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Speakers £3,000 Maximum Any Ideas

P

Pete the Feet

pfm Member
I am currently on the lookout to upgrade my existing speakers Rega R5. I currently run them with a Rega Dac/NAC52/Supercap/NAP135's. The current room did not suit my previous speakers as the room is very hard, suspended floors and vinyl floor covering.
I have recently auditioned Proac Response D18, decent bass but a bit bright at the top end and PMC FB1i bass not as good but very easy on the ear. The PMC FB1i were the favourite of the two. They have only been auditioned in the shop mind.
I have previously tried a pair of aged Shahinian Arcs which although the bass and mid was superb the top end was jarring on some vocals.
I was wondering if a pair of Harbeth SHL5's on decent stands would fit the bill but there aren't any dealers in the Manchester area. I believe Tony recently had a pair for sale but it looks like I missed the boat there.
I listen mainly at lowish volumes which still permit conversation so cranking the level up to get a good sound is not usually an option.
 
I've seen some S/H Kudos C30s advertised somewhere for around your budget, but I can't remember where!
If you want to buy new then Neat momentum 4i's would be a good match too.
There's also some Neat MF7's on eBay ATM.
 
muzzer said:
I had a pair of FB1+ for a short while, totally overrated imho and poor value for money.
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I haven't heard the + model but I beleive the I model has a paper tweeter as opposed to the metal one. Thanks for the info though.
I don't want to rush into this so I am doing my best to exercise a little restraint, but I'm struggling.
 
Pete.
In my system I found them quite prone to sibilance, they weren't bad just nothing special but the sssh on vocals did my head in.
I was using a Tact class D power amp at the time and replaced the PMCs with a pair of Audionote J's on Something Solid stands which I love.
 
oh and alans harbeth 7 are from an absolute gentleman , i have bought many things from alan . highly recommended
 
Robert said:
Nice pair of used Quad ESLs.

The 63 or 988 should do nicely.
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I agree with Robert.

Planar speakers (quad and other makes) beam sound in as near to a straight line as anything does... (ignoring that its backwards from the panel aswell as forwards) which would at least mean reflections from room boundaries are lessened.

I like the most recent quads a lot - 9**.. and ideally suited to poor room acoustics.

If you can get a used pair and part with your Naims, B&O's top model include room measurement and equalisation in the digital domain and amps in the speakers - they are very good at making the most of a poor acoustic.
 
what about the monitor audio pl300 ?I have heard very good things about them, or Mordaunt-Short performance 6, there was a pair being sold on another forum for really cheap money, it's a difficult price range really as you have so much to choose from and I live not that far from you so I know the problem with dealers around here, we used to have loads of good dealers in and around Manchester but they have all gone ? sign of the times I guess. Personaly for that money I would wan't to hear as many speakers as possible, I would also include the JM labs as well
 
There is (or was a couple of days ago) a pair of ProAc Response 3.5s in Yew on this forum , Wigwam or HiFi for sale.com for under £1500 asking. With your Naim amplification these would be perfect; I know because a friend and I were there a few years ago. In fact he still uses the 3.5, but with 500/552 nowadays. I went to the 4. Utterly compatible, even in a smallish room.

These are fairly efficient, have superb imaging and good, tight bass with soft and extending treble. They were around £4.5k a decade ago.
 
Are you dissatisfied with your existing speakers in any way? You have a dificult room it seems, so how about room treatment?
 
muzzer said:
I had a pair of FB1+ for a short while, totally overrated imho and poor value for money.
How about these a short trip down the M6
http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?55288-Harbeth-7ES-3-s
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Quite the opposite IMO, the FB1i are superb and worked really well with my Naim setup, I was so pleased with my FBs that I upgraded recently to a bigger pair of PMCs. So it's all about opinions!

I bought mine from Adventures in Hifi in Chester and in their demo room and my lounge there was certainly no lack of bass from the PMCs but I can't say I've heard them anywhere else
 
The i is a major revamp of the + model so maybe they sorted the shortcomings.
I have had the GB1 as well and they were fine apart from sounding "small scale"
 
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