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?

Thanks,

Gordon

"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.

On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:15:46 -0000, "Keith G"
wrote:

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.

I wonder if the marketing manager kept his job after someone realised
they shared their name with a type of rubbish bin :-)

"Laurence Payne" NOSPAMlpayne1ATdsl.pipex.com wrote in message
...
On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:15:46 -0000, "Keith G"
wrote:

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.

I wonder if the marketing manager kept his job after someone realised
they shared their name with a type of rubbish bin :-)


Probably had the same effect as it did on Rolls Royce car sales in Germany
when they called one of their models the 'Silver Mist'....

:-)

On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:33:41 -0000, "Keith G"
wrote:


"Laurence Payne" NOSPAMlpayne1ATdsl.pipex.com wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:15:46 -0000, "Keith G"
wrote:

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.

I wonder if the marketing manager kept his job after someone realised
they shared their name with a type of rubbish bin :-)


Probably had the same effect as it did on Rolls Royce car sales in Germany
when they called one of their models the 'Silver Mist'....

And don't forget the Vauxhall Nova in Spain.

d
--
Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

On 18 Jan, 13:43, (Don Pearce) wrote:
On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:33:41 -0000, "Keith G"
wrote:





"Laurence Payne" NOSPAMlpayne1ATdsl.pipex.com wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:15:46 -0000, "Keith G"
wrote:

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.

I wonder if the marketing manager kept his job after someone realised
they shared their name with a type of rubbish bin :-)

Probably had the same effect as it did on Rolls Royce car sales in Germany
when they called one of their models the 'Silver Mist'....

And don't forget the Vauxhall Nova in Spain.

or the MR2 in france

Doc

"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?

Thanks,

Gordon



Whatever you do remember one thing. To get the good easy sound that you
like you need to move air, and to move air properly you need a big drive
unit. Ruark and Royd do nice speakers but mainly with small drive units,
so they have to move a long way to shift much air. If you look at the
likes of Linn, B&W, Monitor Audio, and Mission floor-standers you will
find most of them have larger drive units.

On the other hand if you like what you have why change it? I had/have a
pair of Spendor BC1's that I've had for years: I replaced them a few
years back with KEF Q55's - and even now the more I listen to them the
more I regret it.

Look for some decent secondhand units, and consider replacing your amp
with something like a NAD, Rotel, or Marantz.

Richer Sounds are always a good starting point. If you are anywhere near
Hull go and look at s/h in Fanthorpe's.


--
Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com

"Woody" wrote in message
...
"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?

Thanks,

Gordon



Whatever you do remember one thing. To get the good easy sound that you
like you need to move air, and to move air properly you need a big drive
unit. Ruark and Royd do nice speakers but mainly with small drive units,
so they have to move a long way to shift much air. If you look at the
likes of Linn, B&W, Monitor Audio, and Mission floor-standers you will
find most of them have larger drive units.

That's something that I don't understand. Hifi is supposedly all about
getting decent sound reproduction. However, most hifi speakers have bass
drivers so small they've got no chance of producing any sort of decent bass.

"Doki" wrote in message
...

"Woody" wrote in message
...
"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?

Thanks,

Gordon



Whatever you do remember one thing. To get the good easy sound that you
like you need to move air, and to move air properly you need a big drive
unit. Ruark and Royd do nice speakers but mainly with small drive units,
so they have to move a long way to shift much air. If you look at the
likes of Linn, B&W, Monitor Audio, and Mission floor-standers you will
find most of them have larger drive units.


That's something that I don't understand. Hifi is supposedly all about
getting decent sound reproduction. However, most hifi speakers have bass
drivers so small they've got no chance of producing any sort of decent
bass. .
That's an overly simplistic analysis. To get you bass you need to move a lot
of air, but that need not necessarily mean a large driver. A long-throw
driver can move as much air as a larger short-throw driver, whilst the
cabinet design also comes into play here. The most extreme example is the
exponential horn, where it's the size of the horn mouth that matters, not
the driver. Horn-loaded cinema speakers from the 1920s and 1930s often had
bass drivers as small as 2".

David.


David.

"David Looser" wrote in message
...
"Doki" wrote in message
...

"Woody" wrote in message
...
"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?

Thanks,

Gordon



Whatever you do remember one thing. To get the good easy sound that you
like you need to move air, and to move air properly you need a big drive
unit. Ruark and Royd do nice speakers but mainly with small drive units,
so they have to move a long way to shift much air. If you look at the
likes of Linn, B&W, Monitor Audio, and Mission floor-standers you will
find most of them have larger drive units.


That's something that I don't understand. Hifi is supposedly all about
getting decent sound reproduction. However, most hifi speakers have bass
drivers so small they've got no chance of producing any sort of decent
bass. .
That's an overly simplistic analysis. To get you bass you need to move a
lot of air, but that need not necessarily mean a large driver. A
long-throw driver can move as much air as a larger short-throw driver,
whilst the cabinet design also comes into play here. The most extreme
example is the exponential horn, where it's the size of the horn mouth
that matters, not the driver. Horn-loaded cinema speakers from the 1920s
and 1930s often had bass drivers as small as 2".

Throw can help, but at the end of the day, the size of the cone matters a
lot. As an example, a 6" sub driver I looked at for my car has a piston area
of 114cm2, the next size up, which is 7.125" has a piston area of 231cm2.
Given similar throws (the larger speaker actually has a longer throw),
you're going to get twice as much air moved by a driver only a little bit
bigger. The dimensions are to the outer edge of the suspension by the way.
For a normal hifi speaker (ie, a box with some drivers stuck in the front),
there's no substitute for a big cone.