Speakers with some scale

[Jim586music]

Hi all.
I’ve pretty basic question.

I have an established system in a large basement room. It’s a hybrid stereo and atmos set up. Amplification is a Tom Evans Vibe with a NAD C298. I won’t go on as I’m happy with how it all sounds but that is my reference. Clean low distortion.

My question is that lately my wife and I have started to listen to music together. We don’t always want to “go downstairs” but sit in the living room by the fire and just relax.
I currently have a Bluesound power node going into some Q acoustics concept 20s.
This has been fine for background music but it’s not really cutting it as it’s sounds so small.

The room is 5.5m x 4m with 3.1m high ceilings. It opens out (archway) into another room of the same size so quite a large area.
The seating position is 3m ish from the speakers which fire across the room.
There’s no possibility of any room treatment but it is carpeted and has a whole wall of books on the rear wall.
I have previously tried a subwoofer but to be honest it didn’t change the scale of the sound much.

I have only ever owned stand mounted speakers (Epos S11, JM labs electra, Jamo concert 8 among other) even though I’ve had the usual hankering for a handsome pair of floorstanders. However, whenever I’ve auditioned some they sounded slow.
This may have been the smaller rooms I was in or my mindset at the time as I listened to a lot of electronic music.

My music taste has mellowed somewhat (60s 70s and jazz) and I’d like to know what people on here would suggest?
Listening volumes will be 80db ish so never crazy.

I want a full sound with some scale. Voices will need to be believable as so much of what we listen to requires a midrange
for the music to work. So, I’d potentially trade detail and mega bass for this.

I’m not after anything near state of the art in fact as I have revealing system elsewhere I’d potentially want a counter system for contrast (not sure if that makes sense?).

I’m open to change the Bluesound at some point as I’ve bought some Fosi amps (V3 monos) for my son and was very impressed.

Are there a pair of affordable floorstanders that would fit the bill or am I a forever stand mount guy?

I’d consider buying used.

Budget about 1K.

Is this doable?

Cheers

 

[DanielT]

Are there a pair of affordable floorstanders that would fit the bill or am I a forever stand mount guy?

I’d consider buying used.

Budget about 1K.

Is this doable?

Cheers

Here's a suggestion, if you can get them where you live. Should be within your budget, IF you mean 1 K for just the speakers?

Heco Aurora 700

@Ropeburn likes them, see #7 in the thread below:

Budget floorstanding setup

Looking for some advice choosing between DALI Oberon 5, KEF Q750 and Triangle borea BR08. I can get all for roughly the same price in the UK. Another option is the Focal Vestia N°3 which is currently on a massive discount due to being discontinued. Room is about 15×13 ft and the setup is...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Heco Aurora 700 were new speakers. Used floorstanders for around 1K. Have you seen any that interest you that are on the market where you live? If you want, we can give you our opinion on them.

 

[Ropeburn]

Here's a suggestion, if you can get them where you live. Should be within your budget, IF you mean 1 K for just the speakers?

Heco Aurora 700
View attachment 525052
@Ropeburn likes them, see #7 in the thread below:
View attachment 525053View attachment 525054

Budget floorstanding setup

Looking for some advice choosing between DALI Oberon 5, KEF Q750 and Triangle borea BR08. I can get all for roughly the same price in the UK. Another option is the Focal Vestia N°3 which is currently on a massive discount due to being discontinued. Room is about 15×13 ft and the setup is...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Heco Aurora 700 were new speakers. Used floorstanders for around 1K. Have you seen any that interest you that are on the market where you live? If you want, we can give you our opinion on them.

Yes indeed, sounds very fitting for @Jim586music 's requirements and room. The good news: still available in Europe, 650-850 the pair:

Heco Aurora 700 Colors *alle Farben* - elektrowelt24.de

Heco Aurora 700 Colors *alle Farben*

www.elektrowelt24.eu

Edit: of course more colour options raise wife approval chances.

They're discontinued, the new "XT" models replaced them for the old RRP of 1200 and honestly look identical apart from veneer options.

For well under 1000 new, it'll be hard to find better speakers in the category. I also see them turn up used around here (Germany) for ~400 from time to time. A steal.

 

[DanielT]

If I understood you @Jim586music correctly, you have @ one:

Bluesound Powernode Streaming Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Bluesound Powernode wifi and ethernet streaming amplifier with digital input. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $949. The design is apple-like and gorgeous as usual. Alas, I miss some kind of informative display on what it is doing...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Which you can power up your floorstanding speakers with?
Bluesound power node level of power (80 watt) + Heco Arora 700 sensitivity is a good combo your listening needs:
Listening volumes will be 80db ish so never crazy.....The seating position is 3m ish from the speakers which fire across the room.

Bluesound power node is also not load dependent, which is good. That's the first thing I check if a class d amplifier is.


