2.0 used offerings I have in classifieds near me. some help for a newb

[roberton]

so I see various used speakers for sale and lets pretend they are all in good working order. maybe not mint in aesthetics. Ive not heard these brands but know who they are and that they make great speakers. I dont like boomy sound. I like deeper hum bass but tight. but not loud bass. tight and accurate. I like BA speakers which are known for nice highs and mids. add a bit of tight but not room shaking lows is nice. some movies, some music. not rumbling bass not shrill highs. accurate. as possible with them.

speakers that i see offered. im sure I can find more and there were some desktop for the same price which i wont mention. these are floor speakers. I was supposed to get some active speakers from my friend but realize there are better options for a bit more money. also I want higher level brans then the one I was supposed to get

kef K160
kef c65
kef q55
paradigm phanton v4
wharfedale valdus 400

this wont be played at crazy volumes. not rock or heavy bass. I do have an active 12" sub thats at minimal levels. its just for a bit of hum but not boomy vibrating and I like tight bass and accurate mids high. not shrill. I do like boston acoustics speakers. I love their highs and mids. I cant find any for a decent price. music I like are some mtv music, eurotrash, 70's 80s. not jazz or classical. early rock, 70s disco, not much from newer stuff. pet shop boys, queen, air supply, chicago (ive not heard many that can really make their music shine but I havent heard many speakers), depeche mode, foreigner, spandeu ballet, reo speedwagon, van halen, hall and oates, talking heads some kylie minougue which sounds bad on many speakers. her highs arent produced nicely. too shrill and it breaks up.

im posting this not know whats needed to sort through them. if you can ask me some questions for more info fo the choice

I have a denon receiver. right now I have some small sats but they are really lacking. I want fuller warmer sound. not bass dominant. I can always use my equalizer to tweak what I want.

if you can give me your professional expertise which are good to get Id be very grateful. I appreciate your time.

 

[sanford12]

For me personally I'm not enamored of the British speakers sound. I've had B&W 704's and Kef Q950's and auditioned some Warfedales. Took me 2 years and a pair of TW 1a's to realize I didn't really like the Q950's. I wouldn't get too caught up in buying right now and be patient. Letting price be your guide and settling will lead to regret. There's so many new bookshelf speakers that will surprise how good well rounded speakers they are same with some floor standers. With new you can give them a listen and if you don't like them return them. It will serve you better doing a lot of research on your own. If your Denon is a AV receiver you might want to visit some new amplification options. Great new speakers and amps have never been so cheap.

 

[roberton]

paradign not good? theyre canadian eh. Id love to buy boston acoustics but cant find. some douche is selling his vr30 for $250 with a dented cone cover. I told him to look around and check prices there are better ones that sell for $100 less then his. but with BA I do love the highs and mids. and just use my active sub to give a little supplementation. not a lot is needed for me . I had experience with BA car audio and I fell in love with them. no bw in my budget in searches. I am strict with budget. I wont say the budget but with these speakers I listed, not much and I want better sound then magnavox or aiwa speakers hahaha


truthfully I prefer to not have my desktop taken up with speakers if I can help it. I can really use that space. I think also people here are more fine tuned with what they want and the brands they like vs me who just wants to hit it roughly in the zone I need. use EQ to tweak what I like. no issue with wharfedales. they always sounded nice. to me. never heard paradigm. dont know their characteristics. I know BA well.

and with that said, heres a stupid question from curiosity. I see tons selling their centers. if someone finds 2 the same models, can they be used as desktops vertically?

as you can tell, im not so set on what I want. yes denon 5.1 receiver. older one from early 2000. im not set on buying new otherwise id goto the stores and shop. I do like buying used things.

 

[Sandman1221]

You should be able to pull out a dented cone cover with sticky tape, like Gorilla tape, and then carefully release tape from cone cover using 70% isopropanol. Have never needed to do it myself, others on AK may have better ways to do it.

Make sure your denon can properly power the speakers on the channel used for them, and amp/speaker ohm rating is matched.

Sure, a pair of matched center speakers can be used as L/R stereo speakers.

