Give me an opinion, what to choose?

[killdozzer]

My life changed a bit and I'll be spending spring and summer away from my home working.

I want to get some basic equipment, just an amp and a pair of speakers so I can enjoy music. I'm going for very cheap second hand and I'm trying to make the best out of it. Here I'll post three pairs with specs and you tell me what you think and if you have some experience with them. The choice of these three is because they cost between 200 and 250$.


First pair

Tannoy Mercury M3 specs:

Recommended amplifier power : 10 - 90 Watts RMS

Continuous power handling : 60 Watts RMS

Sensitivity : 89dB (2.8Volts @ 1 metre)

Nominal impedance : 8 ohms

Frequency response : 35Hz - 20kHz +/- 3dB

DRIVE UNITS

High frequency : 25mm (1") soft dome

Low frequency : 165mm (6.5") coated paper cone

CROSSOVER

Frequency : 2.7kHz mid/bass to high frequency

Type Acoustic Linkwitz-Riley crossover

CONSTRUCTION

Enclosure type : Front ported reflex

Dimensions : 850 x 203 x 270mm

Weight : 10.5kg (23.2lbs)

 

[killdozzer]

Second pair:

AudioPro Black Diamond v2 specs:
HiFi/Home Theater floorstander.
New double chamber tweeter mounted in aluminium die-cast
face plate for improved linearity and lower distortion.
New 6,5” woofer with shortening ring design for improved
power handling, lower distortion, and improved phase linearity.
All drive units are shielded.
Down firing AirFlow 69 bass reflex port.
Massive stand with bass equalizer, aluminium die-cast feet for
Heavy duty gold plated bi-wiring binding posts.
Specifications:

Type: Floorstanding speaker, 2-way, bass reflex
Tweeter: 1”, soft dome, shielded
Midrange/woofer: 6 1/2”, shielded
Frequency range: 28-25000 Hz
Sensitivity (1W/m): 89 dB
Impedance: 4 ohm
Crossover filter: 2200 Hz
Amplifier requirement: 25-150W
Connectors: Heavy duty gold plated binding posts, biwiring
Cabinet: MDF
Finish: High gloss laquer foil
Colors: Black
Dimensions (W x H x D): 190 x 1010 x 320 mm EA
Weight: 21.3 kg EA

 

[killdozzer]

Third pair:

Polk Audio RT 16 specs:
Mid/Woofer 2 - 7-1/2" Diameter (19.05cm)
Dynamic Balance® drivers
Tweeter 1 - 1" Diameter (2.54cm)
Dynamic Balance® Tri-laminate dome tweeter


Electrical
Overall Frequency Response 25Hz - 26kHz
Lower -3dB Limit 37Hz
Upper -3dB Limit 25kHz
Nominal Impedance 8 ohms
Recommended Amplifier Power 30 - 250 w/channel
Efficiency 90 dB


Dimensions
Cabinet Size 40" H x 8-1/2" W x 15-1/2" D
(101.60cm H x 21.59cm W x 39.37cm D)
Footprint Size 9-3/8" W x 15-1/2" D
(23.81cm W x 39.37cm D)

 

[Doodski]

I am for the Polks. Dual woofers and that Polk sound is good too.

 

[Ron Texas]

If you are going to be moving your system around the country maybe you should be looking at stand mount speakers, maybe even active ones

 

[Steven Holt]

What beautiful speakers, I don't see how you could go wrong with any of them. My only advice, let your ears decide.

 

[kemmler3D]

I'd go for the polks if I had to choose right now, but the tannoy are probably ok.

 

[killdozzer]

Thanks guys! I have no experience and buying second hand, it's not so easy to organize to listen to them all.

I am for the Polks. Dual woofers and that Polk sound is good too.

thanks, somehow... I do think they're all fine, but to me, the specs seem to be most reliable with Polk as you say. They published +/-3dB and with those woofers, I could believe they could do audible 37Hz.

