Zak, g8ina, Lowe...you lot are a bad influence....

[Terbinator]

Hoping to pick up a new desk this weekend to finally measure up a suitable amp/speakers so i should be joining the fold soon.

Slightly O/T but if found this whilst looking up Dave's new toys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=8UzqJJOiVVc

[1stRaven]

Well, the B&Ws arrived. I need to tidy my desk, so you'll have to make do with the picture the seller gave me:



They are a set of B&W 601 S3s, so they have the woven kevlar speakers which are gorgeous, I don't know why they feel the need to include speaker covers tbh....


They also happen to sound epic

I checked mine the other day and I was wrong. They are the S3s as well.

Are you planning to run a sub with them?

[dave87]

A bit later than planned (had to tidy desk...) but here are the speakers in place, biwired to the Denon PMA510AE (so using A+B outputs on the amp):





I like love


Oh, and just because, here's a picture of the kevlar weave on the speakers....






Gorgeous

[dave87]

I checked mine the other day and I was wrong. They are the S3s as well.

Are you planning to run a sub with them?

You'll know how good they are then


I did see a B&W Sub on AVForums that came up and it was mightily tempting. I don't find these lacking, but by the same token I know a sub is the way to go, especially for gaming

Need to get one for my Home Theatre Setup first though.....mightily tempted by one of the Monitor Audio offerings, but they aren't cheap.....

[Bluecube]

That's a seriously nice but suspiciously tidy desk I notice you have a printer on top of your amp. Do you not have any cooling issues?

[dave87]

I was worried about putting the printer on the top of the amp, so the amp is at the bottom of the stack with a CD Player on top of it such that there is an air gap between the amp and anything else. I wouldn't want to put the Printer directly ontop of the amp though.

The Denon stays rather cool during use tbh, I was surprised as my Denon AVR can kick out quite a bit of heat at times....

[1stRaven]

You'll know how good they are then


I did see a B&W Sub on AVForums that came up and it was mightily tempting. I don't find these lacking, but by the same token I know a sub is the way to go, especially for gaming

Need to get one for my Home Theatre Setup first though.....mightily tempted by one of the Monitor Audio offerings, but they aren't cheap.....

Oh yes I tend to play music through the B&W's alone and then switch to 5.1 for films and games etc.

Only really I asked about the sub is I find the 602's slightly lacking in the bass section but the sub helps with that.

The 601's certainly fit the desk a bit better then the 602's lol.

[kushtibari]

Yup rave has hit the nail on the head, i spent many months searching this and came to the conclusion that unless you're spending insane amounts on speakers (5k+)

I'm not entirely sure it makes much difference even at those levels. I only made sure that cable was decent quality and properly made. Never spent huge amounts on cables. Last speakers I had were Tannoy Glenair 15 that were a touch of class but just too big. Using Zu Druid MkIV now and I've not noticed much difference between speaker cabling. I've had some decent amps as well but to be honest if you start mucking about with cables you'll turn into a hifi nut where you stop listening to the music and start trying to listen out to the differences in the sound. Hifi forums are full of folk who I'm convinced no longer listen to, or enjoy, music.

[g8ina]

I've just picked up a really nice pair of Tannoy Saturns, with the *original* intent of selling them on (they were payment for a PC repair). However, they are so good, Im going to keep them. No idea where I'm going to keep them right now ....

[format]

I'm planning on picking up a Onkyo TX SR309 AVR from RicherSounds at £150. Need a recommendation for a set of speakers for them.

Not massively fussed about surround sound. Think I'd actually prefer a 2.0 or 2.1 set - we're in a flat and never really have the volume up much anyway. Any recommendations?

[g8ina]

Budget ?

[dave87]

I'm planning on picking up a Onkyo TX SR309 AVR from RicherSounds at £150. Need a recommendation for a set of speakers for them.

Not massively fussed about surround sound. Think I'd actually prefer a 2.0 or 2.1 set - we're in a flat and never really have the volume up much anyway. Any recommendations?

Have a look on AVForums' classified section - often when people upgrade they list their old amp for sale there. £150 or thereabouts buys you a lot more second hand than it does new, though if you are after the latest features (which are going to be few apart from 3d on the 309) then I wouldn't recommend it.


As to the speakers, g8ina's right. What do you want to spend?

If it is a small space, it might be worth considering something like the Kef KHT systems - they're focused on providing something a little bit more discrete than what I've gone before. I'm lead to believe they sound pretty good for the size too!

[format]

Budget ?

Not sure really, definitely no more than £200 but would really rather it was closer to £100.

I realise this is quite limiting. Happy to shop for second hand etc.

[Biscuit]

I have made my opinion on audio cabling clear on many occasions previously... so i wont say more than that im with Rave.

how do people feel about matching speakers?

What i mean by this is if you are in a surround sound environment do you think the fronts, centre speaker and surrounds all need to be the same make and model, or at least as similar as possible?

A mate of mine from uni who had previously done a lot of sound work suggested that they should be, however my dad has had a mix for ages.

[format]

Just bought a nad 310 on the bay for 40 quid. Any recommendations for a set of speakers?

[Biscuit]

Just bought a nad 310 on the bay for 40 quid. Any recommendations for a set of speakers?

Personally im a big fan of Tannoy, i have the Mercury F custom series at home and they sound great. The cones them self don't seem up to much however the crossovers seem to do a super job of balancing the frequencies between the cones and the tweeter. They are usually well prices too:

Here is the new version
http://www.froogle.richersounds.com/...mercury-v1-oak

doesnt look like a lot has changed from mine!