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Powered speakers or Monitors for around £300

post #1 of 14
3/1/11 at 1:35pm
Thread Starter 
I'm looking to get a good set of speakers for my PC setup. My budget is around £300 and I want the best performing compact setup at that price( 2.0 or 2.1). I have narrowed my search down to the list below but I not sure how they stack up against each other. All of the speakers that I have listed are powered monitors as I don't have a speaker amp nor the space for it. Most of them have glowing reviews but my predicament is selecting the best of the lot.
 
  • Adam S3X monitors
  • Swan M200MKII
  • KRK RP5
  • Behrigher Truth 3031A
  • Genelac 8020A

 

My NFB-10ES will act as the DAC for these. The Adams and the Swan are currently the front runners in my books. Any thoughts on which would be the best among these or indeed any other speaker/monitor that I may have missed?
 
 
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post #2 of 14
3/2/11 at 5:11am
Thread Starter 

No one? I do understand a lot of people ask similar kind of questions but can't find any proper comparison for the speakers that I have listed.

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post #3 of 14
3/2/11 at 5:17am

Dude, there are loads of threads on this kind of thing, probably not comparing studio monitors though. My advice would be that these are probably all quite similar, mostly being designed for studio use and therefore all attempting to be as similar as possible...

 

My opinions are that the Truths are huge, and all KRK and Genelac speakers look weird. And if you are still reading, go for the Swans!

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post #4 of 14
3/2/11 at 5:53am

I'm going to say the Swans.  If you look around Head-fi and Overclock.net(considering you did say pc speakers) they get tons of praise and are pretty good deal.  I agree with tws1 that the others look weird, the Swans are aesthetically pleasing :) I considered M200MKII but will settle with the M50W's since I want a 2.1 set up.  Good luck!   

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post #5 of 14
3/2/11 at 12:10pm

swans in the UK?  erm ive never found them anywhere

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post #6 of 14
3/2/11 at 12:16pm
Thread Starter 

There is one reseller in UK though not sure how good they are.

 

http://www.itemaudio.co.uk/swans_m200_iii.html

 

I would really like a comparison between M200 vs the A3X.

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post #7 of 14
3/2/11 at 1:36pm

ta, i wasnt aware of them.  tbh im always very sceptical though of swan and audioengine.  they get a good write up yes but it seem very very predominantly american based and i never see them compared to things like b&w, quad, focal, acoustic energy etc etc

 

even on that site i see the Adam A3x for the same price.  i dont know if it just that alot of european speaker brands arent around in the US so much or what but saying in isolation they are good means nothing to me. 

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post #8 of 14
3/2/11 at 4:20pm

Audition them, at least things like the Adams, KRKs and Genelecs. You can read all day about speakers (particularly monitors at similar price points) but ultimately you're not going to hear exactly what someone else does so it's better to see if you can get an idea of what they sound like before you part with your money.

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post #9 of 14
3/3/11 at 12:30am
Thread Starter 

Any suggestions where I can audition these speakers in central london?

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post #10 of 14
3/3/11 at 1:44am

genelec.I have the 8030.They are perfect!KRK kai behringer are worse than Genelecs,they dont compare.


Edited by Sotiris - 3/3/11 at 1:45am
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post #11 of 14
3/3/11 at 9:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by hardtarget666 View Post

Any suggestions where I can audition these speakers in central london?



Not off the top of my head, but look on the Genelec site, for instance, at UK dealers. I'm sure they'll be music shops that stock them (like GAK does, but they're not local for you). I'm jonesing for Focal CMS 50's myself and I'm sure I found at least 1-2 places where they sold them, although I'd ring first and ask if you can audition just in case they're incredibly naff and won't let you try.

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post #12 of 14
3/3/11 at 10:48am
Thread Starter 

Looks like auditioning isn't going to work for me frown.gif. I've got work related commitments and can't forsee arranging an auditioning for at least next 3 weeks and I can't wait that long. I've been doing fair bit of research it looks like I will going with the Adam A3X. Their pro music pedigree have won me over the Swans. I'm pretty sure the Swans are great speakers but Adams reputation means I have some level of comfort ordering them without any auditioning plus they come with 5 year warranty.

 

The only down side is that they are bit bass shy (60Hz to 50KHz) and it is perfectly understandable given the size of the speakers. I can always add a sub to compliment them if I ever feel the need to in future. Best part of all they are well below my £300 budget.

 

So Adams, here I come L3000.gif

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post #13 of 14
3/3/11 at 12:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mark2410 View Post

ta, i wasnt aware of them.  tbh im always very sceptical though of swan and audioengine.  they get a good write up yes but it seem very very predominantly american based and i never see them compared to things like b&w, quad, focal, acoustic energy etc etc

 

even on that site i see the Adam A3x for the same price.  i dont know if it just that alot of european speaker brands arent around in the US so much or what but saying in isolation they are good means nothing to me. 



I must say, Head Fi is pretty National,

but, europian speakers should be better most of times, I`m not quiet sure about the active ones though..

 


Edited by sonci - 3/4/11 at 8:40am
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post #14 of 14
3/4/11 at 5:47am

The Adams are great for the price, ribbon tweeter and all, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

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