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Advice on choosing some bookshelf speakers


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Hey folks.

 

I moved into a new place earlier this year. It has a quite large family room (ie. sitting/TV area, dining area, & kitchen all in one, with a high ceiling). The TV setup in there is pretty straight forward, with the TV sitting on an entertainment unit against the wall, with a big sofa directly opposite. I have a little Marantz NR-1602 7.1 AV system that is currently driving some PSB Alpha B1 bookshelf speakers sitting on the entertainment unit, along with a PSB center and sub in the same Alpha line of speakers. This house came with a couple of ceiling speakers which are a bit behind the sofa, so I use them as the rears. I run it as a 5.1 setup, as outside I have a second zone to run a couple more speakers there in the patio area. Whilst normally I wouldn't use bookshelf speakers for front speakers, or ceiling speakers for rears, I have a 15 month old on the loose, so that rules out anything exotic in there. Besides, we have an adult lounge area with all the good gear :)

 

Really what we use this system for most is everyone listening to music whilst we have breakfast (think music played by both adults and young kids), although we do watch movies occasionally too. Unfortunately whilst the PSB bookshelf speakers sound ok for watching movies, and they go pretty loud, they aren't very detailed and they are way too directional for a big room like this. I want to "fill" the room with sound, even if not overly loudly. So I've been contemplating replacement of the bookshelf speakers with something a bit nicer. I'll probably sell off the whole set of PSBs and go without a sub until I can afford a nice one to go with the new bookshelf speakers, so the new bookshelf speakers need to have a bit of bass. My preferred sound is clean and detailed with maybe a little warmth, great sounding mids, and tight bass with a little fat. I have a couple of JBL LSR305 monitors on my study desk and really like their sound for instance.

Budget is probably $500 - $750 for the 2 bookshelves.  Briefly I looked at Elac's Uni-fi UB5s but they were outside the budget and it's probably overkill for casual listening, plus I understand they really need 100 watts plus as they're quite inefficient 4 ohm units, with the Marantz only putting out 50 watts per channel. So I was probably instead considering the lower level Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2s instead at about $615. But I also saw a great special on some Canton GLE 426.2s at $549, was contemplating the Wharfedale 220s at about $480, and even considering a set of KEF Q350s if my budget can stretch to it. But again they might like more amplifier power and be a bit OTT for this setup.

I was curious to hear other people's experience with these speakers, or if they have any other suggestions? Happy to consider second hand IF the speakers aren't too old and are in very good condition. Thanks :)

Matt

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No conventional one direction speaker will resolve your problem unless you swivel in the direction you want.

 

Google for omnidirectional speakers like Bose 301, Sonab, Mirage, TA Delta, Shahinian etc and search classified or new listings for them in the price range. However, you will never get as clear a sound as sitting in the sweet spot in front of a conventional speaker.

 

Ceiling speakers directly overhead in the area you want may help.

E92B4648-6A5A-4CC1-AF45-6F07F55E8826.jpeg

 

 

Edited by Al.M
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13 minutes ago, wen said:

Monitor Audio Bronze 2, under $700, big sound for a small speaker, front ported, 8ohm, 42 - 30khz, 90d/w/m,  i use a 40wpc amp, overpowers my 4 x 4.5m room easily

Nice looking speaker! 6.5" driver too. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Matt

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5 minutes ago, Al.M said:

No conventional one direction speaker will resolve your problem unless you swivel in the direction you want.

 

Google for omnidirectional speakers like Bose 601, Sonab, Mirage, TA Delta, Shahinian etc and search classified or new listings for them in the price range. However, you will never get as clear a sound as sitting the sweet spot of a conventional speaker.

 

Ceiling speakers directly overhead in the area you want may help.

E92B4648-6A5A-4CC1-AF45-6F07F55E8826.jpeg

A176BF31-A805-43E9-8C82-0D25B20A01B0.jpeg

Thanks for that. Yeah I had an Apple Homepod running in my last place which had a smaller living area, and whilst not audiophile level, it did sound pretty nice the way the sound spread out. I was hoping I could still fill the room ok given the speakers are quite far apart, but might be asking too much to have something that functions both as cinema speakers and to fill the room for music listening.

 

Matt

Edited by mjsprice
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The Monitor Audio Bronze 2 is a good suggestion - they don't need much to get going and aren't fussy. They also have a mesh grill over the tweeter, which is good for guarding against toddler fingers. 

 

The KEF Q350, if they are anything like the Q300s before them, don't need a lot of power to make some noise, but the treble can sound harsh and the bass muddy without headroom. Crank them and your NR receiver will feel like it's about to catch fire. 

 

The only other option that springs to mind is a pair of Klipsch, like the R-51M. They aren't power hungry, sound good at all volumes, and partner well with Marantz. The only issue there is that they don't make a lot of bass.

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On 26/10/2019 at 3:36 AM, twofires said:

The Monitor Audio Bronze 2 is a good suggestion - they don't need much to get going and aren't fussy. They also have a mesh grill over the tweeter, which is good for guarding against toddler fingers. 

