I’m moving into a larger apartment (woo!) which means my workstation and studio monitors are getting their own room. My 1200s, mixer and records will be in the living room though, and I want to get a couple of floorstanding speakers for that setup. They don’t need to be super accurate, I’ve got my Neumanns for that, but they should sound fun, look good and preferably not cost too much (€1000 max, amp included). They also shouldn’t be too big as the room is quite small, and extend no further than 35 cm from the back wall (same depth as record shelf). I’m partial to the look of vintage JBL speakers. What do you recommend?
Funny you post this question as I am researching speakers for a similar reason. I’m looking for living room use but I also would like to be able to host a medium sized party with them if needed. If money was no question I’d go for a single bose F1 maybe add the sub bass for the extra umph.
Personally I’m leaning toward the QSC K12.2. From all of the reviews I can find and videos describing sound, reliability, and cost I feel like this is the one for me. They are a bit pricier than others but I’m looking for a great all around speaker that I know won’t crap out, I can transport with confidence, sound good in all ranges. If I weren’t going to get these my next choice were the JBL prx812w. They review to give more bass thump than being as bright as the QSC speakers.
I hope this gives you some direction to look. Let me know what you go with.
I’ve been out of the audiophile game awhile so I’m not up on the current leaders…
But I can say that hifi speakers - esp budget - can differ wildly between sets of ears. If you can, have fun going to different stores to try different speaker/integrated amp pairings. If not, WhatHiFi mag has good recommendations. There are lots of other magazines too but usually on the pricier side.
TL;DR: Wharfedale and Marantz
I did a bit of research into this but lower budget and ended up with Monitor Audio Bronze 2, which sound great and have plenty of low end for their size
I use Neumann for music production.
For listening I have a pair of JBl control 5
I would get a pair of JBL, Bower and Wilkins or Kef.
I´m interested too.
Last year I bought studio monitors of a guy.
We had a little conversation about that topic.
He bought a pair of Wharfedale Linton Heritage
and highly recommends them - whatever that means.
He uses them in his living room studio as main speakers.
they are about 1000€ the pair, without Amp though.
(and without stands)
I like the oldschool look of them.
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Bear in mind the QSCs have internal fans (I have the 10’s) so not good for quiet listening, great speakers, but I wouldn’t really recommend them for home listening.
My 90s B&Ws are great with a quad 606 amp
EDIT … MY B&Ws are DM602’s
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Thanks for the suggestions folks!
@whikidazz The QSCs would be good for a medium sized party, but the missus (and the neighbours) would kill me if I put them in our living room haha!
@xidnpnlss @hereiamhere75 Ouuuf - those Wharfedales look amazing and would go super well with our furniture and the apartment! They seem to require a fair bit of space though, on account of those rear bass ports. Otherwise they look bang on.
@tdmusic will check out Monitor Audio!
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Nice. They have a whole range of stuff, a friend has some higher end ones and says they are very good too.
Depending on where you are, you can often pick up a 2nd hand pair of PMCs (older FB1s for example) for that money, I would definitely recommend them!
I’ve had a set of Tannoy Mercury M20s from the 80s for about 10 years now and they’re great. Nice and ‘warm’ sounding and plenty of low end. Using it with a hand-me- down Sherwood amp from my dad which does need replacing.
This just popped up:
Great article, thanks for sharing
I really like the Audioengine
I had their A2s back in the day and they deserve all the praise. Amazing package.
I had said above I’ve been out of the game for awhile but according to this article nothing much has changed. I remember Polks being fantastic value and could rawk, but pretty narrow stereo field.
In what region you live will also influence what’s available to you ofc.
I got a Marantz PM6005 and Q Acoustics Concept 20 bookshelf speakers for under £1000. Listening is pure pleasure every time. Deep, rich, detailed, incredible soundstage. Really immersive. I’ve never turned them up more than 40% as that is loud enough for home listening.
You could pair with 2050i if you absolutely must have floorstanders. For a small room you will probably find that bookshelf size on stands sounds better and easier to locate too.
jim
Just to give a little update: moved into the new apartment less than a week ago, yesterday I found some Larsen 6.2s and an Audiolab 8200A amp for sale locally juuust within my budget and thought why not.
Spent 6 hours last night listening to my favourite records through them and had several “holy shit”-moments. The crispness and level of detail in the high end is unbelievable, almost uncanny in how the sound felt like it came from actual objects in the room. The low end didn’t have the same authority and level of detail, but it came through just fine. This is my first go at a hifi setup, wasn’t quite prepared for how different it would sound to my studio monitors.
The Xone mixer is an aesthetic disaster here and will be switched out for something more appropriate soon, need some new dust covers for the 1200s too, and some more pictures on the wall…
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This is probably too seemingly mainstream for a lot of peeps here, but I don’t think you can pass up the older Bowers & Wilkins original CM speakers for timeless cool and great sound. You can probably get second hand CM7 or 8’s for that price and an old Yammy amp. The CM1’s with some good stands might be another cheaper option.
Edit: haha, didn’t see your last post! Looks great.
They should take class trips to audiophile stores to school kids on good sound. This era of Spotify free and YT over buds and Beats hurts my soul.