Floor Standing Speakers

dc2

I'm a newbie to the modern day hi-fi world. I currently have an old system (25 years old) and want to replace it. I have chosen the following kit:

NAD 720BEE Receiver Amp (2X50Watt)
NAD C525BEE CD player
Q Acoustics 1030i floor standing speakers.

This system will be set up in my kitchen (same as my old one was). A couple of questions:

1. My kitchen is 4m x 3.5m in size. Will the room be able to handle this system?
2. Any general comments on my choice?

aaf

What's your budget and are they all the components you need/want?

Slaphead07

the amp and CD player are pretty good and will do you for years but the speakers are utter garbage. Have a look at www.richersounds.ie or in Peats - just about anything they have will be better than those "speakers". Honestly.... they're worth about €10 as plant holders.

And, despite the views of others here, I'd strongly advise you buy some decent speaker cable and spend a few bob on a good quality interconnect to link the amp and CD.

mik_da_man

It does really depend on your budget but I ave a Set of Mission M33i's that sound great, Cost me €199

Well worth it IMO, and I would fully agree with slaphead on the Speaker Cable

Mik

dc2

aaf - my budget is €1000 and yes, these are all the components I want.

I'm surprised to hear Slapheads opinion on the Q Acoustic 1030i speakers. I am buying them in Peats and when I listened to them they sounded fine to me. Also, reviewed in What Hi-Fi Sound and Vision - July 07, they got 5 stars with good comments about mid range and top end. The only negative was about the low end which was described as "a little blurry lacking the straight edges that the best standmounters at this price deliver." The review went on to say that "this critisism has to be taken in context: the 1030's are among the most involving, least compromised floorstanders available at the price." Final verdict was - "If you must have floor standers on a budget thses floor standers must be high on your list". Are the reviewers wrong? If so, can you recommend some speakers stocked by Peats or Richer Sounds which are better and don't cost a huge amount more. The 1030's cost €300 on the sale at Peats.

As far as I can see all other floor standers at Peats are over €500 apart from the Warfdale Diamond 9.4 which are €399 probably a bit less in the sale. Would you recommend them? I can't get onto the Richer Sounds site just now, but most of what they have is also over €500. Maybe you could recommend something from there also, if the site comes back up, and you have time. I am buying the amp and CD player at Richer Sounds

Mik-da-man - the M33i's get 5 stars in the same mag and good comments (not a full review only buyers guide.) Where did you get them for €199? They are listed as £230 in the mag which is €300, but I suppose that's OK if they are good speakers.

The other part of my question was about the speakers and the size of the room I will have them in - (3.5m x 4m). Any views on that?

mik_da_man

I got mine in Munster sounds in cork.
I'd recommend the Monitor Audio BR5 they sound fantastic
I have the Monitor Audio BR Series as my surround sound and am very happy.

But saying that I have heard the Q Acoustics ones too and I could not fault them. try to get a demo of both if possible.

Mik