Budget Speakers Auditioned-A noobs Take

Luxman 507z Integrated Amplifier
Hey magma,

Were you able to audition the Cambridge Audio gear along with Mordaunt Short?

If you can, then can you please add the following in your list of auditions:

1. CA 540Av2 with MS 902i

2. Marantz PM6002 with MS 902i

I'll really appreciate if you can post your opinion on the above combo.

I am planning to buy one of the above combos in 2nd ot 3rd week of February.

Many thanks,

Regards
 
hi fellas
looks like magma is only interested in auditioning speakers made outside india.i suggest magma to try indian made speakers.your reviews are good and unbiased magma,please continue your great work.
 
redd said:
hi fellas
looks like magma is only interested in auditioning speakers made outside india.i suggest magma to try indian made speakers.your reviews are good and unbiased magma,please continue your great work.
Click to expand...

thanks for the encouragement its well appreceiated
magma thought "sonodyne" that he auditioned a while back is made in india.
Magma also hopes to audition norge and lithos soon.
 
Hi Magma

The Mission M33i mini floorstander is now available at TATA Star enterprises Croma outlets at 17K. For this price remember you also save 6K on speaker stands for bookshelves.

Cheers
 
Hifiplayer said:
Hey magma,

Were you able to audition the Cambridge Audio gear along with Mordaunt Short?

If you can, then can you please add the following in your list of auditions:

1. CA 540Av2 with MS 902i

2. Marantz PM6002 with MS 902i

I'll really appreciate if you can post your opinion on the above combo.

I am planning to buy one of the above combos in 2nd ot 3rd week of February.

Many thanks,

Regards
Click to expand...


Hi

Sound is highly subjective. While you can use opinions and reviews to broadly narrow down your options , BUT If you have already narrowed down on the two combinations above, then may I recommend that YOU give them a listen with your favourite music - and pick up what sounds good to YOUR ears!

Sound is highly subjective - one man's nectar, another's poison!
 
gobble said:
Hi Magma

The Mission M33i mini floorstander is now available at TATA Star enterprises Croma outlets at 17K. For this price remember you also save 6K on speaker stands for bookshelves.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Hmm... if i factor in readymade stands cost 4-6k then yes bookshelves (PSB image B15,MA BR2,Kef IQ 10 etc and stands turn out to about 22k

i sometimes do wonder why not a warfedale 9.5 , jamo 606 or a mission M34i
in that budget,
however i havent auditioned any of the above recently so i think i should give the jamo's a try at least
(though im pretty sure i wont like the 9.5's if ive not liked the 9.1 and 9.2)

what do you guys say?

the bookshelves ive chosen?
or should i try the floorstanders?
Many gurus have still adviced my good bookshelves rather than the above floorstander choices ive given them
(i dont require much bass ...that was eveident when i auditioned the bookshelves and was happy)
 
magma said:
(i dont require much bass ...that was eveident when i auditioned the bookshelves and was happy)
Click to expand...

Yeah, my comment was only to "sweeten the deal" in case you decided you liked the M33i.
Bookshelf spks are good enough really.

Cheers
 
For the most part a good pair of bookshelves will suffice the HT requirements, esp. if it is tuned properly. Combine with a decent sub and it should satisfy even the stringent listeners. The catch however is the placement of these esp. if you go with the manufacture recommended stands. The price differential then with floor standers is small.

If you have the space and don't mind the bulk then go with floor standers knowing that tuning them is harder than bookshelves.


magma said:
Hmm... if i factor in readymade stands cost 4-6k then yes bookshelves (PSB image B15,MA BR2,Kef IQ 10 etc and stands turn out to about 22k

i sometimes do wonder why not a warfedale 9.5 , jamo 606 or a mission M34i
in that budget,
however i havent auditioned any of the above recently so i think i should give the jamo's a try at least
(though im pretty sure i wont like the 9.5's if ive not liked the 9.1 and 9.2)

what do you guys say?

the bookshelves ive chosen?
or should i try the floorstanders?
Many gurus have still adviced my good bookshelves rather than the above floorstander choices ive given them
(i dont require much bass ...that was eveident when i auditioned the bookshelves and was happy)
Click to expand...
 
magma said:
NEXT AUDITION



model: warfedale 9.2

listening experience was very close the the 9.1's .i would advice people having a small room under 150sq ft to go for the 9.1's.
its only the slight extra bass in the 9.2 would be required to fill a room larger than the above.Both models have the same crossover and tweeter.
Again for 14k is unbeatable BUT if youre willing to shell out even 2 k more consider the KEF (if you like your vocals more) too or READ ON!