If you are going to be moving your system around the country maybe you should be looking at stand mount speakers, maybe even active ones

Thanks man! No, I didn't mean moving them. It's for my summer residence. I'll be working away from home, but I'll have a place where I'll be stationed. They won't move at all, it's just that I can't bring my system, so I'm looking for a second one and want to go cheap. I'm looking for towers (and I'd like them to go deep) because I won't be spending on a sub.

What beautiful speakers, I don't see how you could go wrong with any of them. My only advice, let your ears decide.

Thank you, Steven! I don't think I'll be able to hear them all. These are ads and not all are in my country. I don't think I could get people to send me speakers to audition them. Anyway, once I buy, I'll take them to a whole different listening room, so listening won't tell me much. I know they are not lookers (just in case you're being sarcastic), but I'm just looking for cheap, good, deep and loud. For example, few of you here recommended Polk and they will set me back a mere 200$. That's good enough for me. For the amp, I'll just go neutral and strong. I'll probably get a Yamaha with at least some 80wpch into 8 and that will be it. A source is a PC with album rips.

I'd go for the polks if I had to choose right now, but the tannoy are probably ok.

Yep, you hear my angst. I'm curious about those Tannoys. Never had any and people do rave about these Mercury series. Supposedly they play very low.

 

[kemmler3D]

Yep, you hear my angst. I'm curious about those Tannoys. Never had any and people do rave about these Mercury series. Supposedly they play very low.

It's a tough one, the F3 rating is only 2hz apart. The reason I went for the polks over the tannoys is the polks look to have two nice, big woofers, which gives me more confidence in the lows.

That said I'm intrigued by Tannoy because I haven't heard many and they seem to have a lot of loyal fans, but that's more curiosity than strong reasoning...

Secondhand is the way to go IMO. Almost all of my audio gear is secondhand, I've very rarely had any problems.

 

[Doodski]

You should frequency sweep them at some time to determine the operating condition of the drivers and looking for faults and checking the cabinet for resonances. You can use this sine wave generator to frequency sweep the speakers from the low up to the highs. Do NOT turn up the volume high above say ~15K because you might damage the tweeters. Otherwise scan through from 20Hz up and adjust the volume to what seems a reasonable volume without having the woofers jump out of the sockets...LoL. Just use common sense and all will go well.

Online Tone Generator - generate pure tones of any frequency

szynalski.com

 

[killdozzer]

It's a tough one, the F3 rating is only 2hz apart. The reason I went for the polks over the tannoys is the polks look to have two nice, big woofers, which gives me more confidence in the lows.

That said I'm intrigued by Tannoy because I haven't heard many and they seem to have a lot of loyal fans, but that's more curiosity than strong reasoning...

Secondhand is the way to go IMO. Almost all of my audio gear is secondhand, I've very rarely had any problems.

Yep, if I had to make my bet like this - blind, I'd say Polk's are most likely to dig deep. Another thing that bothers me, those AudioPro also look nice, but I can't find the +/3dB low freq spec anywhere.

Come to think of it, a couple of specs are strange... Tannoy says upper limit for amp is 90w and they are not all that sensitive with 89dB.

AudioPro is 4ohm 25-150 with 89 sensitivity. And then Polk says up to 250 8ohm and 90 sensitivity. Perhaps Tannoy was trying to save the speakers from bloc-parties...

 

[killdozzer]

Polk are most reassuring.

 

[Mean & Green]

I’d be inclined to go for the Polk speakers out of those.

I’ve had two different speakers from Tannoy’s Mercury range in the past. Mercury M2.5 & Mercury V4. The 2.5 were basically the stand mount version of those M3 floor standers, subjectively I found them to be too rolled off in the treble but otherwise decent.

Tannoy are more favoured for their dual concentric designs which IMO are excellent. The Mercury range is ok, but I think you can do better.

Spec wise the Polks look the best to me from those.

 

[Steven Holt]

. I know they are not lookers (just in case you're being sarcastic)

They are indeed lookers and I'm not being sarcastic. I and like the choice of your amp, I'm a Yamaha man myself.