"Gordon MacPherson" wrote in message
...
I listen mainly to classical music. I have had for many years a pair of
Celestion Ditton 44s driven by an equally old Cambridge P50 amp. I thought
about replacing the Dittons with shelf speakers but none that I could
afford gave me the open "easy" clear cound that came from the Dittons. I am
now in a position to think about floor speakers with a budget of up to
around £1000. Any recommendations as to speakers I shoud investigate?



The obvious answer to that is that you must audition the candidate speakers
in your own home, on your own kit and with your own music....

.....but a 1,000 pounds is dangerous territory for a pair of speakers - not
enough for the 'highest quality' and too much for a bargain pair of older,
secondhand pair of speakers but right on the mark for getting flogged a pair
of top of the range, ultra-modern 'AV speakers' which is what most of the
shops seem to stock these days. The clue here is they will have a 'famous
name' but sound nothing like they used to - Wharfedale, Tannoy and KEF all
spring immediately to mind.

The trick is not to feel obliged to buy if you are loaned a pair from a
nearby shop - I know of a couple of instances where people have got rid of
old speakers, bought brand new, grown increasingly disappointed with them
and then sought out the same speakers they had in the first place!

If it's at all helpful: I've had various models of most of the modern makes
pass through my hands - the only pair that were obvious keepers from Day 1
were (and still are) a pair of Ruark Paladins which can be found for about
500 quid, here and there.