Slightly off topic...

Although I've used great monitors in the studio for years, I've always made do with tiny speakers in my living room, which I once bought for the bathroom, and never got round to installing.

I now have a larger living room, and I think its time to get some nicer speakers! I'm looking for any recommendations of speakers (or monitors) for the living room, that anyone has experience of. Obviously neutrality is not an issue here, price, up to about £600, secondhand or new.

One thought was the Spendor BC1s...

--------------------
www.banarzi.com

Personally, I have just picked up a pair of AVI Pro Nine Plus second hand from the Bay and married them with a Roksan Kandy MKIII. Whilst I am still evaluating the amp, I would certainly say that the speakers are revealing enough for running both the output from my Apogee Mini Me as well as my telly and CD Player.

Just a thought...

Click here for Sound on Sound review by Paul White

Reg

I have Tannoy 66s for fronts and centre, with Tannoy 6 for rears. They sound great for TV/movies, look quite tasty and stop me getting a 'hi-fi' ear!

--------------------
An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

Reveals, Elf? I'd agree, I really like them for general listening, they're not fatiguing and just pleasant to listen to. Never enjoyed judging bass/kick drum on them, but since I've consigned them to 'home entertainment' usage I find I like them a whole lot more!

Cheers,

Chris

Reveals, yes. They make a solid hi-fi speaker.

I always found the older Reveals a bit of a trial for getting a balance down in the kick/bass region too. the Reveal 8Ds I now use are better in this respect, but I find it all far easier with headphones in place and a finger on the bass cone.

--------------------
An Eagle for an Emperor, A Kestrel for a Knave.

You could save your self a lot of money seeing as you are not doing any critical listening and opt for some used B&W DM-602 S3's imo they sound great for hi-fi.
I have a set since 03

Seems SOS reviewed them too

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Jul02/articles/bwdm602s3.asp

Edited by vinyl_junkie (27/04/10 12:33 PM)

Kef IQ5 SE's. well worth a listen in the sub £500 bracket!!

Quote RegressiveRock:

---

Personally, I have just picked up a pair of AVI Pro Nine Plus second hand from the Bay

Click here for Sound on Sound review by Paul White

Reg

---

I'm also using AVI monitors in my living room - in my case the Bigga-Tron Red Spot, and I'm well pleased with them. Revealing is certainly the right word!

SOS review by Paul White here:

www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan01/articles/avi.asp


Martin

--------------------
YewTreeMagic

Small PMCs, LS3/5as (pricey, but still good) - or indeed the good old BC1/SP1, which, given care, practically last for ever. Or, if you're really feeling masochistic, Quad electrostatics, which still do some things better than any other speaker.

Seconded (thirded?) on the Reveals. Embarassingly cheap on the second hand market now, and surprisingly flattering. I like them a lot for dialogue, and they sit nicely as part of a theatre / music home entertaiment setup.

Quote Martin Walker:

---

Quote RegressiveRock:

---

Personally, I have just picked up a pair of AVI Pro Nine Plus second hand from the Bay

<a href="/sos/sep05/articles/avipronine.htm" target="_blank">Click here for Sound on Sound review by Paul White</a>

Reg

---

I'm also using AVI monitors in my living room - in my case the Bigga-Tron Red Spot, and I'm well pleased with them. Revealing is certainly the right word!

SOS review by Paul White here:

<a href="/sos/jan01/articles/avi.asp" target="_blank">www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan01/articles/avi.asp</a>


Martin

---

Even loving my AVI speakers as much as I am, Martin, I do wonder at AVI's decision to give some of their speakers (which have a distictly broker-belt price tag when new) names which might find more favour with a teenager on his way to see the latest 'Transformers' movie.

However, just to stress the point to the OP about second-hand units from AVI: judging from the blank looks I have received in a couple of branches of Richer Sounds when I was talking through amp options before again buying in the second-hand market, AVI are not well known to second-hand buyers (or apparently some first-hand sellers) and hence mine came to me for a very nice price indeed!

If you are looking for an excellent pair of speakers, I'd strongly recommend setting up a long-term search on the Bay and seeing what comes up in what condition. You might be surprised by the price that some AVI units can be picked up for. You could find yourself shooting a long way below the 50-70% of new 'street' price that second-hand music tech items often can demand.

