Advice on speaker choice in ~600 range? Narrowing it down

[Dabs]

Hi, I'm looking for a set of speakers for music only listening (mostly vinyl). My best amp is a 200wpc Yamaha and the room in question is about medium sized, or on the larger size of medium.

Right now I have three main contenders:

1. Chane a3rx-c. Not a ton of info out there on these but they sound like they could be good?

2. Tekton m-lores. Mostly good reviews but I'm a little skeptical.

3. Wharfedale 220. I've heard nothing but good things about them but they seem small.

A sub isn't out of the question in the future but I'd like to avoid one since I have one for my other speaker setup.

 

[theJman]

What is your definition of a medium sized room? It could be vastly different from what others consider it to be, so the suggestions might not directly relate to your needs. What type of music do you generally listen to?

 

[Dabs]

What is your definition of a medium sized room? It could be vastly different from what others consider it to be, so the suggestions might not directly relate to your needs. What type of music do you generally listen to?

The room is about 15x18ft but one wall is 2/3 open to a larger adjacent room. I listen to almost everything, rock, jazz, electronic, classical, and other in that order, all vinyl. I will listen to a lot of electronic music digitally but I usually use the other speakers which have a sub for non vinyl listening.

 

[theJman]

The Wharedale's are not a direct comparison to the other speaker you're looking at, especially if you plan to use them without a subwoofer, so you can probably remove them from contention.

The Tekton speakers might work for you, but I have my reservations on whether or not they can actually reach 38Hz with appreciable output. They seem reasonably price though, which is always a bonus.

I have a lot of expereince with Chane speakers. I reviewed a full system from them about 2.5 years ago. I've also heard the A5 towers, which were quite nice. With the style of music you enjoy the A3's may need a subwoofer for you to fully enjoy the outcome.

 

[Dabs]

The A5's look nice and based on what I've read I'm kind of tempted to buy them even though I'd rather not spend that much. The A3 are also interesting but like you said I'll probably want to add a subwoofer. I'd like to find speakers that play low enough without one, which brings me to the tekton, my initial first choice; they're supposed to have fairly solid bass for a small floorstander although I'm worried that the mids might be too forward for my tastes based on some things I've heard online. I've read comparisons to grado headphones and I'm not a fan so that worries me. As far as the wharfedale speakers, the cheapness and lack of negative comments is what makes them appealing, it would be easy to budget in a subwoofer but again I wonder if that would make them too similar to my other setup which is two powered monitors and a subwoofer. I was hoping for something a little less analytical sounding since its just for music, not movies and games which is what I use the other setup for (I'm completely satisfied with it) the only issue is that particular setup will make even decent speakers sound veiled if I listen to them back to back which is why I was hoping for something with good resolution but also more musicality for the vinyl. Sorry for the long winded post, I could use advice since I can't listen to any of these before buying.

 

[clipperqb]

great question! I am in exact same boat and look forward to replies. Right now I am looking at a pair of used Paradigm Monitor 7, Pioneer sp-fs52 or ELAC F5 floorstanders

 

[theJman]

NHT's Absolute Tower might be worth considering. They probably need a subwoofer though.

 

[Dabs]

The absolute towers are 550 each though unless I'm mistaken?

 

[theJman]

As far as the wharfedale speakers, the cheapness and lack of negative comments is what makes them appealing, it would be easy to budget in a subwoofer but again I wonder if that would make them too similar to my other setup which is two powered monitors and a subwoofer.

Don't buy a budget subwoofer and mate it to Wharfedale speakers. That's like putting Pep Boys tires on a Ferrari; while they may work, they won't be a good match. When configuring a system you should always match components to ensure there is no weak link in the chain.

 

[ImcLoud]

If I were you I would demo as many decent bookshelfs as you can, IMO in the $600 range for critical listening of vinyl towers are out. You will get MUCH better sound out of a nice set of books.

