I am looking for a mid level bookshelf speakers in the budget of
less than 30k. The speakers are to be used in a 10X12 room.
Music preference would be tamil, hindi movie songs and english pop,
jazz. I do not like too much bass and like my sound to be mellow,
laidback and absolutely hate bright sound.
The bookshelves that fall around my budget and those that I
wanted to audition were:
KEF Q300
Paradigm Titan monitors
Quad 11L2
Focal Chorus 706v
PSB Image B6
Morduant Short Mezzo 2
I started out to audition last week, along with my friend who was
interested in a set of floorstanders. I shortlisted a four tracks
that I like, copied it in my laptop and wanted to use the laptop
-> uDAC to the Amplifier combination so that atleast one factor
will be constant in the audition.
-----------------------------------------------------------
First stop was at ProFX to audition the KEF Q300 and Focal Chorus
706v.
Having read a lot about KEF Q300, I thought I will buy it
blindly. Good that I didnt. I think I read somewhere that though
the KEF is front ported, it is finnicky about placement. I found
this to be absolutely true. The KEFs were initially placed on a
shelf (between other speakers) with absolutely no room to breathe.
They sounded too bright, harsh and not too impressive at all. They
also lacked bass.
My friend who was interested in FS, wanted to audition the Polk Rti
A5. We played the same set of songs. Though the bass improved we found
it to be too bright. There were a pair of Focal 716v floorstanders
next to the Polks, though it went beyond the budget we asked them to
play it on the Focals. Wow!! amazing sound. There was no harshness,
good sufficient bass, depth, clarity etc was amazing. People who like
bright sound may not like the Focals but I absolutely enjoyed the
sound. I dont know how the Focal 706v bookshelf version would sound.
They did not have one for audition.
I wanted to give the KEFs one more try and I had them place it in
a place where there was more room around the speakers. They did sound
a lot better now. There was the details, imaging, clarity etc. I
would have bought it had it not been a little too bright to my liking.
It also lacked bass/punch that I wanted, so it is off my list.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Next stop was at Cinebels to audition Jamo and Klipsch. They did not
have any bookshelf for audition except a klipsch B20 or something which
I was not interested. We did audition the Klipsch RF52, F30, Jamo C605,
C607. The RF52 is pretty small. It sounded OK. We however like the F30.
Price wise both are around 53k. The F30 is humongous. The F30 sounded
close to the Focal 716v with a little bit brightness and less bass
refinement. The F30 had good soundstage, imaging, clarity, details and
is definitely a contender for my friend.
The Jamo C605, C607 sounded mellow (to my liking) and the C607 was as
good as or equal to the Focal 716v. Price wise also they are the same
i.e. around 65k.
Cinebels also had a demo Jamo E750 FS which I think they will let go at around
23-25k. They sound a little bright to my taste. Bass was good and I think
at 23k it would be a good FS to pick. Had it been as mellow as C607, I
would have picked it.
I have requested Cinebels to contact me if they have C405 or C407 in
stock. Since it is a discontinued model, hoping I could get it at a
good price (provided they sound as mellow as C605/C607).
-----------------------------------------------------------
Next stop was at Sound and Vision, GVK mall. They carry Mission, Quad,
Paradigm, PSB etc but all they had for audition was PSB Alpha B1, Paradigm
Atom v4, Mission m34. The rest they had for audition were way beyond my
budget.
The PSB Alpha sounded good but lacked clarity and bass. May be I am
expecting too much out of a 15k bookshelf.
The Paradigm Atom on the other hand had the best bass I heard from a
bookshelf that day. It was very impressive. It was not airy and sounded
a little congested though. They were ready to let go of the demo
piece. They said the MRP for v4 Atom used to be 22k and asked me to
quote a price for it. The new v6 Atoms cost only 18.6k though. What would
be a good price for the demo v4 Atom?. It sounded and looked good without
blemishes, marks etc.
They can get the PSB Image B6 or Quad 11L2 or Paradigm Titan Monitors
etc only on order.
They have a demo Monitor Audio B4 (older Bronze) which they are ready to
let go. The MRP is around 39k I think. What would be a good price for this
B4?. I will be going for audition this week and if the price, piece looks
good I might go for it.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Next stop was at Vectors. My friend and I had auditioned the Wharf 10.7
couple of months back and my friend was pretty much settled on 10.7.
However a second audition showed that 10.7 while being detailed and
clear, sounded too harsh to our ears. They also had a 9.6 which in
comparison sounded laidback but gave too much emphasis to bass.
He had B&W 686, 685. We were not overly impressed with 686, 685. However
we have to admit that we were exhausted and we could not play our song
collection so we cant even make any meaningful comparison with other
speakers we auditioned.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Now I own a Bose Acoustimass 10. I like the sound. It is mellow and not
harsh at all. However what it certainly lacks is the airy-ness, clarity
and depth. I think it sounds too congested. There seems to be no
instrument separation. It seems to be too focused on mid range/mid bass.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The ones that I could not audition but might be in my budget are
PSB Image B6 (MRP 27k),
Quad 11L2 (MRP 32k),
Paradigm Titan monitors (MRP 27k),
Focal Chorus 706v (slightly used 25k),
Monitor Audio Silver RS1 (slightly used 28k)
The below FS are also in contention and I might be able to
audition these demo pieces this week:
Monitor Audio Bronze B4 (FloorStander - demo piece , price dont know)
Jamo C405 (Floorstander - demo piece might come to 28k)
Now that I have described the kind of sound signature that I like
(i.e mellow/laidback, tight/taut bass (not loose not much),
airyness, clarity, detail, no harshness/brightness)
which speaker among the above would you recommend?.
