BEGINNER'S GUIDE: HOW TO BUY YOUR NEW SPEAKERS. WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR AND WHAT TO AVOID

Paul Rigby firstly looks at broad issues regarding buying a pair of speakers then examines a range of speakers from differing price points. Mainly aimed at the beginner, hopefully everyone can take something away from this one. (NOTE: The included hardware list is included for awareness *only*)

SPEAKER LINKS

PATREON
The page arrives with a growing range of BUYER'S GUIDES.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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OTHER CREDITS
Old Bossa by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution

IMAGE CREDITS
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[stevezeidman]

I’m new to your channel for the US so I might have missed the boat to comment on this one, but here goes. I’m old so much of my experience is with speakers no longer for sale new. I have bought two of three I’m listing. The third is out of my reach but they’re the most dynamic I’ve ever heard.

Wharfedale Diamond 230 $450 USD
Revel Concerta 2 F36 $2, 000 USD
Klipsch La Scala. $12, 000 USD

A good friend of mine bought the Klipsch in 1973. They were just over $1, 000 then. Big money! Unbelievably, they are still manufactured today. Those speakers made me crazy! I had to try to acquire gear to try to get close to that sound...

[mrpositronia]

This is my favourite speaker round-up. As they aren't dominated by US brands. Meaning, these are relevant to us in the UK. Cheers!

[petervdveenmuis]

Cost me more then 14 years to find my ultimate speaker. The Jean Marie Reynaud Offrande monitor speakers. I'll keep them for life.

[povilassklerius]

Based on Your reviews, a year before I bought Q Acoutics 3020i and I'm really happy with it. Thanks.

[jim]

Great topic. For the average British living room I’ve never really heard or have been convinced by floor standing speakers for under a few thousand.
So my top three Bookshelf speakers over the last 30 years are:
1. Epos S11 or S14s depending on the size of the room. Magic speed and mid band coherence.
2. Neat Petite 11s. Really fast and sweet treble due to the emit ribbon tweeter.
3. Quadral Aurum Galan 9 bookshelf speaker. This is an incredible speaker that has the characteristics of the above but so much more. They sound huge for such a small cabinet and throw an incredible soundstage. I cannot believe they’re not more popular.

[Chiroman]

As an Oldtimer, 69yo, Steve, your Video is spot on applicable to me.... In 1987, I purchased new "audiophile" stereo equipment. NAD 1300 Preamp, NAD 2600 Amp, Dual CS5000 turntable, and KEF 104/2 tower speakers. Oh throw in a Onkyo CD 6 Disk player. We live in a relatively small Ranch house (1750 s.f.). When I picked up the Speakers, had to "hide" them in the basement until I could cajole the wifey to accept that I was installing them in our living No your Not !" was the immediate response. after a bit of time, and listening to some of "her" LPs, I won !!!. I am the real music affectionado. For the record, I still have that stereo setup, No Sub woofers were added. As we all know, if you play any sourced music on quality equipment, the difference is Amazing. Enjoy the Music everybody. Stay safe in this Madness unleashed on us (to be continued elsewhere).
PS: due to COVID, I worked from Home since March. Now I am retired due to health issues (not COVID related - spinal arthritic conditions [That is Hell as the stiffness / pain NEVER diminishes]. The home office evolved into a Mancave - Basement Studio. Nedw stereo equipment : Denon DRA-800H Receiver; New Tascam CD Player Recorder, New Tasacam Dual Cassette Deck; and a Teac CD / Cassette/ USB player & recorder (to Cassette and USB drives) and 2 pairs of Bookshelf speakers : 1) Elac Debut 6.2s and 2) Fluance Signature Series Bookshelf speakers . Albeit, they are different, but they do Play together very nicely. I may spring for a pair of Triangle BRO3s (saw the rav reviews on other Youtube channels). PPS: I also set up my Drum kit (a cheapo kit that my wife of all people, gifted to me for Xmas 2018). I play the drums (if you can call it that - didn't play for over 50 years!!), to My Music for retirement enjoyment. Cheers!!

