded good. Given its size, it was able to go loud and produced good bass quality, the sound was very well controlled. But the overall sound quality paled when compared to its big-brother the B&W 685.
B&W 685 :thumbsup: were really good. They maintained the sound control of the 686 and did even better. It had excellent bass reproduction even in some of the lower frequencies. Control on the high-mids and highs were outstanding. They seemed like very disciplined speakers. A trait that greatly appealed to me.
The Monitor BX2 :thumbsup: sounded excellent as well. Good bass reproduction, and mids and highs were brought out sharply as well. They were indeed a little bit on the bright side. I was told the sharpness was the truer reproduction of the recording.
The Monitor Gold speakers had ribbon tweeters (I believe model GX50) but unfortunately they not burnt in, the seal was opened in front of me. They did not sound great at all. Perhaps would be good after a burn in. So can't evaluate.
Mordaunt Short Mezzo 2 was also an excellent speaker, again nice reproduction of the bass, and all sounds. But compared to the Monitor BX2, it was a little warmer and toned down the sharpness of the sounds. I was told the warmth was a coloration of the real recordings. Presumably to make them more pleasing to the ears for longer listening sessions. And imho its probably true that I could listen to them for longer. If I were to choose between the Monitor BX2 and the Mezzo 2 it would probably come to a toss of a coin.
So I am now trying to decide between the Monitor BX2 and the B&W 685. They are in very different price brackets, while the BX2 is around Rs 28k, the 685s are around Rs 45k. However there is no budget constraint and I would love to hear your opinions on what I should do.
Amplifier
I am trying to decide between the PM7004 and the Yamaha AS500. Again they are in different price leagues (50k vs 25k). Both amps have rave reviews everywhere, but I am leaning towards the Yamaha as it has a sub-out, and I do intend to add a sub in the future. My question is would the Yamaha as500 go well with the MA BX2?
@akhil7j unfortunately I can't find the Epos speakers anywhere to audition in Bangalore or Hyderabad. I also wanted to try PSB, but coudn't get an audition.
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Hi guys, I am hoping to make my purchase in a day or two, would be great if any suggestions can be given for my request above:
I am now trying to decide between the Monitor BX2 and the B&W 685. They are in very different price brackets, while the BX2 is around Rs 28k, the 685s are around Rs 45k. However there is no budget constraint and I would love to hear your opinions on what I should do.
I was thinking of just buying the Monitor Silver RX2 based on what I read and without auditioning; but then decided not to - I can perhaps upgrade to the RX2 in the future.
As regards the Amp, I think I will go with the Yamaha Amp over the Marantz - for 3 reasons: Whathifi Award winner 2010; Sub-out; iPod dock + iPod control through same remote. Besides it sounded good when I auditioned.
I am now trying to decide between the Monitor BX2 and the B&W 685. They are in very different price brackets, while the BX2 is around Rs 28k, the 685s are around Rs 45k. However there is no budget constraint and I would love to hear your opinions on what I should do.
I was thinking of just buying the Monitor Silver RX2 based on what I read and without auditioning; but then decided not to - I can perhaps upgrade to the RX2 in the future.
As regards the Amp, I think I will go with the Yamaha Amp over the Marantz - for 3 reasons: Whathifi Award winner 2010; Sub-out; iPod dock + iPod control through same remote. Besides it sounded good when I auditioned.
S.P.KRISHNA
Active Member
As regards the Amp, I think I will go with the Yamaha Amp over the Marantz - for 3 reasons: Whathifi Award winner 2010; Sub-out; iPod dock + iPod control through same remote. Besides it sounded good when I auditioned.[/QUOTE]
Acuity,
It is BX2 I suggest. Did you audition Cambridge 650 A for a comparison to AS500. If that is the case , remove from your mind the recommendations of Whathifi else it will be acting on the back of your mind and err in our judgement.
Regards
Acuity,
It is BX2 I suggest. Did you audition Cambridge 650 A for a comparison to AS500. If that is the case , remove from your mind the recommendations of Whathifi else it will be acting on the back of your mind and err in our judgement.
Regards
@S.P.Krishna thanks for the suggestion about the speakers.