You can get a little more for your budget if you sell your Q acoustics concept 20:

Q Acoustics Concept 20 — 280€ ▲ | HifiShark

Used Q Acoustics Concept 20 Bookshelf speakers for sale on 400+ second hand hifi sites & shops. Use Hifi Shark to monitor pricing and global availability

www.hifishark.com

Floorstanding speakers generally have around 87 dB sensitivity. But check it out before buying so you don't end up thinking about some speakers with very low sensitivity. In that case, I would at least consider whether an 80 amp watts would be enough.

 

[Ropeburn]

If I understood you @Jim586music correctly, you have @ one:

Bluesound Powernode Streaming Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Bluesound Powernode wifi and ethernet streaming amplifier with digital input. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $949. The design is apple-like and gorgeous as usual. Alas, I miss some kind of informative display on what it is doing...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Which you can power up your floorstanding speakers with?
Bluesound power node level of power (80 watt) + Heco Arora 700 sensitivity is a good combo your listening needs:
Listening volumes will be 80db ish so never crazy.....The seating position is 3m ish from the speakers which fire across the room.

Bluesound power node is also not load dependent, which is good. That's the first thing I check if a class d amplifier is.
View attachment 525074

You can get a little more for your budget if you sell your Q acoustics concept 20:

Q Acoustics Concept 20 — 280€ ▲ | HifiShark

Used Q Acoustics Concept 20 Bookshelf speakers for sale on 400+ second hand hifi sites & shops. Use Hifi Shark to monitor pricing and global availability

www.hifishark.com

Floorstanding speakers generally have around 87 dB sensitivity. But check it out before buying so you don't end up thinking about some speakers with very low sensitivity. In that case, I would at least consider whether an 80 amp watts would be enough.

~80dB listening with, let's say 90dB peaks, with 91dB (measured) efficient speakers, in a rather small room, that means you can probably get away with the proverbial and literal 5W tube amp. Those 80W will be plenty, and easily enough to get your room shaking, should you decide to revive old electronic tastes @Jim586music , which btw sounds great on them.

 

[JSmith]

a handsome pair of floorstanders

This.

To consider;

Focal Chora 816 Speaker Review

This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of Focal Chora 816 floor-standing/tower speaker. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $499. Despite the low price, the speaker is beautifully finished with a curved port and beautiful light oak finish: A magnetic grill...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Polk ES60 Tower Speaker Review

This is a review, listening tests, equalization and detailed measurements of the Polk ES60 tower speaker. It was purchased new and kindly donated to the forum by a member. ES60 costs US $511 on Amazon and has 4.5 start average review (1925 ratings): The ES60 is in entirely different class than...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

t opens out (archway) into another room of the same size so quite a large area.

Archway on the side of the room I assume? That's going to affect bass, and definitely reflected sound.

I would suggest playing around with the speakers you have, if you have not, in terms of toe in. Try them wider, narrower. If they sound "bigger" more toed out, you might want a speaker with a wider dispersion. Sidewall and ceiling reflections seem to have a big impact on scale to my ear. See if the room is an issue, and how much of an issue, before looking for specific speakers.

Given the size, I would want at least 6" drivers, not the 5" you currently have. I have a room connected to other rooms with open space and 5" two ways are a bit thin, 6-6.5 do the trick. Given jazz, you can probably get away with bass extension to 50s and be thrilled, since the Q20s go down to 64. Personally I like to hit 40, but that's rare for the price you want to spend.

Used is a good option for that price. My knowledge is mostly about speakers that fall at half your budget and twice your budget, so not much help on specifics here.

Floor versus stand. I have 3 way vintage speakers, towers for the AVR, and two way stand mounts that I use for music ( both with and without sub at different times). They ALL can sound big. The key is getting them to interact with my room correctly.

 

[DanielT]

Just to show of what is available in your budget class (thereabouts) on the used market. Admittedly in Sweden but it is probably more or less the same where you live @Jim586music
More if you live in a big city less if....enough said about the obvious.

Interesting with a decent selection but it can be a bit confusing because how do you know if any of these could be a good alternative? Taken at random:

Duevels Planets​

Canton Reference 7.2 DC​

Magnepan MG12qr​

Martin Logan ESL​

Martin Logan ESL. Nypris: 34 990kr

Martin Logan ESL. Nypris: 34 990kr — 13 000 SEK. Ett par fantastiska elektrostatiska högtalare, sparsamt använda. Har rengjort panelerna enligt Martin Logans anvisningar. De är i fint skick men e

hifitorget.se

 

[Jim586music]

Hiya.
I’m in between London and Birmingham.
I’ve never heard of the Heco? It’s funny as i have some German Quadral Galans in my basement.

 

[Ropeburn]

Hiya.
I’m in between London and Birmingham.
I’ve never heard of the Heco? It’s funny as i have some German Quadral Galans in my basement.

