Hi everyone!

I am going through the perfectionist / painstaking process of trying to put together a decent and affordable stereo and home theater for a small to average sized room. I listen to all kinds of music ranging from Classical to House music.

I live on the "other side of the pond" of most of you guys...

I have read some very good reviews of some British speakers - particularly the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1, the B&W DM601 and DM602 S3, and the Monitor Audio Bronze B2.

I have also read some terrific reviews on Canadian speakers - Paradigm, Axiom and Energy speakers in particular.

Additionally I have read some great reviews on a few American speakers - Ascend Acoustics and NHT!

AS WELL AS good reviews JMlab Chorus 706 S and the PSB Image B25, which is supposed to be amazing!

HOW does one make a decision when he does not live near any dealers of any of these speakers?

So, I have 2 questions for anyone willing to answer!

1) Can you name 3 excellent "no-brainer" speakers that you would be more than pleased with if given to you, that cost between 200 and 300 pounds?

2) Can you name 3 that are highly reviewed by some that you would try to avoid like the plague for some reason?

:)

Thank you!

You've hit the nail on the head with all of those British speakers. A couple of others that I'd add on to that list are the Monitor Audio Bronze B2, only £200, but great all round speakers, they'd suit your varied music tastes. Also, the Linn Classik Unik. If someone 'gave' me these speakers, I would probably do a little happy dance, and then hug them for a long time. Very, very, very classy speakers.

I wouldn't rule out Castle speakers either. The relatively new Castle Richmond 3i (a bit more than £300) gets very good reviews and I'm the happy owner of some Castle Harlech S2 (and Bastion Centre for that matter) which have served mere very well for several years.

Castle also make 1 or 2 models smaller than the Richmond 3i, but their names have disappeared from my memory right now...

I have also heard a lot of good about Quad and Wharfedale speakers, but I've not had the pleasure to listen to these myself.

Timothy, I recently bought the new small booshelves from Castle.

Castle Richmond 3i.

At under £300, they offer the best finish I could find.
Very musical, 5 year warranty, superb quality, real wood cabinet with different veneers.

Bought mine at http://petertyson.co.uk for £290 incl. postage.

I chose the Rosewood finish, very nice.
The natural oak or walnut are very nice too.

I can only recommend them.

For more information, see:
http://forum.hifichoice.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=17922

I can confirm the Castle are very nice small bookshelves:

http://castle.uk.com/pages/classic_richmond.htm

Musical
Easy to drive
Choice of authentic real wood veneers at this price point
5 yr warranty
Entirely conceived, built in the UK

http://castle.uk.com/pages/cabs_veneers_select.htm

Can't believe no-one has mentioned the Kef Q1s! Ace speakers and they work well for home theatre.

I second the feedback of the preceeding message...
Really impressed with the Kef Q1 speakers - fine in a smaller room and 'fast' (by that I mean nimble... is that related to the old term of damping factor by any chance?!...).