 

The KEF Q350, if they are anything like the Q300s before them, don't need a lot of power to make some noise, but the treble can sound harsh and the bass muddy without headroom. Crank them and your NR receiver will feel like it's about to catch fire. 

 

The only other option that springs to mind is a pair of Klipsch, like the R-51M. They aren't power hungry, sound good at all volumes, and partner well with Marantz. The only issue there is that they don't make a lot of bass.

 

Thanks for that. I'm pretty much down to the MA Bronze 2 ($550) or the KEF Q350 ($778) now. Both won What Hi-fi awards last year and have read some great things about both, with a few drawbacks. Seems the Bronze 2s are beautifully clear and are super efficient, with lack of bass the biggest complaint, although some people also felt they weren't that "alive" - but they have a 100+ hour run-in period apparently.

The KEF have pretty glowing reviews, and I suspect they may fill the room better, but the bass could be a little uncontrolled at higher volumes and they are a bit laid back. Apparently the Q350 is actually pretty efficient, recommended amplifier 15 - 120W, but it is definitely better at higher volumes. Found this good article on a Q350 with a 70 watt NAD amp which seems to indicate they're fine with lower level amplication - https://www.avsforum.com/kef-q350-2-way-2017-uni-q-bookshelf-speakers-review/.

Really I'm probably more inclined to the speaker that fills a large lounge better. Bass I can enhance with a sub. So I'm curious if anyone has tried these Bronze 2s in a large lounge room? I'd say mine is about 5m x 6m (with a dog-leg for the kitchen at the back).  Thanks folks, really appreciating the input.

Matt

Edited by mjsprice
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Hi @mjsprice lots of people agree on the Monitor Audio Bronze 2.

My 2 cents: no way you will go wrong with that set. Although they are a bit susceptible to source and amplification levels, they perform really well to the point that I couldn't justify selling B&W 606 at $1100 when the Bronze 2 have a comparable performance at $600-649.

Cheers

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16 hours ago, Aaban said:

Hi @mjsprice lots of people agree on the Monitor Audio Bronze 2.

My 2 cents: no way you will go wrong with that set. Although they are a bit susceptible to source and amplification levels, they perform really well to the point that I couldn't justify selling B&W 606 at $1100 when the Bronze 2 have a comparable performance at $600-649.

Cheers

Thanks, appreciated!

 

Matt

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On 27/10/2019 at 9:09 AM, Andrews_melb said:

Having owned the monitor audio bronze bx2s (older model) i also think they are well worth your attention.

really fantastic sound

Thanks Andrew.

 

Matt

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On 29/10/2019 at 1:33 PM, Snoopy8 said:

Have you heard them? What do your ears say?

Went down to West Coast Hifi. They didn't have any Monitor Audio Bronze 2s in stock unfortunately.

But I did have a listen to the KEF Q350 whilst I was there, and the sound was great to be honest. They had it playing on a Cambridge 40W per channel amp and it sounded nice down low, but even better cranked up, and it seemed it would fill a big room no dramas. Bass was a tiny bit choofy totally cranked up as mentioned but didn't bother me at all. Very clean sound, really happy with it. And they had it set up the way I would, just sitting on an entertainment unit without stands.

Now just to see if I can hang off buying until they get some Bronze 2s back in stock so I can compare :)

Matt

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the KEF frequancy range is 63hz - 28khz, 87db/w/m

 the MA Bronze 42hz -30khz, 90bd/w/m, every 3db is double the power required for the same volume , the bronze being front ported is less position dependent, make sure you audition before choosing

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On 22/10/2019 at 2:03 PM, mjsprice said:

or if they have any other suggestions?

What ever you get, put 'em on stands! If life says that they must stay on the entertainment unit, get some isoacoustics aperta desktop stands, the difference in sound will be dramatic.

 

http://www.isoacoustics.com/products/aperta-series/aperta/

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20 minutes ago, blybo said:

What ever you get, put 'em on stands! If life says that they must stay on the entertainment unit, get some isoacoustics aperta desktop stands, the difference in sound will be dramatic.

 

http://www.isoacoustics.com/products/aperta-series/aperta/

Cheaper proaudio range (black only) is just as good (I could not hear difference)

https://www.storedj.com.au/isoacoustics-iso-155-mk2-studio-monitor-isolation-stands-medium-pair?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI06LA47TF5QIVh4aPCh0tUAcwEAQYAiABEgKCdfD_BwE

Pick one which suits weight of speaker.

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29 minutes ago, blybo said:

What ever you get, put 'em on stands! If life says that they must stay on the entertainment unit, get some isoacoustics aperta desktop stands, the difference in sound will be dramatic.

 

http://www.isoacoustics.com/products/aperta-series/aperta/

Yeah that's on my wish list after the speakers. I have a set with my JBL monitors attached to my PC :)

 

Matt

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They're not the prettiest and can be a bit relaxed sounding for some people but I found the Usher S-520 to be a very capable performer, especially when sat on top of stands.

 

If you get chance to have a listen to a pair before you pull the trigger then you might be pleasantly surprised (as I was when comparing them to the MA Bronze 2).

 

They also turn up in the Classifieds from time to time at very reasonable prices!

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