Evening all.

I'm looking for some new floorstanders. I mostly listen to rock,
ranging from early 70s stuff to modern Power Metal. I'm trying to
decide between the KEF Cresta 30s, Gale 3040s and TDL KV6s.

The KEFs are the only ones I can find reviews for, and I like what I
read. Clear and precise, with descent, controlled bass. Most places do
them for £160, but Richer Sounds has them for £120. The other two I
can't find reviews for, but the bloke in the shop said they were
"better". I think he meant "more expensive" but I thought I'd ask for
some oppinions since both are in my price range.

Oh, and I'm using a Rotel 820BX2 amp, 50W per channel.

Paul

MoJo wrote:
Evening all.

I'm looking for some new floorstanders. I mostly listen to rock,
ranging from early 70s stuff to modern Power Metal. I'm trying to
decide between the KEF Cresta 30s, Gale 3040s and TDL KV6s.

The KEFs are the only ones I can find reviews for, and I like what I
read. Clear and precise, with descent, controlled bass. Most places do
them for £160, but Richer Sounds has them for £120. The other two I
can't find reviews for, but the bloke in the shop said they were
"better". I think he meant "more expensive" but I thought I'd ask for
some oppinions since both are in my price range.

Oh, and I'm using a Rotel 820BX2 amp, 50W per channel.

Paul


Hi there

We sold the Gale 3040 where I used to work in Denmark and I must say I
was not impressed, not even for the price - Nor was anyone else for that
matter, they have a remarkably "flat" and "shallow" sound to them, sorry
cannot find a better way to describe it. Cresta's are nice Have listened
to them on a previous occasion and they really do deliver the goods
despite their discreete dimensions. Not sure about the KV6's, never
heard them, I have heard some of the smaller tdl's and they were
definately allright.

In my humble opinion when you are looking to play this rather energetic
kind of music on speakers with small drive units it is important to look
for something where the drivers are in perfect symetry with the case and
are very tight and controlled, your amplifier won't set the world on
fire in the power department but it does not take a lot to bring a small
bass/midrange driver to panic if there is no harmony, especially if it
is looking at a reflex port which they nearly allways are in this kind
of contstruction. Have you considered maybe buying second hand, if I
were you I might be looking to Canadian manufacturer Paradigm or perhaps
System Audio where you will find true mastery of big sound from small
speakers.

Just my $.02

// J

"MoJo" wrote in message
oups.com...

Evening all.


Too easy - Jack Warner in Doxon of Dick Green! :-)

Thanks for the advice Jan.

I'll keep an eye on eBay for the brands you mention. I suppose I am
probably expecting a little bit too much from these size/price
speakers, with my amp.

Do you think a more powerful amp would help? I was thinking of
replacing it anyway at some point, so may as well be now.

When you say "perfect symetry with case", what exactly do you mean? You
will have to excuse my lack of knowledge when it comes to this kind of
thing I'm afraid. Most people seem to think that the KEFs offer very
good clarity though, which would seem to be what you are suggesting I
look for.

Paul

MoJo wiffled:
Thanks for the advice Jan.

I'll keep an eye on eBay for the brands you mention. I suppose I am
probably expecting a little bit too much from these size/price
speakers, with my amp.

Do you think a more powerful amp would help? I was thinking of
replacing it anyway at some point, so may as well be now.

When you say "perfect symetry with case", what exactly do you mean? You
will have to excuse my lack of knowledge when it comes to this kind of
thing I'm afraid. Most people seem to think that the KEFs offer very
good clarity though, which would seem to be what you are suggesting I
look for.

Paul

Real clarity will come at the expense of bass in a system with small
drivers. For your music you need that bass. Suggest you get something
massive and ugly off ebay, or stretch to a subwoofer. Look up Ditton 15 on
ebay, see what you think. Find some to listen to, and compare with anything
with a mere 5 inches. Size matters! 50W is more than your neighbours will
need btw.

"Keith G" wrote in message
...