[stlydan]

I still have my Bose 601 Series II Direct Array speakers that I bought new in 1984 for $500 each. I turn 57 Saturday and plan to listen to the records I'll get for my birthday on them; "Paul's Boutique" and "Coney Island Baby" remasters.

[uksteve]

After having speakers from a number of manufacturers I have found that ATC scm19's on sand filled Dynaudio stands are a stunning combination with my Naim SN3. I hope to move up to the ATC scm 40 floorstanders at some time. The delivery of soundstage imaging, open and dynamic sound are simply superb....

[geographyinaction]

Over the years, KEF, Paradigm and B & W have done very well for me. That was pairings with Luxman, Nakamichi, and then Rotel.

This gear was used from 1988 to 1992, 92 until 2011, and then from 2011 respectively.

[SenSimha]

My choices - Dali Zensor 3s, Wharfedale Evo 4.4 and Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 below 1K. Buchardt Audio s400, Klipsch Cornwall and B&W 707 S2.

[aussierob]

Hi Paul. The best pair of speakers i have ever owned were the Rogers Studio 1 (made in England), which i purchased in 1984 for $1600 dollars Australian.

[jimgardiner]

I took the route of designing and building my own speakers many years ago. Not for everyone but a truly satisfying experience in the end for me. I started simple with air suspension full range driver then progressed through base port two ways and on to transmission line 2 ways. I stopped about 10 years ago with a pair of 2 way transmission lines using Focal drivers. After a huge amount of design effort, testing and tweaking I ended up with the sound I wanted. Great base extension for 5 1/4” drivers, lovely mid range and smooth treble with the Focal inverted dome tweeter with phase plug. I also didn’t skimp on cross-over components using poly caps, non-inductive wire wound resistors and air core inductors. Still sound great, at least to my ear, today. I was striving for as flat a response curve as possible and minimum coloration. Also key was transient response which I think turned out great with the low Qe mid woofer thanks to its low mass and stiff Kevlar/Airogel sandwich cone material along with square wire wound coil and high flux magnet structure. It also has Decent Xmax with good linearity thanks to the metal post/phase plug and rubber surround.

[kenhudson]

I like the Spendor A1 my current speaker of choice, Q Acoustics 3030i and I recently heard a pair of Spendor D7s and wow!

[keithjones]

Bit late in the day but I run Q Acoustics 3050 in the living room and Fyne Audio 301 in the bedroom. Bit budget but I rate both pairs highly especially the 301's which offer great performance and value especially in a smaller room.

[buttonman]

I had the Spendor a7 for 3 months and sold them because I felt my Monitor Audio Silver 8 sounded equally as good at 1/3 the price.

[GOODGAME-slyc]

I’d like a speaker just for listening for music, high volume and i would like excellent Base and clear sound. I need your suggestion

[RiaTolstoy]

Spendor D7.2 - Detail, naturalness, mid range, demand attention. Speed good, when up against PMC’s, PMC’s were slow tried 26i’s/24i’s perhaps because of the TL? Preferred Spendor sound.
Buchardt S400 - soundstage, bass, bass and bass lol.... treble good, Mids slightly recessed.
KEF LS50. - great imaging, VFM, soundstage decent.
I have all the above. D7.2’s thru Rega Aethos, Bluesound Powernode2i with LS50’s and S400’s. Am selling LS50’s as S400’s beat them for full range and soundstage.

[wavefchan]

I respect you choices...and understand why you picked what you pick... Here are my 3 choices, from smallest to largest one of each Book shelf.. Klipsh RP 600..Towers Tekton Double impact, or Tekton Lures. ( Speaker of the year ) for many, and Dream speakers Wilson Alexx V..

[paulhickman]

Gone through a lot of speakers over the years. Ive 3 systems set up. In my main system I have Buchardt S400 signatures. Best speakers I've owned.
I also love Wharfdale Linton.
And Jamo C93.

[jimbojet]

KEF LS55 I think. As my first speakers, I believe they sound good, most reviews confirm that. Thank you.