Recommendations for speakers

paramz74

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Hi All,

Firstly, thanks to this great forum. I've been reading a fair bit and am indebted to everyone here for whatever I've learnt.
Am planning to build a HT eventually but am looking to start off with speakers and an AVR.
I'm from Chennai and have just started auditions:

B&W 685 - They sounded good but when I heard the 683s (it really kicked ass) my wife agreed that we will get floor standings and no bookshelf :yahoo:
Quote for 683 is 1.59lakhs

Monitor Audio Rx 8 - Was really good but nowhere close to 683s - Quote 1.2l

My room size is 19' X 12' and budget for speakers is ~1.2l and for AVR ~60 - 70k.

Also been reading good thing about Usher. Anyone know a place for a ademo in Chennai or do I need to go to Bangalore?

Recommendations, advice is really appreciated.

Cheers
 
For Usher, visit ARN systems in Frazer Town here in Bangalore. However, do check with them before hand on the FS you are looking for.

For a room size of 19x12, would the 683's be enough? Plus, B&W are over priced in India and I hate the attitude of the dealer of B&W here in India. I would definitely revisit the Monitor Audio FS' as I thought they too are good.

If you are planning to drive such FS with AVR, you will need clearly something which will be more expensive than AVRs available in the 60-70K. Else, after spending the moolah on nice speakers, you will short change your experience through deficient amplification.

For HT, do explore BS + Sub woofer options too as that might get you more bang for the buck for a HT set up.
 
Is this a dedicated room? Is the setup for music as well?

Do consider the placement in your room before you buy especially if it is for music as well. Some floorstanders need a lot of space behind them and that's how they are set up in demo rooms. I remember B&W really fell flat when placed near walls. A mid sized bookshelf will usually be more placement friendly.

If this is only for movies you do not need floorstanders.
 
For Usher, visit ARN systems in Frazer Town here in Bangalore. However, do check with them before hand on the FS you are looking for.

For a room size of 19x12, would the 683's be enough? Plus, B&W are over priced in India and I hate the attitude of the dealer of B&W here in India. I would definitely revisit the Monitor Audio FS' as I thought they too are good.

If you are planning to drive such FS with AVR, you will need clearly something which will be more expensive than AVRs available in the 60-70K. Else, after spending the moolah on nice speakers, you will short change your experience through deficient amplification.

For HT, do explore BS + Sub woofer options too as that might get you more bang for the buck for a HT set up.

Thank for your note. I did speak to ARN and they do have the FS. Just need to make a trip to Bangalore now.

I did audition the 683s at Decibel in Chennai and the room was very spacious. I have read here about the attitude of B&W dealers and to be fair, the folks there gave a really good audition and were very nice. So no complaints there..

For the AV, thinking of a Marantz SR5009. Will that not be enough?

Thanks again.
 
Is this a dedicated room? Is the setup for music as well?

Do consider the placement in your room before you buy especially if it is for music as well. Some floorstanders need a lot of space behind them and that's how they are set up in demo rooms. I remember B&W really fell flat when placed near walls. A mid sized bookshelf will usually be more placement friendly.

If this is only for movies you do not need floorstanders.

Hi,

This is the living room. The system is for 60-70% of the time for music. I listen mainly to a lot of flacs of live shows (think gratefut dead, allman brothers, steely dan, bela fleck, lots of jazz and blues) where the bass is almost like another lead instrument and whatever little I heard from BS, the FS just killed it.

Also thinking of auditioning PSB, ATC and Proac.

Thanks..
 
Is this a dedicated room? Is the setup for music as well?

Do consider the placement in your room before you buy especially if it is for music as well. Some floorstanders need a lot of space behind them and that's how they are set up in demo rooms. I remember B&W really fell flat when placed near walls. A mid sized bookshelf will usually be more placement friendly.

If this is only for movies you do not need floorstanders.