Reg

I've been interested in the blue sky media desk for a while...haven't owned one though, but it got a good review.

I like bass music.

Quote RegressiveRock:

---

Even loving my AVI speakers as much as I am, Martin, I do wonder at AVI's decision to give some of their speakers (which have a distictly broker-belt price tag when new) names which might find more favour with a teenager on his way to see the latest 'Transformers' movie.

---

I agree. Ashley and Martin at AVI are lovely guys (they took me out for a curry once when I visited, as I used to live just down the road from them a few years ago).

However, their choice of product name can be a little 'questionable' at times

Thank goodness my speakers don't have a Bigga-Tron badge on them


Martin

--------------------
YewTreeMagic

If you do want neutral:

I second the suggestion to buy used B&W (older 801's?) and something like the LS3/5a. I was first introduced to those speakers by audiophiles, who seem to be hated always and everywhere (the audiophiles, not the speakers).

If you want new, I heard a few very inexpensive B&W speakers intended for the home market a couple of years ago, and they were difficult to fault.

Quote Jeraldo:

---

I was first introduced to those speakers by audiophiles, who seem to be hated always and everywhere (the audiophiles, not the speakers).

---

There are two kinds of audiophiles - those looking for accurate sound and those looking for a 'nice' sound. Those in the first camp will be fans of the likes of B&W, Spendor, ATC and other BBC style designs while those looking for a 'nice' sound will be fans of the more questionable designs.

James.

--------------------
JRP Music - Audio Mastering and Restoration.
http://www.jrpmusic.net

Quote James Perrett:

---

There are two kinds of audiophiles - those looking for accurate sound and those looking for a 'nice' sound. Those in the first camp will be fans of the likes of B&W, Spendor, ATC and other BBC style designs while those looking for a 'nice' sound will be fans of the more questionable designs.

James.

---

The audiophile guys thought the 801's and the LS3/5a's sounded very "nice" and they thought they were quite "accurate." I agreed and still do.

I didn't really spend any time with the domestic, inexpensive B&W's I mentioned earlier. But I thought they sounded quite nice and I'll bet they were tonally accurate-but not having played my own material on them I can't really say. Had I needed something of that ilk, I would have purchased them immediately.

A further digression: There is an interesting and no longer made little speaker from the Paradigm firm. That company started out (and maybe still do) affirming they were building speakers that people "liked listening to." They were sold in audiophile shops, too. I heard a range of them (in the same shop that supplied the aforementioned classics-they were presented as a contrast to their "accurate lines"), and I didn't notice anything artificial about them, even expecting that I would. I now find that a specific model in their range from some years ago was collected by a number of remote recordists to use on-site and in small rooms/studios. Not as ultimate reference monitors, but something inexpensive, practical, reasonably accurate, and easy on the ear. I even saw their mention in some documentation of an on-site recording by the folks from Millennia. (I don't think I'd take that as an endorsement, however! ) I've also seen this speaker referred to in various-dare I say it-audiophile boards/blogs. I haven't heard any recent Paradigm products. I mention it because it may be another of many examples of nice and accurate.

Thanks for all the advice. I picked up a pair of hardly used Tannoy Active Reveals today for £150, and they sound great in the living room... Also, they look quite nice :-)

--------------------
www.banarzi.com

Quote Martin Walker:

---

Quote RegressiveRock:

---

Even loving my AVI speakers as much as I am, Martin, I do wonder at AVI's decision to give some of their speakers (which have a distictly broker-belt price tag when new) names which might find more favour with a teenager on his way to see the latest 'Transformers' movie.

---

I agree. Ashley and Martin at AVI are lovely guys (they took me out for a curry once when I visited, as I used to live just down the road from them a few years ago).

However, their choice of product name can be a little 'questionable' at times

Thank goodness my speakers don't have a Bigga-Tron badge on them


Martin

---

Indeed, Ash is a bit of a cove and Martin has a wicked humour too.

Their ADM9 system is force to reckoned with especially with the sub.

I have their Volt 18" sub driven by an ATC amp pack which is in trio with a pair of Radford M180 monitors driven by an ATC 300 wpc amp.

Quite considerable.

The original query was about BC1's

I recently sold my pair for £440 on the Bay

Lovely sound with the right amp, ageing a bit now (or is it my ears?)



--------------------
I am the Walrus.