What would you recommend in this price range?

I'm looking for reasonably compact speakers for the bedroom (room is on the small side) I don't want to spend masses because I don't use the speaker in that room all that much.

Try the Monitor Audio bookshelf speaker range - I have I think the Bronze B2 which is under your budget at about £200, and pretty good value.

John, have you looked at the Epos ELS3 for £200?

They're so good we'll be doing a review of them within the next month.

No, Maria, I haven't, thanks for the tip off. It's not urgent, so I might just wait for that review and look around at other options before comitting my cash.

any idea of another site where I can find more details of the epos menawhile?

How's about B&W 601's, great speakers for £250. I use them on the rear channel of my surround set up with 602's on the front.
Detailed sound, bass weight, good build, bi-wirable.

Of course you could go for the Quad 11 or 12's in that price range. I don't need to go into how good those are. Monitor Audio have also been mentioned and they are worth a listen too.
I wouldn't touch Mission, but that's just me.
R

I have had a pair of 601 S3's for about 18 months & would definately recommend them. Great bass - amazing for their size, excellent imaging once set-up right and detailed treble.

But the do need plenty of space to perform at their best - they sound fine in a small room but you can only really appreciate how good they really are in a bigger space. I also think they need careful partnering with other equipment to make sure vocals sounds completely natural. Other than that, they're a gem.

Hi,

I too, would recommend B&W 601 S3's. Great Speakers!

Have a look at the Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo One's - at around £180 they are absolute quality at a bargain price compared to speakers from other manufactures with similar specs.

give em a whirl.

I just demo'd a pair of Quad 11L's and a pair of Monitor Audio Silver s2's and there is no comparison. The S2's are phenominal when put next to the quads, the quads sound restrained - although the mid range and treble is super sweet - the S2's give you the feeling of being at the gig. Next up are a pair of Monitor Gold Ref. 10's, although these blow that £500 budget you set!! Anyone use the Gold Ref 10's, i'd be interested to hear any comments you have - i'll be hooking them up to a Rotel RCD-02 and Ra-01.

i have KEF Q1's, very good sound quality and only £250

err...this could get complicated! I don't any Kef's so either that is a response from a namesake or somebody pretending to be me!!! If it's the former then that's quite cool I suppose, if it's the later then that's pretty messed up.

So which is it?

before purchasing my mission volare v63s (should ve been £600 got 'em for £399)i tried a good few brands, quad 11 and 22's eeMA silver, totally dissagree with the opinion from Ash,quads trounced the silvers, also tried wharfedale evolution 30? the £600 ones......and, especially taking in the Superfi price on them ,i thought the missions were the ones!Now got them wired with Van Den Hull teatrack (thrown the qed sa away) and they sing!Now, i expect your saying "hey.theyre too big", there are smaller ones in the range, that will suit your requirements.

Dunno what or where the ee came from before i wrote MA silver....ignore it!

The Quads hold their value better than the Monitor. You could think of some second hand EPOS ES11 or ES12; they hold their value - mine even appreciated in value.

Hi John ,there are so many at this price point, sound and build vary dramitically between manufactures, and you didn't say what your system is, but you should shortlist,the the range from KEF and those from B&W, if the room is small you may also want to consider the B&W Leisure monitor series, I have a pair in my bedroom, running on a secondary zone, they look cool and sound awesome for what they are (120 each) plus you can add a sub to them if you like your bass heavy (320, I have Kef and B&W's elsewhere.

I have Quad 12L's with NAD C352, NAD C542 and they're very nice. The build quality is absolutely stunning - can't fault it. They're very detailed and forward sounding. However, I do find for me personally that the setup lacks warmth from the lower frequencies.

I'm actually considering getting the less expensive B&W 602 S3s to get a better bass extension. However, I'm not sure I'll be able to bring myself to get rid of the beautiful Quads! :)

The quads fit nicely in a small room (mine's about 12ft x 8ft), but they are quite sensitive to where they're positioned. There's quite a narrow sweet-spot.

Just out of interest, to one of the previous posters above, why did you bin your QED SA speaker cable? :) I have that cable. Makes me wonder if I should try something else. lol

Hey John..my brother uses the MA Bronze B2's on his setup at home...superb...detailed and warm..with lovely control. jsut make sure to get a decent pair of speaker stands for them as it tightens up the delivery no end.

cant go far wrong with these. good news is that he also has the C352 but with the C521bee cd player.

John

If you can I'd go with your ears; pick the recommended speakers from these posts, find a local shop who supply all (if you're very lucky) or most and book an audition with them. This is what I did and I was very glad I did. I tried three different makes (out of a short list of 4) and ended up with the Quads, my personal favourite and also that of my friend who I took along to help balance the "shiny new toy" bias we can all be prone to!

A shop may not be as cheap as the internet but I got some free stands when I bought mine.

John -
What's the rest of your system?
What speaker supports will you be using?
How big is the bedroom?