IMO the Dentons are great with vinyl, I have 2 pairs and love them, VERY well made, very nice sound, and they dig pretty low so you will not feel empty with out a subwoofer, while a subwoofer in the future would be an awesome addition to any bookshelf, and IMO after you add a sub say a sealed svs 10" or 12" you will still be ahead of a set of towers in a similar price range...

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-107091-wharfedale-denton-80th-anniversary-bookshelf-speakers-pr.aspx
on sale for under your range..

I recently got a chance to compare the dentons to epos k1's, sonus venere books, and epos elan 15's... We had a little meet and greet at my house and everyone brought a pair of books... I ended up buying the venere's (got an awesome deal on them), but anyway the dentons were about the best looking, I would tie them with the veneres, but they are two different looks...

As far as the bottom end, I would give it to the dentons as I would the mids, the elan 15's had crisper highs and did fill a large room a bit better BUT the dentons were easier to place and 1/3rd the cost....

Demo them, you won't be sorry, plus that retro speaker looks so nice with a nice tt..
good luck

 

[KEW]

If I were you I would demo as many decent bookshelfs as you can, IMO in the $600 range for critical listening of vinyl towers are out. You will get MUCH better sound out of a nice set of books.

I agree.
At $600, too much money is going into the cabinets and multiple drivers for towers. Get better quality buying bookshelf speakers and add the sub later if you don't have the funds to get the sub now.

 

[Dabs]

The Denton's sure look nice. They were on my initial list but they didn't seem to have as good of reviews as some of the other speakers. Also, I don't see how they could have more bass than the a3rx-c for example, not to say they can't handle vinyl better. Anyhow thanks for the advice, it makes sense to look at bookshelves and I'll look more into the Denton's because they look really nice and are cheap.

 

[theJman]

The Denton's sure look nice. They were on my initial list but they didn't seem to have as good of reviews as some of the other speakers. Also, I don't see how they could have more bass than the a3rx-c for example, not to say they can't handle vinyl better.

They won't have anywhere near the bass response of the A3's, so if you plan to run without a sub they may leave you wanting. Having all that cabinet is not a waste, if it's been properly tuned to use it of course. Size matters here as well.

 

[Dabs]

I'm really on the fence between the m lores, a3rx-c, and Denton's. I don't really see any better options than those three and they all sound like they have pros and cons.

 

[j_garcia]

All speakers have their pros and cons, which is why it will come down to listening to some. Only way to end up with something you'll end up keeping longer. I've gone through a lot of speakers and currently have different sets for different purposes.

Heard some Chane bookshelf speakers in my setup and liked the mids a lot, but would not have kept them in my setup for music. Have not heard the Lores. Like Wharfdales.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I have heard Wharfdales and I like them as well, but like Jman said - don't use them with crappy sub.
I'd stay away from Tektons - a) the ultra high efficiency is not needed with your 200wpc amp , b) this unusually efficient is likely to come at price and c) Tekton's actual measurements so far have been very underwhelming

Can't say much about Chane, except their "interesting" marketing strategy and history ....
Not to stir the past, let's just say Chane/Arx brands are not in my top 10 to go brands.

My top suggestion is to wait a bit till Andrew Jones's Elac Debut F5 towers are available - a pair of these are right at your price point. http://elac.us/speakers

 

[Dabs]

Thanks for the advice. I wasn't planning on adding a crappy sub, I was just saying the cheaper the speakers the sooner I could get one if needed. Anyhow, I am not sure about the tektons. They're efficient but supposedly they have very high power handing. It would be nice to be able to play them loud and undistorted on days when I come home for work and want to hear led Zeppelin clearly in other parts of the house, I'm worried the wharfedales could struggle there. As far as critiques on the tektons I believe it and I've read them too, but on the other hand most people that have heard them seem to like them. The wharfedale Denton's are the nicest looking by far and I have a feeling they would be satisfying to listen to vinyl with. I suppose the chanes are last on the list at this point because they seem mostly geared towards home theater and everyone just says the 5's are better anyway. The elacs look interesting and I've heard good things about the guy that designed them, price seems on point as well but has anyone heard them?