Advice : try these speakers with an int amp. Try and avoid an AVR.
Click to expand...


Hi Magma was this price inclusive of VAT cos I am being quotd close to 16k.
 
biyer said:
Hi Magma was this price inclusive of VAT cos I am being quotd close to 16k.
Click to expand...

14.5K all inclusive with 4+4mts 16 guage DAC speaker cable thrown in for free is what I picked it up in Dec 2008. I did not bargain further as I wanted them the same day and they were not in stock at the other dealers.

14K is good.

Cheers
 
hello all

im back again.
its been a week long of auditions.
im tired and so are my ears!

some dark horses turned out to be winners in my book and some very popular brands were not upto my expectations.

i hope when people here advice on a certain product or advice against one they do so with some listening experience of that particular and not because they have read someones take on it.
thats what made some products dark horses.
( i advice the same to all reader here to)


brands i auditioned
Denon
Cambridge audio
Rotel
marantz blue ray players

Mordant short-Avant 902,904,mezzo 1
Tannoy- F1
jamo- C405 ( not the 406 S seies that are availble with the HT package)
warfedale 9.1 and 9.2 , 9.5 again with better electronics

hmm. i think ive also found an answer to "budget floorstanders"!.

the write up is gonna be long and boring . beer and popcorn needed.
 
Last edited:
hello all
here are my reviews

CDP : NAD 525
AMP : CA 540 V2
SPEAKER : Tannnoy Custom F1 (mrp a shocking 18k!)

This was my first audition after the old set.the audition was done in a
listening room (10*12)close to the road.yes some road noise did filter in at
first and i was interupted by phone calls that were recived by the dealer,however they were minor.
the interconnects and speaker wire were local

i was keen on auditonong a CA amp specially with a NAD player. ive heard a
lot about this combo and also vice versae

Speaker build : well build wise this speaker fails to impress. build is
simialr to the MA BR5. terminals are small but good.The black ash version
makes a better impression than the apple coloured version.
there are only one set of terminals hence bi wiring is not an option.
the speaker is small- the size of a warfedale 9.1 and is light as well.

My take : i will not comment much on the speaker sound in this review since

i found a lot of difference when i switched to a NAD 325 BEE .
lets just say this combinaton did not impress me at all
the mids were clear but treble and bass lacked.the vocals were pushed back
and i did not find them involving.
 
NEXT

CDP : NAD 525
AMP : NAD 325 BEE (22k)
SPEAKER : Tannnoy Custom F1 (mrp a shocking 18k!)

Build quality of the speaker has been spoken about in the previous review

surprise surprise.
ive always been a skeptic about how much difference and amp can make. ive
believed like most others that the speaker makes the most difference.

Boy was i wrong

i urge all begginers to Please do note : SPEAKER AMP PAIRING is NOT to be
taken lightly. dont ever buy a speaker amp combo that you havent auditioned
together.you make like the amp seperately and love the speaker you may have heard with different electronics and assume that the amp you like (its flavour) may gel well with the speaker of your choice.
but in reality that might not be true.
(yes seasoned pros like many on this forum may not make a mistake but if youre a begginner , chances are that you will)

anyway

My take : the speaker sounded very nice. sufficient bass from that samll

speaker and the treble was perfect not as harsh as i find MA BR2.
detail was good but most of all the vocals impressed me like they did in a
PSB. i found them centered on some tracks where they were to be dead centre
(i have not found this quality often in budget speakers).
its a slightly forward speaker and in that respect i would place it betwwen
the PSB and MA BR5 ( mind you i mean "in being forward" not overall!), Not
as soothing as the PSB though
the sound was full and sounstage was decent.
its up there with the PSB image B15 and the MA BR5

I had a probblem with the price though.
i felt 18k is high when i compare it to prices abroad and in delhi.
this speaker would beat all if priced at 15k.I had a lakozy feeling all over
( im being asked to pay much higher than interantional prices!)
 