 

[roberton]

thanks for the assist Sandman. can i ask someone to rate by level/heirarchy these kef?

kef K160
kef c65
kef q55

ill go see what the rec # is

Denon AVR 1602 A/V Receivers user reviews : 4.3 out of 5 - 51 reviews - audioreview.com

Denon AVR 1602 A/V Receivers user reviews : 4.3 out of 5 - 51 reviews - audioreview.com

www.audioreview.com

avr-1602. dam I need to get a remote. its been in storage for like 8 years now., not sure if its enough or not but I dont blast my speakers ever. even 30w per channel is more then enough. I have a little pos 4.1 thats like 25w each and Im not really blasting it. if it does 50w well im in heaven

 

[roberton]

updating this., went to see the phantom v4. what a bummer. no grills, and a crack on one drivers. he sent me a video of the pushed in cap of the cone, and there was a line on the cone but he didnt say anything. I figured scratch or crack. it was a crack. the bottom feet were twisted. neglected pair but holy cow for a newb like me they sounded so lovely. weak lows. mids needs a bit more oomph. my sub would handle lows. but so nice the tweeters. mids need to come up. I only played one song (fleetwood mac everywhere) and moved over to the cracked cone and there was a perceptable light buzz. bummer.

Im with some horrible sats on the desk so I guess anything decent will wow me and Im so desperate for good speakers. Im proud I was able to walk away. no grills then Id have to look at these ugly things...youre crazy. at least id have the grill black and id paint it black. but definitely can see 2000 design colors. they used that for computers desks alot.

should I try the wharfedale valdus next? they are close nearby as well. maybe theres a reason why hes asking $110 for them? or thats what theyre worth.

should I try any of the kef?

 

[Chad Michael]

@roberton

Audio friend Dale and I have always liked KEF speakers in general. I currently have a set of C30 (8" 2 way bookshelf) in my living room. They are a bit ... dark, so I add a touch of treble. Sometimes, I also add just a touch of sub.

I believe your heirarchy for the 3 KEF's are as you listed.... series K, then C, then Q. Happy listening, and let us know what you've tried, or purchased.

 

[roberton]

im so desperate to find something and im being impulsive. if I had decent speakers to hold me off then Id really take my time to find a nice good set. it all happened because I got an active 12" sub. now im down this rabbit hole and I know once ill get decent boxes ill look for something better. I think I caught the bug.

problem is I want taller speakers that are at least 35". kef are not that tall ill have to use some lift under and I hate stands. they look horrendous. I do LOVE those horizontal lines on the k160 vintage look. also the others with big kef logo diagnonaly on them.

btw whats the deal with hifi-review.com ? its hard to understand the reviews. its like it was written in another language and a broken english translation. I just cant understand many things they write there. I think its my newbiness. no offense.

wharfedale are out on my list. I come to realize that you need to go much higher for quality and valdus are meh. plus I feel 2x8" will be too much.

saw a guy selling mb quart. thats the era when they did good stuff before selling out. hes asking $210. 18 weeks online and nothing so that says it all. maybe ill offer $170 ?

MB Quart QLC400 Floor standing speakers review, test, price

www.hifi-review.com

 

[Chad Michael]

Interesting that you mention MBQuart, I happen to have these QLS-530. Beautiful boxes, made in Germany, lows and highs are wonderful. The mids are not quite as satisfying as my Celestion DL-8 series II. I'm into different horses for different courses.... like having different speakers to serve different sources (sorry for the lame rhyme) Let me see if I can find a pic of the DL-8

 

[Chad Michael]

 

[Chad Michael]

FWIW - I paid about $400 for my MBQ's, used, years ago. That sounds like a good deal to me, for the towers.

I'd make an offer on the MBQ, and the least expensive KEF.... get them both, then compare. Have fun

 

[roberton]

thanks for the help and info. I only know mb quart from my teen years in late 80s when i was looking for my first car audio and couldnt afford mb quart and got boston acoustics instead with denon cassette head unit "benzi box" . are mb quart a "jbl" more consumer brand that tries to do everyting or a quality brand? I know from car audio they were killer in the 80's-90s. especially their components.

if they are "lacking" on the mids, can I use an equalizer to boost them a bit or that wont help? I do prefer more bright speakers then midbassy/boomy speakers. im not a bass head but a little teasing of low hum is great. I like BA speakers for being bright but cant find any in my country.

the kef are so beautiful but are too short and that means a stand and I really dont want a stand. I always want my desktop space so no desktops. the MBQ QLC400 are around 35" so thats kick A**!

seller says he hasnt run them for 2 years but last time he did they sounded killer. I should come hear them he suggested, 18 weeks for sale and no one picked it up. his price of $210 is too high? or maybe the brand isnt known here, I was thinking that at some point he might drop the price seeing as its not selling for so long to $180, then id offer $170 but he says flexible a BIT so not good. not sure how the price is. these are from 1998 or so.

pics included. has some wear/dust. needs a good wipe, washing the grills and maybe a light coat of fabric dyeing and some pledge will make it look sharp again. what do you gurus suggest?

