Speakers with some scale

[Jim586music]

That doesn't seem like a very good price, but then I'm not familiar with the island market. Got mine for 600€ new (500 GBP?), certainly aided by both shop and manufacturer being just 30km from here.

But! For 600 silver pieces used or, let's say 1000 new, they're still really good value. Either way, if that offer is nearby, you could use it as a test listening opportunity. Different room certainly, but you'll still get a good first hand impression. You'll have to hear them to see how good they really are.

Thank you.
That’s the problem I have in the uk with speakers not having a reputation or common dealer network. Heco are not a brand widely known in the UK. The owner probably paid a premium and is trying to get some return on them. I suppose I could offer £400 but he’d probably laugh.
I know the feeling. I own a pair of Quadral stand mounts. They sound incredible but if I ever wanted to sell them I’d struggle as Quadral are simply not a well known brand in the UK and I’d lose too much money on them.
Cheers

 

[Jim586music]

Good place to start is the spinorama

I put high quality test, $100-$500 each, passive bookies and floor standers, and with eq no sub for rankings.

You could narrow down to bookie only and floor standing only etc.

Ranking table of speaker's measurements

www.spinorama.org

Blimey. That’s a difficult graph to navigate on a phone. Ha

 

[Jim586music]

Just an update. I purchased the Heco aurora 700 for £618. It’s a real leap of faith. I’ve never bought speakers without listening to them in 35 years of Hifi. Wish me luck.

 

[Ropeburn]

Just an update. I purchased the Heco aurora 700 for £618. It’s a real leap of faith. I’ve never bought speakers without listening to them in 35 years of Hifi. Wish me luck.

Haha, same here actually. Bought them blind. Is that a new price you found? If so, seems very good.

Please do update us further. I already know I love them but tastes and rooms both naturally differ. Either way, something tells me you'll be surprised.

 

[Roland68]

That doesn't seem like a very good price, but then I'm not familiar with the island market. Got mine for 600€ new (500 GBP?), certainly aided by both shop and manufacturer being just 30km from here.

But! For 600 silver pieces used or, let's say 1000 new, they're still really good value. Either way, if that offer is nearby, you could use it as a test listening opportunity. Different room certainly, but you'll still get a good first hand impression. You'll have to hear them to see how good they really are.

Just an update. I purchased the Heco aurora 700 for £618. It’s a real leap of faith. I’ve never bought speakers without listening to them in 35 years of Hifi. Wish me luck.

The biggest problem is that anything large and heavy is much more expensive in the UK simply due to transport costs. In addition, there are of course the really high handling costs, as well as customs duties and taxes, and these also apply to transport costs.
Therefore, the price is absolutely fine, as the additional costs compared to Germany should be around €200 at best.

I hope you enjoy these great speakers!

 

[Jim586music]

Haha, same here actually. Bought them blind. Is that a new price you found? If so, seems very good.

Please do update us further. I already know I love them but tastes and rooms both naturally differ. Either way, something tells me you'll be surprised.

No, used but mint condition.
Let’s see what happens.

 

[EPICURIOUS007]

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

SIERRA-1 V2 PAIR

Our World-Renowned Reference Monitor, Now Even Better! "Innovation, performance, intensive quality controls and environmental-friendliness all precisely balanced in a truly unique loudspeaker." Our new Sierra-1 V2 is a complete reimagining of our true classic, the Sierra-1. It fully represents...

www.ascendacoustics.com

 

[EPICURIOUS007]

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

Infinity Reference R253 | eBay

Music and movie lovers will find a lot to like in Infinity's Reference R253. The Infinity Reference R253s will fill just about any room with powerful, well-defined sound. And don't forget to add the perfectly matched Reference SUB R10 powered subwoofer to get deep, accurate bass in the mix.

www.ebay.com

 

[DanielT]

Infinity Reference R253 | eBay

Music and movie lovers will find a lot to like in Infinity's Reference R253. The Infinity Reference R253s will fill just about any room with powerful, well-defined sound. And don't forget to add the perfectly matched Reference SUB R10 powered subwoofer to get deep, accurate bass in the mix.

www.ebay.com

TS has already bought speakers, but if we're talking about used Infinity, this one is a gem:

Infinity Primus 360 Speaker Review

Infinity Primus 360 Speaker

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

Looks cheap, but measures really well. Around $150 on the used market. A bargain, buy and test for fun.


