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(Yet another) Speaker recommendations? (thread)

B

berty bass

pfm Member
I know this has probably been done to death but what speakers should I be looking at to upgrade from my present Kudos X2? I recently auditioned a friend's Spendor S8e's, which he is selling. I thought they were very detailed and revealing and generally a great listen, but as I have to position them either side of a fire place, close to the rear wall and with the left hand speaker effectively boxed my by my rack of LPs, the bass was overwhelming for our small living room. However, they did give me a glimpse of the larger scale of presentation I'm looking for.

I like the overall balance and surefooted-ness across a range of music of the X2s, but I just want a bit 'more'. So, something that's not fussy about positioning that can bring a bit more welly to the party really. Budget - somewhere around the £2k mark, I guess. I mostly play vinyl on a Rega P6 with Goldring Excel GS through an NVA PHono 2 and into Rega Elicit-R. Willing to go second-hand if that's the best option. Oh, and they need to be relatively small too - say, not too much larger than the X2's big brother, the X3 (which are obviously under consideration too). Thanks all.
 
If you look at 2nd hand, you should ve able to find some Harbeths or Linn 212s.

Having said that, I wouldn't recommend buying either without listening to them first, which may be an issue with 2nd handers.
 
The new Elac Navis B51 looks interesting. It’s an active speaker with integral amplifiers, but is still class AB able to accept analogue input direct from analogue equipment or your own dac and a range amp of streaming options, so a bit more flexible and not so dsp oriented as some of the alternatives, and should be round about the budget you want to spend.

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/elac-debuts-navis-wireless-speakers

I’m certainly interested in auditioning them when they are available here.
 
For a start, you need to be looking at closed box speakers. Speaking as an owner of Yamaha NS1000Ms (1970/80s speakers) I can heartily recommend them if you need to have them hard back against the wall. Not mega-low bass (they roll off from 40hz down IIRC), but the bass they give is real (12 inch drivers), and tunable with placement (in all three dimensions).
 
Problem is you are spoilt for choice. I’m just trying to think of speakers that fit your budget and requirements, but are a bit left field, that is something you might not think of yourself. For instance a speaker I’ve always wanted to try is Larsen, probably 6.2. Supposed to be best hard up against the wall.
 
I appreciate the suggestions so far - thanks all. There's no issue with making more obvious suggestions as my initial thinking is likely to be framed by the ranges my local dealer offers in the first place. So, if he doesn't offer them it may not occur to me to explore that particular maker. The NVA Cubes are a good call. I was thinking more of floorstanders but stand mounts that offer the kind of scale and finesse I'm after would certainly give me pause.
 
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