NAD vs CAmbridge amps - My take

The above review of the Tannoys obviously forced me to compare the Cambridge audio amp with the NAD.

i found the ca 540 azur only better in the clarity of the upper mid range
however it lost to the NAD in pretty much all other freq levels
Yes the cambridge is a better looker and slightly cheaper but thats all you
get.

Nad had much more bass, treble was beter defined and had a more full bodied
sound.some may say that this is the colour NAD adds - well if thats the case-im a colorful person!

Another very noticebale thing.
Nad listening level between 9 and 10 o clock is almost equal to between 11
and 12 o clock in the Azur.
and i thought the 540 azur is more powerful!
 
NEXT

CDP : NAD 525
AMP : NAD 325BEE
SPEAKER : MS avant 902i

Ive always wanted to audition the CA MS combo. ere was my chance. though istarted with the CA and MS combo i quickly changed the amp to NAD once again.

Build quality : the MS Avant 902i is a rear port firing dainty looking
speaker.the aluminium finish looks differnt from all other speakers. its
neat!
the quality of laminate was better than the Tannoy and MA BR5 for sure.
Two sets of terminals-Biwirable. they are not gold plated but a large and
strong.build was good overall for such a speaker

My take : well the speaker impressed in the upper mids however was lacking
in bass. lacked to much of it even for my kind of music.i would not recommed
to use without a sub.
yes its a speaker good for instrumental with no drums.classical maybe.
All in all Mordnt short can offer better and it doesnt eserve the 5 stars it
gets in my book'
I would definetley not subscribe to the opinions that MS and CA are a match
made in heaven. they are just the cheapest match!
budget strictly 25k = ca340 + ms avant


NEXT

CDP : NAD 525
AMP : NAD 325 BEE
SPEAKER : warfedale 9.1

i felt i had to give warfedales another chance.This because i felt the
speakers i auditioned last time were done with electronics that could have
been better(namely a yamaha AVR abd a marantz DVD playr)
i thought this time round the warfedales had a fair chance to impress me.

Build quality : i have spoken about this in my earlier threads.
to cut short - build quality was decent with good terminals

My take : this time round i liked the warfedales better ( owing to the
improved electronics) however it was nothing to run home about.
i had a similar feeling to the last time.This speaker does everything well.
(just well but nothing very well)
i do not find the speaker bringing out any emotions from me - good or bad.
umm.. not my kind of speaker
However i say again - for 10K this is still unbeatable!!and they are good
all rounders and thats why members call this a safe bet
 
NEXT

CDP : CA (forgot model)
AMP : CA 740
SPEAKER : Mezzo 1 (29.5k)

Build : well this speaker has looks to die for, i guess its an MS
trait.build is very good owing to the fact thats its higher up the series.
the tweeter projecting off the top looks fancy and cool
terminals forgot to get a look but guessing from the build they had to be
good

My Take : the 740 was cranked to 11 o clock and i still wansnt very happy.if
this had a NAD amp this would be an excellent speaker audition.but alas no
NAD here
anyway the speaker is highly detailed as good as the Quad 11L.however lacked bass bigtime. ( however i find the amp at fault here)
it was also a soothing speaker ( PSB youve got company)

i will post some BUDGET floorstander reviews tomorrow with the dark horses!
 
Special Offer: Wharfedale EVO 4.2 Speakers
Get the Wharfedale EVO 4.2 3-Way Standmount Speakers at a Special Offer Price.

Similar threads

fLUX
Stein Bobby S Highline Home Audition
Replies
1
Views
798
gkraj
G
S
Distortion in KEF Q300
Replies
1
Views
1K
MaSh
MaSh
dilliaudiophile
Mission QX-12 (MKII) subwoofer with Mission QX-2 speakers for music?
Replies
13
Views
1K
dilliaudiophile
dilliaudiophile
greendream
Wiim mini + entry level dac
Replies
16
Views
5K
Prateek-Epitome
P
bpranay
Thinking upgrading but it's too difficult.
2 3
Replies
59
Views
3K
spirovious
spirovious
Back
Top