 

[ImcLoud]

I'm really on the fence between the m lores, a3rx-c, and Denton's. I don't really see any better options than those three and they all sound like they have pros and cons.

I heard the arx and would NOT put them in the same class as the dentons, the dentons are a modern retro speaker and well made, if you were closer I would have no issues letting you come by and take a listen, I have a luxman l505ux integrated running a set, the system does more than just look AWESOME, everyone that hears it is taken over by how airy it is, sounds like it costs A LOT, lol...

For the arx, I can't say I paid much attention to them but they sounded "jumbled" like they were not tuned correctly, not sure what the graphs for these things looks like but they sounded all over the place, I was not impressed with the bass, what do the specs say? The dentons dig for a book, they look small in the pictures but its a good sized speaker...

Heres the things that would sway my decision, Say in 2 years you want to upgrade or move on,
1-bookshelfs are easy to relocate to a bedroom, I have a set in my dining room on a hutch you barely notice them, and they are classy enough to pass as belonging there.
2- resale value on the dentons will stay strong, what will happen is MD will sell out of them soon (I was told they have 2 sets left, the other day when I was talking to Mike) and then you will see them used for what MD was selling them for on sale, if not more, it happened with the epos epic 2's, the wharfedale opus line, and others... The other factor of resale is, it is easier to ship bookshelfs than towers so less of your money goes to UPS...
3- IMO the dentons have a memorable sound, they are definitely strong enough to stand alone with out a sun in a decent sized room and enough power behind them with almost all genres of music, some R and B, Rap, and electro stuff with synthetic bass is tough to keep up with for a book shelf, I will admit that, but that is for all bookshelfs, and it will apply to EVERY 2 or 3 way tower in your price range, except your insufficient lows will be accompanied by some less than mediocre mids and what I would call a barely satisfactory high end...

I would jump on the dentons, they are a great speaker for the price, I would say they were a really nice speaker when they were $999, sure for the $1000 mark there are more accurate speakers available, BUT NOT better looking, and you will need to go to ID company to start to compete...

If you are still not sold on the dentons, the other speaker I would look at is the cbm170, but that is just a black box, for the money its also a great contender, I have a couple pairs of them also....

good luck...

 

[ImcLoud]

All speakers have their pros and cons, which is why it will come down to listening to some. Only way to end up with something you'll end up keeping longer. I've gone through a lot of speakers and currently have different sets for different purposes.

Heard some Chane bookshelf speakers in my setup and liked the mids a lot, but would not have kept them in my setup for music. Have not heard the Lores. Like Wharfdales.

Hey J, I totally agree, with your first statement, I recently got another chance to listen to the soundscape 8s and was going to say they have no cons, then I remembered the price.. DAMN IT...

As for the tektons, I have a set of full sized Lores, they are nice for a system you want to use with a low power amp, I have a 20w tube amp and they fill our 400+ sq foot bedroom with sound easily, it was an inexpensive system, nothing fancy, music hall red turn table, jolida 202 tube amp, lores, and the preamp, I want to say the entire system with wires and stand was right around $3000. If I were to do that over, I would go with bookshelves, we listen to vinyl in there and mostly when me and my wife are sharing a glass of wine and the kids are sleeping, so hardly ever really push it, and some times when my wife is up there crocheting or doing what ever she does in her chair watching ellen, she will throw an album on again low volume. Come to think of it the only time it gets played loud is when I am demoing them for people...

So I say no on the tektons, they are an aquired taste and made more attractive when you dont have a lot of power, for your first or only music only system, get something that will keep you interested in the hobby, I hate to keep pushing it but the dentons are the ones, the more I think about it the more they make sense, its a speaker you can be proud of, and how can they go out of style, that has already happened once, lol...

 

[Dabs]

Thanks a lot for the reply. It's very helpful. I suppose the wharfedales sound the most promising at this point and the looks really appeal to me. Unless something sways my opinion I'm leaning heavily towards ordering a set if they're still available next week. I almost ordered some a few weeks ago actually until I heard about tekton and fell into the black hole of research.. Sigh..