Thank you for your help.
less than 30k. The speakers are to be used in a 10X12 room.
Music preference would be tamil, hindi movie songs and english pop,
jazz. I do not like too much bass and like my sound to be mellow,
laidback and absolutely hate bright sound.
The bookshelves that fall around my budget and those that I
wanted to audition were:
KEF Q300
Paradigm Titan monitors
Quad 11L2
Focal Chorus 706v
PSB Image B6
Morduant Short Mezzo 2
I started out to audition last week, along with my friend who was
interested in a set of floorstanders. I shortlisted a four tracks
that I like, copied it in my laptop and wanted to use the laptop
-> uDAC to the Amplifier combination so that atleast one factor
will be constant in the audition.
-----------------------------------------------------------
First stop was at ProFX to audition the KEF Q300 and Focal Chorus
706v.
Having read a lot about KEF Q300, I thought I will buy it
blindly. Good that I didnt. I think I read somewhere that though
the KEF is front ported, it is finnicky about placement. I found
this to be absolutely true. The KEFs were initially placed on a
shelf (between other speakers) with absolutely no room to breathe.
They sounded too bright, harsh and not too impressive at all. They
also lacked bass.
My friend who was interested in FS, wanted to audition the Polk Rti
A5. We played the same set of songs. Though the bass improved we found
it to be too bright. There were a pair of Focal 716v floorstanders
next to the Polks, though it went beyond the budget we asked them to
play it on the Focals. Wow!! amazing sound. There was no harshness,
good sufficient bass, depth, clarity etc was amazing. People who like
bright sound may not like the Focals but I absolutely enjoyed the
sound. I dont know how the Focal 706v bookshelf version would sound.
They did not have one for audition.
I wanted to give the KEFs one more try and I had them place it in
a place where there was more room around the speakers. They did sound
a lot better now. There was the details, imaging, clarity etc. I
would have bought it had it not been a little too bright to my liking.
It also lacked bass/punch that I wanted, so it is off my list.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Next stop was at Cinebels to audition Jamo and Klipsch. They did not
have any bookshelf for audition except a klipsch B20 or something which
I was not interested. We did audition the Klipsch RF52, F30, Jamo C605,
C607. The RF52 is pretty small. It sounded OK. We however like the F30.
Price wise both are around 53k. The F30 is humongous. The F30 sounded
close to the Focal 716v with a little bit brightness and less bass
refinement. The F30 had good soundstage, imaging, clarity, details and
is definitely a contender for my friend.
The Jamo C605, C607 sounded mellow (to my liking) and the C607 was as
good as or equal to the Focal 716v. Price wise also they are the same
i.e. around 65k.
Cinebels also had a demo Jamo E750 FS which I think they will let go at around
23-25k. They sound a little bright to my taste. Bass was good and I think
at 23k it would be a good FS to pick. Had it been as mellow as C607, I
would have picked it.
I have requested Cinebels to contact me if they have C405 or C407 in
stock. Since it is a discontinued model, hoping I could get it at a
good price (provided they sound as mellow as C605/C607).
-----------------------------------------------------------
Next stop was at Sound and Vision, GVK mall. They carry Mission, Quad,
Paradigm, PSB etc but all they had for audition was PSB Alpha B1, Paradigm
Atom v4, Mission m34. The rest they had for audition were way beyond my
budget.
The PSB Alpha sounded good but lacked clarity and bass. May be I am
expecting too much out of a 15k bookshelf.
The Paradigm Atom on the other hand had the best bass I heard from a
bookshelf that day. It was very impressive. It was not airy and sounded
a little congested though. They were ready to let go of the demo
piece. They said the MRP for v4 Atom used to be 22k and asked me to
quote a price for it. The new v6 Atoms cost only 18.6k though. What would
be a good price for the demo v4 Atom?. It sounded and looked good without
blemishes, marks etc.
They can get the PSB Image B6 or Quad 11L2 or Paradigm Titan Monitors
etc only on order.
They have a demo Monitor Audio B4 (older Bronze) which they are ready to
let go. The MRP is around 39k I think. What would be a good price for this
B4?. I will be going for audition this week and if the price, piece looks
good I might go for it.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Next stop was at Vectors. My friend and I had auditioned the Wharf 10.7
couple of months back and my friend was pretty much settled on 10.7.
However a second audition showed that 10.7 while being detailed and
clear, sounded too harsh to our ears. They also had a 9.6 which in
comparison sounded laidback but gave too much emphasis to bass.
He had B&W 686, 685. We were not overly impressed with 686, 685. However
we have to admit that we were exhausted and we could not play our song
collection so we cant even make any meaningful comparison with other
speakers we auditioned.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Now I own a Bose Acoustimass 10. I like the sound. It is mellow and not
harsh at all. However what it certainly lacks is the airy-ness, clarity
and depth. I think it sounds too congested. There seems to be no
instrument separation. It seems to be too focused on mid range/mid bass.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The ones that I could not audition but might be in my budget are
PSB Image B6 (MRP 27k),
Quad 11L2 (MRP 32k),
Paradigm Titan monitors (MRP 27k),
Focal Chorus 706v (slightly used 25k),
Monitor Audio Silver RS1 (slightly used 28k)
The below FS are also in contention and I might be able to
audition these demo pieces this week:
Monitor Audio Bronze B4 (FloorStander - demo piece , price dont know)
Jamo C405 (Floorstander - demo piece might come to 28k)
Now that I have described the kind of sound signature that I like
(i.e mellow/laidback, tight/taut bass (not loose not much),
airyness, clarity, detail, no harshness/brightness)
which speaker among the above would you recommend?.
Thank you for your help.
