Which small speakers?

[jono]

Have just moved house and my new living room won't take my Tannoy MX3 front, MX2 rear and MXC speakers. It breaks my heart to have to get rid of them, so I'm looking for some good quality small cube speakers, probably wall-mountable, that can hold their own against larger speakers.
Any recommendations?

[Brian Blessed Badger]

Depends how much you want to spend, there are

Mission FS1/FS2 AV flat panels (400-500)
Kef Eggs (650ish)

Check out the speakers forum at www.avforums.com for more comments

Phil

[nigel_williams]

Check out the Acoustic Energy Aego P5 - about £460 posted on the bargain forum recently. It's a bit like the Bose systems (same designer apparently) but about a quarter of the price.

What Hi-Fi gave it 5 stars recently. Two of my friends have bought them recently and are very happy.

[MartinC]

nice though the Aego P5s are, I thought they were pretty low for output levels... 30W or thereabouts?

you can get the FS2s for well below £500, and possibly less than £400, empiredirect have them listed for £369 for example.

jono, I actually replaced my Tannoy M2/M1/MC setup with these - so virtually identical to what you want to do.
the Missions are far better speakers in both CD & DVD duties.

here are some pics of mine, wall mounted.
http://uk.photos.yahoo.com/bc/cismconn/lst?.dir=/My+Photos&.view=t

the Kefs are equally as good, slight differences but not huge. I couldn't tell any real difference when demo-ing so went for the FS2s (and thereby saved myself £250-300).

the Missions FS1 set is also due out very soon,... there have been a few reports that it is actually out now. its a similar set to the FS2s with a bit of a restyling.

[Scottola]

Can someone tell me exactly why Bose stuff isn't really liked.

I'm in the same position (needing small speakers) and I liked the AM15 speakers, I heard a demo and to me they sounded really good but most people seem to either hate/slate them or really love them.

Is it just the fact it's quite overpriced?

[MartinC]

a few are actually okay... some are not.

there was certainly a lot of suspicion over the last few years when they basically refused to allow magazine reviews.. (seems to have passed now). but it did only give you one conclusion that Bose didnt want their speakers being directly compared to other makes... wonder why?

you do have to wonder about value as well.
HCC reviews one of their lifestyle things this month... at £3300!

for that price, you could buy a top dvd player, top of the range amp, and still have money spare for ~£1500 on speakers.. (the Gallos for example if you wanted small speakers).

I've demo-ed a few for humour value whilst the missus was off shopping and not been impressed. at best, most of them are average and way overpriced.

their sales people also make ludricous claims that they are the only make with dsp/ soundfield technology that can turn a mono/ stereo signal into a full 5 speaker mix.

there is this strange thing called Dolby Prologic II if I remember correctly...hmmmm.

dont even think about asking 6.1/dd ex/ dts es either... they've never heard of it so you dont need it.:eek:

at least get a comparable with something else before buying... the aegos, kefs, missions or similar if spending say £400-700, perhaps the gallos if you want to spend £1200-1500.

not sure of the model you are talking about, but any of the above sets would wipe the floor with the Bose ones I've heard.. some still had a passive sub in a set that was £800! scary.:eek:

[Scottola]

Cheers, since posting earlier I was taken by the Mision FS2s, they do seem to fit the bill too and are reasonably priced too.

I had a look at the the Aego P5 thingy, but it seems you can only get it with a amplifier, which I don't particularly need.

Can the speakers just hook into an existing 5.1 amp?

I've certainly learnt a lot about Bose and speakers surfing around tonight. It's certainly food for thought.

[Kuni D]

If you want small cube, then your prob best sticking with Bose ;)

Other wise B&W :smokin:

[Scottola]

It's not really that I need small cubes, just small.

What are the B&W ones?

[ixi]

Scottola - the Aego is available with or without decoder but they both come with the amplification is built into the sub.

Nigel - you certainly have been an advocate of the P5 and my bargain find, cheers :)

Ian

[nigel_williams]

I heard the Aego 2 speaker system about a year ago and was quite impressed. It's not something that I need or would consider buying but several of my friends were looking for surround sound with a high wife/girlfriend approval factor.... these fit the bill nicely!

I've heard Bose stuff in the past which was OK but it's not real hi-fi and it's way too expensive. The Aego gives you the convenience and looks at a very reasonable price.

[John Murray]

For the past couple of years, I've been using the Boston Acoustics Micro 90 & REL Q150 sub combo - this setup (or rather, a newly re-launched version of it) is reviewed in the current issue of 'What Video & TV'. I'm using dipoles at the rear rather than the standard speaker set though.

It aint cheap (about £1,000), but it has a terrific sound on both cinema & CD duties - the speakers are small and wall-mounted (but heavy, as they are die-cast aluminium) and it stands up well in comparison to my mate's system which is £2,000 worth of full-size B&W speaker kit (in a much larger room).

[Radiohead]

The B&W VMI's are jolly sexy.....

[Radiohead]

The B&W VMI's are jolly sexy.....

[Scottola]

Well, I've been ruminating all day now and although I like the KEFs, I'm going to plump for the runner up (in a good way) , the FS2s.

I read loads of reviews now and I think the way the speaker technology actually works will suit my living room much better than the convential speakers.

Where the normal speakers are placed at the mo I do get a limited sweet spot for the surrounds, but it seems with the FS2s this isn't really a problem as the apparently the sound 'gets to you' where ever they are placed (within reason of course!)

[punisher46]

MartinC, what have u used in the corners to cover the speaker wire?

[MartinC]

nothing.

I go vertical up onto a picture rail.. all the speaker cable is tacked down on that.

you should be able to paint over it fine though.. very very thin stuff.

[Scottola]

I'll concur with MartinC, my wire goes around the top of the coving and down behind the curtains in the bay window, and I'm going to paint over the coving (maybe, one day soon, honest).

As it is so thin and my ceiling is pretty high you don't really notice the wire.

I'm very pleased with the speakers and I see the FS1s got a good revie in HCC this month too.

[andymc]

If your speaker cable is quite thin and you're careful you can run a length of wide masking tape over the cable in the corner. Paint with the same emulsion used on the walls and the wires are virtually invisible without the effort of gouging out routes in the wall, filling and painting.
I've done this with telephone extensions but for some reason I still haven't got around to doing it in the lounge. Probably because I'm thinking of moving the rears....

[Justin]

How small is small?

Just about every manufacturer has something "compact" now anyway! Along with the Keffs, Tannoys got some small FX5.1s available, they supposed to be available soon without the sub.

theres also the little MS premiers, which you can get on their own rather then in a complete pack.

HTH?

[craigizmo2k2]

Eltax stuff is brilliant value for money. I have elatx silverstone 160s and a millenium center which sound great.

Good recomendation is the millenium minis by eltax (If they still make them) and a good subwoofer. Don't have a sub do i can't recomend there.

Other good makes, Wharfedale, jamo, tannoy (as you know)

Just demo a load of them.

Regards,

C.