It's one of those age old established brands and a household name on the continent, just never had much of a market presence on the island, let alone overseas where they were pretty much unknown until recently.

Edit: Quadral, oh boy. Pure nostalgia! I still kinda want their Wotan (MK1 or 2) for my desk. 10" 3-ways, just for the hell of it.

If only they weren't so old and often crumbly... also loosely fitting in this thread because these certainly have some scale. Pretty much the biggest "bookshelf" format. I like! <3

There's modern alternatives too if you like that form factor, for under or around 1000 too. Wharfedale Linton comes to mind, or Indiana Line Utah 5. Big boxy speakers are fun!

 

[DanielT]

Hiya.
I’m in between London and Birmingham.

In that case, if you are thinking about used or new floorstanders in the 1 K price range, then some ASR Englishman can give you tips and advice?
They know the speaker market in England better. Better than me anyway.
Maybe @Mart68 @antcollinet or @DSJR ?

Edit:
.. sorry @JSmith if you are from England, I missed that in that case.

 

[Mart68]

JBL 4311B here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16828635...customid=9991062e-3906-11f1-a28e-666361356435

Drivers look okay, cabs could use some resto but are functional as they are. Not a floorstander but will fill the space with ease and offer some 'scale',

Will only appreciate in value.

If you really have to have floorstanding agree the Heco's mentioned are good if you can find some, but I'd still take the JBLs over them. Especially for a second system where it's more about fun than absolute accuracy.

For a floorstander, these Ruark Crusader are good all-rounders

Ruark Crusader 2 ii, in excellent condition with original boxes | eBay UK

Specifications Ruark Crusader II. Aluminium voice cooil. Frequency Response: 40 Hz - 20 khz ±3 dB. System Type: Bass reflex, 3 way. Colour Finishes: Veneers in; natural Cherry, Natural Oak, Walnut, Rosewood and Black Oak.

www.ebay.co.uk

Sorry they are both used options but I can't think of any floorstander costing a grand or less new that I could really recommend.

 

[DSJR]

The middle audio market here in the UK is so small compared to 'in my day' I'm kind-of lost of things to recommend stuff now. I know what you mean as regards the Concept 20s - utterly smooth and safe balance I remember. I read the larger Q Acoustics models aren't quite what the Fink-designed? earlier models were (I liked the older versions).

KEF is available all over in Sevenoaks stores I still think, but not sure if they might sound as 'flat' as their mean-responses suggest? I heard the cheaper Focal Chora floor stander and it 'sounded' fine to me. The tilted-back stance looks ridiculous to me, but if you can take that, they may be worth a listen.

Not sure how Fyne Audio compare to their similarly priced peers, but the slight rawness they may bring to the table (I've not heard them personally) might suit maybe?

Is there a Richer Sounds near-enough to you? They have a goodly range of floor-standers under a grand the pair...

That JBL pair suggested by @Mart68 above would be huge fun if you can restore the cabs - depends what kind of project you'd want to take on.

Almost vintage now, but Spendor S6/6e or larger S8/8e were very popular with us, very solid build and finish and an involving well integrated sound-field - no stodge!

Left-field - More recent Rega speakers are ignored by and large, so it means the smallish floor standing RX3 can be got for not very much - solid cabs, great midrange, good bass if they can be set up right in fairly free space and the RX model doesn't 'sssparkle' like its vinyl-orientated predecessor was inclined to.

Hope the above isn't too confusing or rubbish for you...

 

[vddobrev]

In my own opinion, your limiting factor is the Powernode. I will not consider it for anything else other than casual listening on some high sensitivity speakers, i.e. Klipsch.

 

[Jim586music]

In my own opinion, your limiting factor is the Powernode. I will not consider it for anything else other than casual listening on some high sensitivity speakers, i.e. Klipsch.

I did mention that I will possibly change the Bluesound to a Fosi V3 or similar.

 

[Jim586music]

The middle audio market here in the UK is so small compared to 'in my day' I'm kind-of lost of things to recommend stuff now. I know what you mean as regards the Concept 20s - utterly smooth and safe balance I remember. I read the larger Q Acoustics models aren't quite what the Fink-designed? earlier models were (I liked the older versions).

KEF is available all over in Sevenoaks stores I still think, but not sure if they might sound as 'flat' as their mean-responses suggest? I heard the cheaper Focal Chora floor stander and it 'sounded' fine to me. The tilted-back stance looks ridiculous to me, but if you can take that, they may be worth a listen.

Not sure how Fyne Audio compare to their similarly priced peers, but the slight rawness they may bring to the table (I've not heard them personally) might suit maybe?

Is there a Richer Sounds near-enough to you? They have a goodly range of floor-standers under a grand the pair...

That JBL pair suggested by @Mart68 above would be huge fun if you can restore the cabs - depends what kind of project you'd want to take on.

