www.boxertrix.com

I know some of you are keen on sounds, looking for some ideas...

I have an inherited stereo of some years comprising a shagged old Pioneer record deck, Kenwood KA 1060 amp and some vintage Wharfedale E30 Speakers. Have a few records which we like to play and the rest goes through the ipod into the amp, as does the tv for dvd's (and erm, the playstation )

As we are in the middle of flat refurb (plaster dust everywhere) am thinking of downsizing speakers as they take up a fair bit of space and I rarely get the volume past about 3 without causing serious disturbance. Have seen tiny Bose stuff which looks a bit more space friendly with a larger bass box and a couple of tiny speakers.

Don't wish to break the bank but would like something that is a step up from a compact system...

Any thoughts

Ta Ade.

Ade, a lot of people who want something small, but still ok sound quality go for one of the following:
http://www.hifi4less.com/product.php/986/0/
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page ... 20AND%20DM
http://www.a1-sound.co.uk/detail.php?id=569&

you'll see that they are pretty well thought out and most offer an option for DAB radio or standard.
Just buy yourself a set of decent speakers( don't go for the ones included!!).
I think the Bose speakers will set you back a fare £££££''sss.

I'm short of time right now but will have another look for speakers later after work!
Bailey.

BOSE: Better Off with Something Else...

I've just bought some of those Audio Bronze BR1 that that Bailey recommended above and they are cracking little speakers. I also have some of the larger BR2 and some even larger RS5 from Mr Monitor Audio and the are all good.

Paul

Paul wrote:BOSE: Better Off with Something Else...

Not necessarily. I have an Onko system as above, and went for Bose speakers as they can be deployed in a very wife-friendly fashion.

You can get better sound, but that will always be true. It's horses for courses so figure out what you really want first and try some out.

Cheers guys..

Will check out the links.
Spoke with a contact who sets up our club systems, he recommended going to a hi fi specialist (Robert Tausig or The Cornflake Shop(?) to have a listen to some.

add it to the to do list...

Ade.

The biggest influencer in these decisions is er indoors. I have the Quad Electrostatics..... that was nearly divorce material... I am still paying the price over ten years later.

Oh what joy

Stuart

Personally I think the Bose speakers are ace due to size and performance. If you (or anyone else) are interested I have a pair of mint Tannoy Mercury M1's for sale. I also have a pair of Tannoy 603's speakers, complete with bespoke Target floor stands (stand top is shaped to fit the unusual shape of the speaker) which are also excess to requirements.

SWMBO keeps nagging me to 'get rid' but I have managed to resist so far but I guess they will have to go. If anyone is interested send me a PM.

Nu2

snavetrauts wrote:...Quad Electrostatics...

...combined with Donald Fagen's The Nightfly...
...or Dire Strait's live version of Telegraph Road...
...Vivaldi ; The Four Seasons...
...and, and, and...

Speakers are terribly subjective items but I'd heartily agree with Paul re the Bose kit. A triumph of marketing over substance which has rarely been surpassed.

Ade - depends how much you want to spend? AVI Active Neutrons are very good (and they're tiny but a bit heavy on the £££ front) which could be run with an iPod, using a lossless codec of course . They sound fabulous.

Other little speakers: Usher S-520 which are a cracking speaker for the money (scroll down to see them). Audio Note AX1's are good, but the Two's (which I'm using as a stopgap) are a fair bit better but not really in the 'tiny' class. Very easy to drive though and a benign load.

Stuart - you running 57's or 63's? I'm putting off spending big wedge on speakers for the time being as we're living in Forces' married quarters (waffer-thin walls) . Shame really as the rest of my kit is crying out for something better. Tend to use headphones a lot of the time.

RoLoo wrote:
...combined with Donald Fagen's The Nightfly...
...or Dire Strait's live version of Telegraph Road...
...Vivaldi ; The Four Seasons...
...and, and, and...

Ron - I thought you were a man of taste???

Back in the early 90s I had the Bose acoutimass system 2 setup.

At first you were impressed by teh clarity and they were pretty smooth, but as time passed,what came to light was a huge hole in the Mid range. They are good for Av systems I reckon, something like teh Am9, but for music they fall short ultiumately.

I presently have a setup of B&W on one system and Celestion A1 on teh other, but my stuff is far from top level. I have Audiolab 8000p, 8000s and a rega 2000 cd player

Gromit..... 63's and they are fabulous.

I also have the quad 606 preamp main amp and CVD player etc etc etc. Lovely kit.

Unfortunatey in Spain I have no mains electricity.. so run off a deisel gennie and although it has AVR, I get some strange crackles.

I live in a restored Finca.... where the room sizes are rather nice.... no neibhours for miles and fantastic volumes. Jimmi H neversounded so good.

I first saw the electrostatics (remember the old radiator types) at a Ravi Shankar concert... brilliant... had to wait a long time before I could afford the gear though... would not change it for the world OR er indoors!!

Stuart

In my day the speakers to buy were Spendor BC3's , Celestion dittons or Kef 104's.... well I think those were the numbers from memory... god those were the days.. Even the BBC used spendors and I think monitor audio????

Stuart - nice stuff. Pembers (who occasionally visits the site and is the guy who bought my BCR) runs 63's with WAD EL34 valve power. His system does sound very good indeed, although it's perhaps the other extreme from mine as I'm running big-current solid state amps (Exposure IXPMS/XI and IV dual-reg power) from a NAS Spacedeck turntable and Naim CD player (which I got from Paul) which has recently been Avondale-modded.

I'll bet there are a few other Trixter hifi geeks out there lurking.

Spendor BC1's were fabulous speakers, in fact they were designed by the BBC as a large studio monitor and made under license by Spendor. In the same way in fact as the little BBC LS3/5a which got built by Rogers/Spendor...and a few others (these go for an absolute fortune on eBay).

I used the recentish exposure 2020 amp and cd player for a while. The cd player was far better than the amp, but i think that some of the exposure stuff is great.
I'd like a pair of mono blocks for the audiolab and then to upgrade the cd, but bikes took over and im really looking forward to the summer!