Also, the Monitor Audio was the RX8 and not the Silver 8. The RX8 was no match for the 683 for the music I took. Didn't get a chance to audition the Silver 8s but he quoted 1.94 lakhs which seemed atrocious.
 
Do also consider Tannoy DC6ES which are also great speakers. Would however suggest bookshelf plus subwoofer if you plan to drive them with an AVR.
 
Since I haven't had a chance in recent times to audition new components, I do not know how good is SR5009. However, a quick browse indicates people either being good with 683 or sometimes picking up 684s. Hence, I will take back my apprehension if the AVR is good enough or not as it works for people. However, for an HT set up, I still believe a top of the line BS and a SW is a good alternative. A BS like KEF r300 is still awesome for music and goes deep enough. Pair it with a SW and am sure it will rock as an HT. But yes, are not going to go wrong with 683s too [emoji5]?
 
It really does differ from bookshelf to bookshelf. I have a pair of Energy Veritas 2.2i for my second setup. Largish ones and they do go fairly deep. Need to use foam bungs in the ports (rear ported) to keep them fairly close to the wall.
 
Also, the Monitor Audio was the RX8 and not the Silver 8. The RX8 was no match for the 683 for the music I took. Didn't get a chance to audition the Silver 8s but he quoted 1.94 lakhs which seemed atrocious.

Silver 8 are very good speakers. I have heard them and i thought they costed more than what you have quoted. At 1.94 lakhs I would not say they are exorbitant. When I auditioned them they were paired with arcam a19.
 
Since I haven't had a chance in recent times to audition new components, I do not know how good is SR5009. However, a quick browse indicates people either being good with 683 or sometimes picking up 684s. Hence, I will take back my apprehension if the AVR is good enough or not as it works for people. However, for an HT set up, I still believe a top of the line BS and a SW is a good alternative. A BS like KEF r300 is still awesome for music and goes deep enough. Pair it with a SW and am sure it will rock as an HT. But yes, are not going to go wrong with 683s too [emoji5]?

I spoke to a bunch of friends who know their audio and all of them claim "Dont pay 1.59l for 683s. 683s are good but for 1.59l, you can get better". :licklips:

I will research on more BS but for the music FS just seem to nail it.. Again its just been 3-4 auditions..
 
Which ProAc are you looking at? The 140s itself were very pricey couple of years back, leave alone the D2s. They did sound nice with Exposure stereo amp.

Actually, not going with any model in mind.. Just to see whats out there.. For serious buying auditions, I'm going to check out the PSB in Chennai and a Bangalore trip for Usher.

Any pointers about Focal?

Thanks..
 
I had heard Focal FS couple of years back and only once so can't make an accurate observation on my side. The ProAcs are very well regarded and I had really liked the BS (I think there were the Studio 115) and was very keen on the Studio 140. However, the plans did not fructify and hence dropped the whole thing. Still keep an eye (and an ear) open for the Response series but haven't had a chance. If you get a good deal on pre-owned ProAcs, I would recommend you give them a look.

The first speaker which I had truly liked were the PSB T6 :) Unfortunately, my budget in those days and local Bangalore dealer challenges led to me buying Paradigms. I think PSBs go very well with NAD. I looked up the website and seems they have done away with the T6s/T5s I knew so no idea which is the equivalent series. I am guessing it is the T2 5-way speaker now.

Look up Audio Dynamics (Abhishesk) for Focal and ProAc demos in same place in Koramangala here at Bangalore.

Heard the Wharfdale Jade series? Or the Paradim Monitor series (Monitor 11)? If you are looking, might as well look far and wide ;)
 
Thanks all for your responses.. The search continues... :lol:

Freakin' work is coming in the way :mad:

A good friend of mine from Bangalore has suggested a DIY that I'm seriously considering also...
 
Bangalore:
The Listening Room (Jochen Semler)
Absolute Phase (Prithvi)
ARN Systems (Sridhar)
The Audio Planet
Music Ranch
 
Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers in Red Mahogany finish at a Special Offer Price. BUY now before the price increase.
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