Almost vintage now, but Spendor S6/6e or larger S8/8e were very popular with us, very solid build and finish and an involving well integrated sound-field - no stodge!

Left-field - More recent Rega speakers are ignored by and large, so it means the smallish floor standing RX3 can be got for not very much - solid cabs, great midrange, good bass if they can be set up right in fairly free space and the RX model doesn't 'sssparkle' like its vinyl-orientated predecessor was inclined to.

Hope the above isn't too confusing or rubbish for you...

Thanks, I really appreciate your time and the advice. Noted.

 

[Jim586music]

JBL 4311B here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16828635...customid=9991062e-3906-11f1-a28e-666361356435

Drivers look okay, cabs could use some resto but are functional as they are. Not a floorstander but will fill the space with ease and offer some 'scale',

Will only appreciate in value.

If you really have to have floorstanding agree the Heco's mentioned are good if you can find some, but I'd still take the JBLs over them. Especially for a second system where it's more about fun than absolute accuracy.

For a floorstander, these Ruark Crusader are good all-rounders

Ruark Crusader 2 ii, in excellent condition with original boxes | eBay UK

Specifications Ruark Crusader II. Aluminium voice cooil. Frequency Response: 40 Hz - 20 khz ±3 dB. System Type: Bass reflex, 3 way. Colour Finishes: Veneers in; natural Cherry, Natural Oak, Walnut, Rosewood and Black Oak.

www.ebay.co.uk

Sorry they are both used options but I can't think of any floorstander costing a grand or less new that I could really recommend.

There’s probably not many.
Many thanks though.

 

[Jim586music]

I really appreciate the input. I take it there’s not much that has measured well on the site that falls into my budget or criteria.

 

[Mart68]

There’s probably not many.

There are quite possibly some good options new for around a grand, but I'm not going to recommend you a speaker that I haven't had listen to.

 

[Roland68]

Hi all.
I’ve pretty basic question.

I have an established system in a large basement room. It’s a hybrid stereo and atmos set up. Amplification is a Tom Evans Vibe with a NAD C298. I won’t go on as I’m happy with how it all sounds but that is my reference. Clean low distortion.

My question is that lately my wife and I have started to listen to music together. We don’t always want to “go downstairs” but sit in the living room by the fire and just relax.
I currently have a Bluesound power node going into some Q acoustics concept 20s.
This has been fine for background music but it’s not really cutting it as it’s sounds so small.

The room is 5.5m x 4m with 3.1m high ceilings. It opens out (archway) into another room of the same size so quite a large area.
The seating position is 3m ish from the speakers which fire across the room.
There’s no possibility of any room treatment but it is carpeted and has a whole wall of books on the rear wall.
I have previously tried a subwoofer but to be honest it didn’t change the scale of the sound much.

I have only ever owned stand mounted speakers (Epos S11, JM labs electra, Jamo concert 8 among other) even though I’ve had the usual hankering for a handsome pair of floorstanders. However, whenever I’ve auditioned some they sounded slow.
This may have been the smaller rooms I was in or my mindset at the time as I listened to a lot of electronic music.

My music taste has mellowed somewhat (60s 70s and jazz) and I’d like to know what people on here would suggest?
Listening volumes will be 80db ish so never crazy.

I want a full sound with some scale. Voices will need to be believable as so much of what we listen to requires a midrange
for the music to work. So, I’d potentially trade detail and mega bass for this.

I’m not after anything near state of the art in fact as I have revealing system elsewhere I’d potentially want a counter system for contrast (not sure if that makes sense?).

I’m open to change the Bluesound at some point as I’ve bought some Fosi amps (V3 monos) for my son and was very impressed.

Are there a pair of affordable floorstanders that would fit the bill or am I a forever stand mount guy?

I’d consider buying used.

Budget about 1K.

Is this doable?

Cheers

Here's a suggestion, if you can get them where you live. Should be within your budget, IF you mean 1 K for just the speakers?

Heco Aurora 700
View attachment 525052
@Ropeburn likes them, see #7 in the thread below:
View attachment 525053View attachment 525054

Budget floorstanding setup

Looking for some advice choosing between DALI Oberon 5, KEF Q750 and Triangle borea BR08. I can get all for roughly the same price in the UK. Another option is the Focal Vestia N°3 which is currently on a massive discount due to being discontinued. Room is about 15×13 ft and the setup is...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Heco Aurora 700 were new speakers. Used floorstanders for around 1K. Have you seen any that interest you that are on the market where you live? If you want, we can give you our opinion on them.

Since the room is quite large, I would also recommend the Hexo Aurora 1000, or the newer Aurora 700XT and 1000XT, although the difference is mostly cosmetic.
The 700, 700XT, and 1000 should be within your budget, and you can sometimes find them used for a good price.

These floorstanding speakers offer significantly better sound quality than their price range.