"Triffid" wrote


Real clarity will come at the expense of bass in a system with small
drivers.


True.


For your music you need that bass.


Not always, not in a small listening environment. It's hard to go back to
the relatively muddy/flat sound of 'bassy' speakers if it's at the expense
of clarity, depth and detail.....


As I sent that off I wondered if it wasn't a 'personal hearing' thing -
these days (being no longer *young*) I like all the clarity I can get....

??

Interesting, Triffid. My room is 4x4.5m approx, with an annoying
chimney stack on one of the longer walls. Keith mentioned that bass
might not be a problem in a "small" environment, I guess I'll find out
if my room qualifies!

I borrowed some Ruark Templars from a friend, who is willing to sell
them for £250. Excellent condition, but I need to shift things around
a bit to get the best from them. So far though, they sound pretty good
to me.

Any comments on the Ruarks? They seem to be an expensive make, and are
a little bit more than I want to spend, but I might stretch to it...

Paul

"MoJo" wrote in message
oups.com...
Interesting, Triffid. My room is 4x4.5m approx, with an annoying
chimney stack on one of the longer walls. Keith mentioned that bass
might not be a problem in a "small" environment, I guess I'll find out
if my room qualifies!

I borrowed some Ruark Templars from a friend, who is willing to sell
them for £250. Excellent condition, but I need to shift things around
a bit to get the best from them. So far though, they sound pretty good
to me.

Any comments on the Ruarks? They seem to be an expensive make, and are
a little bit more than I want to spend, but I might stretch to it...

Paul

----
Ruark are excellent speakers, and sound far better than Kef Cresta's. The
Epilogue's are nice bookshelf's. I have Etudes.

"Nath" wrote in message
.. .

"MoJo" wrote in message
oups.com...
Interesting, Triffid. My room is 4x4.5m approx, with an annoying
chimney stack on one of the longer walls. Keith mentioned that bass
might not be a problem in a "small" environment, I guess I'll find out
if my room qualifies!

I borrowed some Ruark Templars from a friend, who is willing to sell
them for £250. Excellent condition, but I need to shift things around
a bit to get the best from them. So far though, they sound pretty good
to me.

Any comments on the Ruarks? They seem to be an expensive make, and are
a little bit more than I want to spend, but I might stretch to it...

Paul

----
Ruark are excellent speakers, and sound far better than Kef Cresta's. The
Epilogue's are nice bookshelf's. I have Etudes.


I can second that, I've had a pair of KEF Cresta 2s, a pair of Ruark Sabres,
a pair of Swordsman (IIRC) and I still have a pair of Paladins (big brother
to the Talisman) - fine as the little KEF's are/were, they are no comparison
to the Ruarks which are in a different league entirely....

The Talisman is a well-regarded speaker generally and is now out in Mk III
form, to the best of my knowledge. The early models can be quite easily got
for as little as 200 spons/pair, with a little judicious hunting about....

(That muppet at The Emporium usually has a pair in stock - flap cash in his
face and get a bit of discount, it's the holiday season!! ;-)

Well, I decided to go for the Ruarks. Quite happy with them, they sound
nice and clarity is good around the mid range, quite handy for
separating out the guitars and vocals. I don't know the technical term,
but you get a nice "slap" from the drums, although it pans out a bit at
the low end.

The sound stage is surprisingly good too, for my room layout. Pink
Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon sounds full and seems to carry that
lovely sense of irresistable momentum that I remember. The guitars on
Nightwish's "End of all Hope" are lovely too :-)

I might look into a sub, however. The bass is okay, but not quite what
I was looking for. Listing to power metal bands like Sonata Arctica or
Tobias Sammet's Avantasia sound a little shallow. I might try standing
them differently too. I need them raised up a bit and currently have
them on some cheap stands, but the guy in Richer Sounds suggested that
they might be better off in some of those ornamental breeze blocks from
B&Q! Maybe I can improve the bass a bit that way too.

Anyway, thanks for all the hints so far guys.

Paul