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Mark Tommo Unregistered guest | Hello, Please accept my apologies in advance for this 'newbie' thread but I seek your expert advice with buying a new home cinema speaker setup. I recently upgraded my home cinema amp and bought an Arcam AVR300 and an Arcam DV79 DVD player. Having just re-decorated my living room with some nice solid oak floors and chocolate leather sofas my wife has now banned my from re-introducing by old 'coffin' style floorstands and so I need some help selecting some more aesthetically pleasing speakers. Having trawled the net I am at a loss. I have a budget of no more than £2000 and ideally I am looking for smaller, more compact speakers or even some more contemporary floor standers rather than the traditional cabinets. I have so far looked at the KEF compact aluminium style floorstanders and have found a set of white minipods going on ebay which i am deliberating about bidding on. Can anyone offer some advice, my apologies once again for bursting onto the forum asking for purchase advice in my first post. Kind regards, Mark |
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Mark Tommo Unregistered guest | OK, no ideas from anyone so I think I will take my chances with the minipods and see how I get on. |
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Gold Member Username: Project6Post Number: 4789 Registered: Dec-03 | Are Orb Audios available in your area? |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 1141 Registered: Sep-04 | Mark, I am taking into account your kit when making these recommendations... B&W's MT30 Home Theatre package retails for about £1600. Sonically it's pretty good if not the best at the price (M&K K-series but looks cheap). The M1 satellites are literally gorgeous to look at and a slim stand is available for them if you wish. The PV1 sub is cool, contemporary and the only good sub B&W make. The package looks fantastic in the 'black' (actually a very very dark grey). The silver looks a bit plasticky by comparison - the black ones simply look 'class'. Have a look at: Another lifestyle product that's worth a look is the Tannoy Arena. Available in four colours for a basic price of around £1400 but then you have to add the rather expensive stands and/or wallmounts. It's another excellent system, comparable sonically to the B&W. I think the satellites are better but the sub's not as good so it's a swings and roundabouts scenario. Beautifully made and very pretty indeed, it's a well thought out system which deserves a listen. For more info look at: http://www.tannoy.tc/ArenaOverview As I mentioned before the best sonically at the price (£1500) is the M&K K-Series. This is the entry level from M&K and sonically it's really very good indeed. The satellites look like small grey speakers knocked up by Ted in his proverbial shed. The only reason they sell (and they DO sell) is the performance. They really do have excellent steering and aren't bad for music either. The sub is clean and relatively small but it's no beauty, if you see what I mean. For more info look at: http://www.mksound.com/Kseries1.php Most people who buy the Arcam products rate music as an important factor in the choice. If this is the case, none of these systems are going to really rock your boat. You might like to consider other more 'music oriented' brands for that if this is the case. I suggest Dynaudio and Totem as two brands that work well with the Arcam. You'll just be able to get in under the £2k mark - I think - although you may need to run 5.0 for a while in this case. The result won't be so amazing for HT, but musically these speakers will leave the sub/sats for dead. Regards, Frank. |
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Silver Member Username: ChitownPost Number: 659 Registered: Apr-05 | Mark you may also want to look at Monitor Audio R90 series. Small, very good looking with great sound. |