Unfortunately it became difficult for me to evaluate the amps in Bangalore / Hyd. They had a Yamaha at Vector for the B&W, a NAD at Sound & Vision for the PSB, and a Marantz for the Mordaunt Short. It was hard to tell which amp was doing a better job since the speakers were so different. It was further complicated by differences in acoustics of the places.
Hence the fallback on ratings and awards
Unfortunately it became difficult for me to evaluate the amps in Bangalore / Hyd. They had a Yamaha at Vector for the B&W, a NAD at Sound & Vision for the PSB, and a Marantz for the Mordaunt Short. It was hard to tell which amp was doing a better job since the speakers were so different. It was further complicated by differences in acoustics of the places.
Hence the fallback on ratings and awards
S.P.KRISHNA
Active Member
Hence the fallback on ratings and awards [/QUOTE]
Acuity,
If budjet is not a hindrance to you, You may be dissapointed at a later date by prefering AS500 over Marantz and also to some extent NAD.
Regards
[/QUOTE]Acuity,
If budjet is not a hindrance to you, You may be dissapointed at a later date by prefering AS500 over Marantz and also to some extent NAD.
Regards
imo youre making a mistake buying the bx2 over the rx2 and then wanting to later upgrade. just go for the rx2. there is a quite a large difference. as for the amp you need to match it to the speakers that you finally decide on. dont just go by the specs of the amp. pairing a system well is VERY IMP. if you decide on the rx2 the nad is a very good match. but again its up to your ears
akhil,
A suggestion, you have to make that combo available in all major cities for people to audition, it makes no sense going gaga about the product unless its available for people to listen.
Dont take me wrong. I too like EPOS :clapping:
Kittu
A suggestion, you have to make that combo available in all major cities for people to audition, it makes no sense going gaga about the product unless its available for people to listen.
Dont take me wrong. I too like EPOS :clapping:
Kittu
Epos is available in Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi/NCR. I think the person is from Chennai only.
You are saying correct. Audition is important.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Great!!!! can you list the contact details of each location including address and telephone numbers ?
:clapping:
Can't agree with you more kittu, very tough in the market to find a place that has the whole package. But things are getting better saw a group buy for a stereo in the forum. We only have to hope that things better as time passess.
Hope the day comes when shopping experience for Hi-fi products is a good one :clapping:
Cheers
Charan
Hope the day comes when shopping experience for Hi-fi products is a good one :clapping:
Cheers
Charan
Two things,
1.You dont have to spend too much money to get good sound, That is a myth that everything costly is good, Just buy what you like.
2. Since you call yourself NEW-Bee, I really doubt anyone is a new-bee as far as music is concerned, since anyone with proper hearing would have listen to things from live Lullaby to live shows from birth itself .
And are there anyone who are too much experienced?, Experience means you are hearing it for a long time right?, Naturally human ear cannot be trusted after say about 35 Years. It starts failing slowly, The more older one becomes, The worse it gets, Have you heard most of those older people (Including this 45 yr old here) , saying the newer systems don't sound as good as older ones? They are right, Evn if you give the best sounding Processor and speakers to an 80 year old, He/She is sure to say, "Hey my HMV TT sounded better than this in the 1930s", Dont be surprised, HE/SHE heard all those frequencies better in their 20s and 30s, ie all,
SO buy what you think you like, Opinions wont supplement your taste.
Now to the task at hand, As for suggestion try this shop at Hyderabad first and take an autition of these
USK ELECTRONICS
BABUKHAN MALL, SOMAJIGUDA CIRCLE, BEGUMPET
HYDERABAD - ANDHRA PRADESH
Well these guys are YAMAHA dealers
SUggestion for AMP, I would say try this first, It can easily work as your 2-Channel stereo and 5.1 or whatever if required, at the press of a button, Also there is an AM/FM receiver built in and works, Just in case, ENough inputs too, What is missing is a Phono pre-amp, Well Pioneer has one TT with built in pre , if you want one.