Infinity Primus 150 also looks cheap, but measures well. For around $50 a really good used bookshelf speaker purchase:

Infinity Primus 150 spinorama measurements (CTA-2034)

Here are some measurements of the Infinity Primus 150 Bookshelf speaker. The MSRP was $198/pair back in 2003. Specifications: Frequency range: 58Hz - 20000Hz (+/- 3dB) Recommended Power: 10 - 100W Sensitivity: 88 dB Nominal impedance: 8 ohms Crossover frequency: 3300 Hz; 24dB/octave...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Jim586music]

Update.
Well I must say I’m very very impressed with these speakers. I’m only driving them with an original Bluesound power node and I certainly have scale!
It is a bit crude in the upper registers but I think that’s the Bluesound showing its limitations.
I would be interested to hear them with some other electronics like some Fosi v3 monos or a tube amp.
What’s standing out, apart from the amount of bass is the clarity and size of the midband as voices are great - hence my interest in a valve amp.

The only real problem I have with them is their size! Wife doesn’t like them at all.
I’ll have to work on that.

Cheers

 

[DanielT]

Update.
Well I must say I’m very very impressed with these speakers. I’m only driving them with an original Bluesound power node and I certainly have scale!
It is a bit crude in the upper registers but I think that’s the Bluesound showing its limitations.
I would be interested to hear them with some other electronics like some Fosi v3 monos or a tube amp.
What’s standing out, apart from the amount of bass is the clarity and size of the midband as voices are great - hence my interest in a valve amp.

The only real problem I have with them is their size! Wife doesn’t like them at all.
I’ll have to work on that.

Cheers

Glad you like them. Your wife will hopefully like them better when she listens to more music on them. She will hopefully accept their size, that is. You might say: For good bass they need to be that big.

If you're going to plug in a class D amp, check that it's load independent. That would have been my requirement if I were you.

Tube, oh my god, we're going to have that discussion again.

Well IF you're going to test a tube amp, buy a well-known used one that's in good condition. Take advantage of the fact that the Heco Aurora 700 has bi-wire capabilities:

Power up the bass with class D, the tweeter with a tube amp in that case.

Or try a classic used class AB amp, for example NAD C 320BEE (or its successor NAD C 326BEE)

Review and Measurements of NAD C 320BEE PWR Amplifier

This is a review and detailed measurements of the NAD C 320BEE power (speaker) amplifier. It is on kind loan. The C 320BEE is a vintage product, dating back to 2003 I think. The BEE designation is apparently a reference to Bjorn Erik Edvardsen who was one of their designers. Can't tell if he...

www.audiosciencereview.com

NAD C320BEE — 139€ ▲ | HifiShark

Used NAD C320BEE Integrated amplifiers for sale on 400+ second hand hifi sites & shops. Use Hifi Shark to monitor pricing and global availability

www.hifishark.com

NAD C326BEE — 199€ ▼ | HifiShark

Used NAD C326BEE Integrated amplifiers for sale on 400+ second hand hifi sites & shops. Use Hifi Shark to monitor pricing and global availability

www.hifishark.com

Edit:
Or take this good, popular one.Power; more than you need so you're on the safe side so to speak.
No load dependence. Streamer and amp, with automatic room correction so you get good FR in your room.

WiiM Amp Ultra Streaming Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the WiiM Amp Ultra stereo streaming amplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $529. I was surprised how heavy and solid feeling the Ultra is for its size. I upgraded its firmware which went smoothly and rather fast. I was pleasantly...

www.audiosciencereview.com

If you're going to measure FR, I recommend this one together with WiiM's RoomFit, 109 €:

MINIDSP UMIK-1 USB measurement Microphone

The Umik-1 is a low noise, omnidirectional USB measurement microphone that provides accurate results. The Umik-1 is a class 1 USB audio device, automatically recognized by all operating systems (Windows / Mac / Linux).

www.audiophonics.fr

Much better than using the mobile phone's microphone for FR sweeps/measurements.

 

[Oddball]

I'd go for room EQ system to tune them. Valves are hugely distortive, even though some find them seductive. At this price range hard to imagine a perfect tweeter for such a large speaker.

