Best mid range speakers? Goin' shopping

Very Interestin

Hi there Audio Experts,
I want to buy separate speakers for Sony amp etc. and and would appreciate any advice on good brands and where to purchase?
Thanks.

cnocbui

B&W Speakers (Bower and Wilkins) are a good brand. I think Cloney Audio are the agents for them.

Very Interestin

Thanks for that cnoc, that brand seem to come up quite often in the discusions all right.:)
VI

Ant

I know you asked about brands but I thought it would be worth recommending floor-standers over book-shelf speakers. I recently replaced my Celestion (generally recognised as a decent brand) book-shelf speakers with similar sized Sony (not so well recognised) floor-standers. The difference was amazing - superior bass and much more detailed mid-range. Every album sounds so much better and it's like listening to a record for the first time when I play it on my upgraded system.

With floor-standers, it's also very easy to move to the speakers around for the optimal listening position for where you're sitting. e.g. I have the speakers on either side of the TV when watching a DVD but facing a different direction and further spread apart for listening to music.

Very Interestin

Ant,
This is exactly the sort of info I'm looking for, thanks a mill. Now do I have to go to Cloney in Blackrock or should I chance online, or is there a chance in heaven of getting something good in Kilkenny/Waterford?:)

Ant

Very Interestin wrote: »

Ant,
This is exactly the sort of info I'm looking for, thanks a mill. Now do I have to go to Cloney in Blackrock or should I chance online, or is there a chance in heaven of getting something good in Kilkenny/Waterford?:)

I was lucky enough to buy my speakers from an acquaintance who was happy to take them back if I wasn't happy with the sound. In your case, I'd recommend that if there's a shop in your area selling speakers, you should try to get the opportunity to play a CD that you're familiar with before buying the speakers. However, shops selling decent quality, affordable hi-fi equipment seems to be almost non-existent in Ireland.

In the past, I would have been reluctant to buy online but given the lack of choice, I'd recommend that if you see a good deal and read mostly positive reviews for that product, it should be worth the risk. (My next online purchase will be a new turntable as my new speakers really show up how crap the turntable I've been using for the past few years.)

200motels

I would recommend KEF speakers, I have 103.2 reference series since 1983 and in their price range (they cost me 500pounds in 1983) I still haven't heard a better speaker, even ones costing thousands of euros don't come up to the mark.

akaSol

200motels wrote: »

I would recommend KEF speakers, I have 103.2 reference series since 1983 and in their price range (they cost me 500pounds in 1983) I still haven't heard a better speaker, even ones costing thousands of euros don't come up to the mark.

Dito,
Proud Kef owner , full set of IQ's and a beauty full pair of XQ20's.

>Sol