RX-V371 / HTR- 3064 - AV Receivers/Amplifiers - Yamaha - India
As for speakers
try these with the above rec
NS-F150 - Home Speaker Systems - Yamaha - India
And add this SUB if possible, Just check them, It should all be around your budget, I have heard this combo, Sounds good to me, And since service is at hand , This should be safer than imported only stuff
http://in.yamaha.com/en/products/audio-visual/speaker-systems/subwoofers/yst-fsw150__g/?mode=model
Just check and remember , It is your ears not mine,, SO take this only as a suggestion
1.You dont have to spend too much money to get good sound, That is a myth that everything costly is good, Just buy what you like.
2. Since you call yourself NEW-Bee, I really doubt anyone is a new-bee as far as music is concerned, since anyone with proper hearing would have listen to things from live Lullaby to live shows from birth itself .
And are there anyone who are too much experienced?, Experience means you are hearing it for a long time right?, Naturally human ear cannot be trusted after say about 35 Years. It starts failing slowly, The more older one becomes, The worse it gets, Have you heard most of those older people (Including this 45 yr old here) , saying the newer systems don't sound as good as older ones? They are right, Evn if you give the best sounding Processor and speakers to an 80 year old, He/She is sure to say, "Hey my HMV TT sounded better than this in the 1930s", Dont be surprised, HE/SHE heard all those frequencies better in their 20s and 30s, ie all,
SO buy what you think you like, Opinions wont supplement your taste.
Now to the task at hand, As for suggestion try this shop at Hyderabad first and take an autition of these
USK ELECTRONICS
BABUKHAN MALL, SOMAJIGUDA CIRCLE, BEGUMPET
HYDERABAD - ANDHRA PRADESH
Well these guys are YAMAHA dealers
SUggestion for AMP, I would say try this first, It can easily work as your 2-Channel stereo and 5.1 or whatever if required, at the press of a button, Also there is an AM/FM receiver built in and works, Just in case, ENough inputs too, What is missing is a Phono pre-amp, Well Pioneer has one TT with built in pre , if you want one.
RX-V371 / HTR- 3064 - AV Receivers/Amplifiers - Yamaha - India
As for speakers
try these with the above rec
NS-F150 - Home Speaker Systems - Yamaha - India
And add this SUB if possible, Just check them, It should all be around your budget, I have heard this combo, Sounds good to me, And since service is at hand , This should be safer than imported only stuff
http://in.yamaha.com/en/products/audio-visual/speaker-systems/subwoofers/yst-fsw150__g/?mode=model
Just check and remember , It is your ears not mine,, SO take this only as a suggestion
@afj thanks for the pointer. I am now so tempted to buy the monitor rx2 without auditioning it - Leave alone pairing it with an amp. Should I... shouldn't I...should I...
@akhil7j Kittu is right, am having a hard time auditioning.
I may be going to Delhi on work next week, hope I can check out some combinations. The worrisome part is I'll have to spend so much time checking out systems - on a business trip. :sad: Why should buying a stero be so hard? (aaargh)
i normally wouldnt suggest buying a speaker without an audition but if your other choices are the bx2 and the b&w 6 series i feel you can safely buy the rx2 and will like it as well. the rx2 isnt a fussy pair of speakers and pairs well with nad, marantz, cambridge...they do not like amps that are bright though
deepakgang
Active Member
Acuity - Good job in getting out there and auditioning the speakers rather than trying to figure out everything in an enormously long thread in the forum and finally disappearing like for an year while all who contributed wonder what happened ! (like some other examples I have seen here)
All the best
All the best
Acuity - Good job in getting out there and auditioning the speakers rather than trying to figure out everything in an enormously long thread in the forum and finally disappearing like for an year while all who contributed wonder what happened ! (like some other examples I have seen here)
All the best
Thanks ppl for all the inputs. I have finally decided to get the Monitor Bronze BX2, and paid an advance. I will be pairing it with a Yamaha AS-500 amp.
Its something to get me started off. I surely will do some upgrades in the future.
I wanted to get the Silver RX2 without auditioning, but after a lot of reading, it appears the RX2 has to be carefully paired with a suitable amp. But in all honesty I have spent too much time and taken a lot of inputs from this forum already, and did not believe I should spend more time. Hopefully a dream system will find me, rather than me look for it.