 

[DanielT]

Tubes are too skilled DIY to bother with. Then they can be (relatively speaking other tube amps) good at a some sort of reasonable cost.Example of that:

Building a valve amplifier

One of my next projects is a valve amplifier. I built many solid state amplifiers and I'm very happy with these. I always considered valve amplifiers as being vastly inferior to solid state one but nevertheless I would like to build one to measure it and to listen to it. From all the available...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Commercial tube amps, in many cases you don't really know what you're getting. Can be distortion machines at a hell of a high price.....plus with onions on the salmon (or in English: Icing on the cake) with a little power.

 

[Oddball]

Tubes are too skilled DIY to bother with. Then they can be (relatively speaking other tube amps) good at a some sort of reasonable cost.

Commercial tube amps, in many cases you don't really know what you're getting. Can be distortion machines at a hell of a high price.....plus with onions on the salmon (or in English: Icing on the cake) with a little power.

Now, why would you ever want to get into tubes at this day and age when you can distort anything you your liking through simple, or not so simple, room EQ systems?

I guess the glow of the tubes might give some warm feelings?

 

[DanielT]

Now, why would you ever want to get into tubes at this day and age when you can distort anything you your liking through simple, or not so simple, room EQ systems?

I guess the glow of the tubes might give some warm feelings?

For a DIY enthusiast, I understand. To keep the hifi tradition, the hifi/amp history alive. Something to tinker with. A hobby as good as any.

For example, it might be fun to restore and get a seventy-five year old amp working:

Does anyone have a Williamson tube amplifier?

Or have had, listened to a Williamson tube amplifier? Impression? Are they available? What can one, in reasonable condition, cost? I could really imagine having one. Mostly for its HiFi history. :) Not as a main amp but in some nice secondary system. Then together with a subwoofer + LP/HP...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Jim586music]

Now, why would you ever want to get into tubes at this day and age when you can distort anything you your liking through simple, or not so simple, room EQ systems?

I guess the glow of the tubes might give some warm feelings?

Ha. Probably agree but then if life was only that simple.

 

[DanielT]

If you want some tube glow, a tube pre amp maybe?:

AIYIMA T20 Tube Pre-amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the AIYIMA stereo tube based balanced preamplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $180. This is an unexpected and attractive design! I love the large and stylish volume control which can be managed using the supplied remote control...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Oddball]

If you want some tube glow, a tube pre amp maybe?:

View attachment 527305

AIYIMA T20 Tube Pre-amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the AIYIMA stereo tube based balanced preamplifier. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $180. This is an unexpected and attractive design! I love the large and stylish volume control which can be managed using the supplied remote control...

www.audiosciencereview.com

A bit small though? If tubes can't heat your room in cold winter on their own, people could say they are undersized?

 

[Ropeburn]

Update.
Well I must say I’m very very impressed with these speakers. I’m only driving them with an original Bluesound power node and I certainly have scale!
It is a bit crude in the upper registers but I think that’s the Bluesound showing its limitations.
I would be interested to hear them with some other electronics like some Fosi v3 monos or a tube amp.
What’s standing out, apart from the amount of bass is the clarity and size of the midband as voices are great - hence my interest in a valve amp.

The only real problem I have with them is their size! Wife doesn’t like them at all.
I’ll have to work on that.

Cheers

Hooray for you! Enjoy.

They do have a slight emphasis in the high treble above 10kHz, ~2dB.

https://www.audioholics.com/tower-speaker-reviews/heco-aurora-1000/#toc-h2-3 (same thing but 2x8" and even bigger)

That can possibly become a bit too much depending on taste and how lively the room is. The disperion is nicely wide as well, which isn't helping that case. A good starting point would be toning it down just a bit with EQ up there. Should be an easy fix.

And yes, they certainly aren't small. I wish you luck with the wifey.

 

[Roland68]

Update.
Well I must say I’m very very impressed with these speakers. I’m only driving them with an original Bluesound power node and I certainly have scale!
It is a bit crude in the upper registers but I think that’s the Bluesound showing its limitations.
I would be interested to hear them with some other electronics like some Fosi v3 monos or a tube amp.
What’s standing out, apart from the amount of bass is the clarity and size of the midband as voices are great - hence my interest in a valve amp.

The only real problem I have with them is their size! Wife doesn’t like them at all.
I’ll have to work on that.

Cheers

I'm glad you like them.

I'd recommend a Sabaj A30a if you can find one used for a good price. Alternatively, a 3E Audio A5, A5se or PAM152.

If you're looking for something budget-friendly, a Topping Mini 300 is another option.
All three should sound better with the Aurora 700 than the other choices mentioned.