hi im a complete n00b to this forum but have recently purchased a nad c372, nad c542 with qed qunex 2 and silver anniversary cables but hate the bose acoustimass 3 speakers im using! so please can anyone offer me some advice for a decent set of speakers (preferably bookshelf) for arround the £500 mark?
There are tons of speakers at that price point. Far too many to list. I strongly advise going to a few hifi shops and listening to the speakers they have to offer. Not to start a flame war, but just about anything will be a big upgrade from what you've currently got.
What speakers if any did you hear when you bought the NAD gear?
thanks for the quick reply! i know there are tons of speakers i was just curious if there were any particular names to look out for (since ive only recently had enough money to get a half decent set up im not really well educated in the whole area!) they were hooked up to a pair of wharfedales (dont ask which model) and they sounded good but the salesman advised that with the nad amp i could get some better speakers as it kicks out a decent ampage (or was he wrong?!) and at the time i had the bose which i stupidly thought might be ok having worked fine on my old sony stuff.
The NAD can drive a variety of speakers, indeed. Which ones depend on what you hear. And your kind of music. And your room. James, you have to get out there and listen to some music in different hi-fi shops, chum.
Start at your closest shop, preferably one that carries NAD. Tell them your budget and gear and ask what they carry. Don't go in with preconceived notions, just an open mind that's only closed to Bose.
turned out i wasnt needed at work today so took myself off to do some research. the only trouble is there are no local NAD dealers (not for 100 miles or so) as i chose my system after hearing a friends and comparing it to the equivalent cambridge audio and marantz. however i did get a good listen to some speakers the top three being: Tannoy Revolution Signature DC4 KEF XQ 10 Focal Chorus 807V
the tannoys were impressive but felt that both the kef and focal delivered more punch for your bucks so to speak and all three seems more than capable for dealing with rock and accoustic music (decent driving bass but with clear trebles). after reading a few mags it seems that the leema xero and the epos m12i are worthy contenders although id love to be able to find some audio physics as they seem to have rave reviews (or am i just a brand name whore?!) anyways im an awful decision maker far too impulsive so do any of those named seem like a good or bad match to my gear?
They all seem like a good match, and they're respected speakers, unlike what you're coming from. Which is the best is a personal thing. I'd listen to some more stuff before pulling the trigger.
I own Audio Physic Yara monitors and love them. Rave reviews? I haven't found a single review printed in English for them. If you have a link to one, I'd be interested.
Now that you've gone out and heard a few things, some others you may want to include if feasable -
PSB - Not common in the UK. A pair is sold with an NAD badge on them (PSB Image B15 or 25)
Paradigm - Not common in the UK either
Both of those are Canadian, so their price may be overinflated in the UK.
B&W, Monitor Audio, Dynaudio, Triangle, and Epos may be easy to find and make very good speakers at a great price.
There are a lot more as well.
Keep in mind that synergy is a very important aspect. The system should sound better than the sum of its parts.
thanks stu will have to check some of the others out although im weary of b&ws and MA just because ive heard that they may put rather a lot of emphasis on their top end and might neglect their lower end stuff plus having a brief look on the net there seems to be rather a large gap between their £300 stuff to their £800 and above. anyways thanks for your help and ill let you know what i settle with, just need to see if i can get some on home lone! on and on the audio physic point i didnt mean actual reviews from a published magazine i just meant having read a lot of forum threads they seem to be a name thats always cropping up when in a comparison of decent speakers is all. but if i see a review ill be sure to link you!
high guys just to let you know spent today out in a few shops and have finally ordered some MA GS10s (i know what i said in my last post but after listening to them i was stunned) so thanks for your advice! they should arrive in a week or so, so will let you know how they are once ive played them in.