As a side note, I chose the Yamaha AS-500 amp over the Marantz PM7004 considering: it has a wired iPhone dock (controlled by the same remote), a sub-out and it is the Whathifi Amp of the year. Moreover in its review of the as500 Whathifi recommended it be paired with the BX2.
I have heard both the BX2 and the AS500, but not together. Hopefully I will get to hear them together in the very near future :lol:
Hi guys,
Its been a couple of months since I've been using this system, and I wanted to thank y'all for all the inputs. A short review follows for anyone who may be interested:
The total cost of the system (amp, speakers and cables) worked out to about Rs 55k, I chose the Monitor BX2 over the B&W 686 as I heard very little difference between the two (although the b&w 686 was well within my planned spend).
I think for the money I spent, I have an excellent system, I find the overall sound reproduction is very crisp, the music output souds well controlled, the bass is decent and the mids and highs are clear and sharp. I would certainly recommend this system to anyone who is looking for an outstanding audio system for under 60k. I only wish for some more bass at times.
I think this will end up as my dining room system in the future, I am sure I will go in for floorstanders for my living room / home theater.
For my system, I also included a music player, but its not a CDP. My music flows like this:
MP3/FLAC --> WD MB Live --> Squeezebox Server --> BSNL wifi router --> Squeeze Box Touch --> Yamaha AS-500 --> Monster cables --> Monitor BX2 speaers.
I want quick access to my music, so I ripped my entire collection of CDs to FLACs and MP3s @ 320kbps, this yielded a 35gb library that is stored on the Western Digital My Book Live (NAS HDD). I decided not to go for a CDP as its a pain looking for the CDs and popping them in - well browsing CDs could be fun too, but I'd rather have my songs at my fingertips. The WD My Book Live has a linux platform and is capable of running the Squeeze Server to serve up the library to the system.
The Squeezebox Touch is great - I can access my entire library with artwork over my iphone and queue songs. Ofcourse I could also do that using the remote or a PC. I think I'm happy to have gone with the SB Touch instead of a CDP. If in the future I want to improve the music quality even further, I could just add a DAC to the SB Touch and bypass the SB Touch's onboard DAC (which is also supposed to be very good).
I think this is a close parallel to Apple's airplay.
Its been a couple of months since I've been using this system, and I wanted to thank y'all for all the inputs. A short review follows for anyone who may be interested:
The total cost of the system (amp, speakers and cables) worked out to about Rs 55k, I chose the Monitor BX2 over the B&W 686 as I heard very little difference between the two (although the b&w 686 was well within my planned spend).
I think for the money I spent, I have an excellent system, I find the overall sound reproduction is very crisp, the music output souds well controlled, the bass is decent and the mids and highs are clear and sharp. I would certainly recommend this system to anyone who is looking for an outstanding audio system for under 60k. I only wish for some more bass at times.
I think this will end up as my dining room system in the future, I am sure I will go in for floorstanders for my living room / home theater.
For my system, I also included a music player, but its not a CDP. My music flows like this:
MP3/FLAC --> WD MB Live --> Squeezebox Server --> BSNL wifi router --> Squeeze Box Touch --> Yamaha AS-500 --> Monster cables --> Monitor BX2 speaers.
I want quick access to my music, so I ripped my entire collection of CDs to FLACs and MP3s @ 320kbps, this yielded a 35gb library that is stored on the Western Digital My Book Live (NAS HDD). I decided not to go for a CDP as its a pain looking for the CDs and popping them in - well browsing CDs could be fun too, but I'd rather have my songs at my fingertips. The WD My Book Live has a linux platform and is capable of running the Squeeze Server to serve up the library to the system.
The Squeezebox Touch is great - I can access my entire library with artwork over my iphone and queue songs. Ofcourse I could also do that using the remote or a PC. I think I'm happy to have gone with the SB Touch instead of a CDP. If in the future I want to improve the music quality even further, I could just add a DAC to the SB Touch and bypass the SB Touch's onboard DAC (which is also supposed to be very good).
I think this is a close parallel to Apple's airplay.
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