 

[roberton]

View attachment 3311062
Interesting that you mention MBQuart, I happen to have these QLS-530. Beautiful boxes, made in Germany, lows and highs are wonderful. The mids are not quite as satisfying as my Celestion DL-8 series II. I'm into different horses for different courses.... like having different speakers to serve different sources (sorry for the lame rhyme) Let me see if I can find a pic of the DL-8

thats cute, I didnt hear that before!

you paid $400 for these ones here? and the gray ones you show?

im guessing the 404 was the upgrade version but towards the end he plays them and they dont sound great., I guess its his phone or so thats not able to transfer the quality but from phone to YT to my setup it gets wonky

 

[2FarGone]

Amazon has these Triangle BRO3 satellites for $349 In black ash.I have a pair of these in a second system at my summer home. For that money new, it’s my perception that it would be hard to do better for the money. Mine are in chestnut.

Triangle Borea BR03 review

A new contender for best in class

www.whathifi.com

Amazon.com

 

[Bill S]

If you have a sub, why look for floor standers? There are nice bookshelves that put out decent, tight bass to 40Hz and your sub would fill in below that. Get them up to listening level with stands. Triangle Borea BR03 are $350 new. Highly efficient at 90 db SPL with punchy bass to 44 Hz. I've recommended them before and they are a great value. They look nice too with binding posts and magnetic grills. Adorama has them in various finishes - blond, chestnut, etc.

 

[Chad Michael]

....you paid $400 for these ones here? and the gray ones you show?....

Bought the Celestion DL8 series II, brand new, around 1987 / 1988. List price was $600, I paid $425

The MBQuart QLS-530, I bought around 2012, used for $400 plus shipping (which was affordable back then)

 

[roberton]

If you have a sub, why look for floor standers? There are nice bookshelves that put out decent, tight bass to 40Hz and your sub would fill in below that. Get them up to listening level with stands. Triangle Borea BR03 are $350 new. Highly efficient at 90 db SPL with punchy bass to 44 Hz. I've recommended them before and they are a great value. They look nice too with binding posts and magnetic grills. Adorama has them in various finishes - blond, chestnut, etc.

I need my space on the desktop and I cant be with speaker stands. I really dislike their look. apologies. I love the long elegance of the floor speakers. I have the sub as I got it for free. the person actually threw out floors and I didnt think about it at the time before looking for speakers. but going from $200 to 350+stands is too much for me. I really shouldnt even be buying right now.

Im only starting to dip my feet into the home audio world. I need small steps. I dont know mb quart for home audio and very little info about them. I guess Ill listen and see but I want to drop the price on these or ill keep looking. 18 weeks, no interest. drop the price or ill keep looking. its fine. im just hung up on the brand from my youth. but many other brands Ill consider. saw some cantons , paradigms, infinity, mission bw, but brought some MBQ brought memories from my youth.

new into this rabbit hole. first step into this world will be used. btw I live overseas so shipping will be too much. add customs too. will end up at $1000 with stands. too much for my pocket now. I know many here f*rt a grand out like nothing but for me I havent adjusted to spending this much on speakers.

 

[roberton]

Bought the Celestion DL8 series II, brand new, around 1987 / 1988. List price was $600, I paid $425

The MBQuart QLS-530, I bought around 2012, used for $400 plus shipping (which was affordable back then)

how wpould you characterize MBQ sound signature? cantons are more vocally instrument strong? the hi fi reviews says the MBQ400 would cater to most people with their sound signature. for me tight bass is a must. doesnt have to be low. not shrill high but BA bright is nice, clear mids but not dominant and not muffled.

 

[twiiii]

Another Boston Acoustics story. It was the mid 70's when we became a Boston dealer. I was just about to start my out of country Disco installation trips. But when I was home one Wednesday I got to hear Bostons for the first time at our morning sale meeting. The New England sound for sure. AR, KLH, Boston supposedly Bozak, RTR, EPI, Snell, etc etc etc. I new Bozaks. I owned Bozak, When I wasn't doing commercial and professional sound service or intallations I helped out with retail sales and service issues. But At the time I preferred B&O to all the New England sound speakers. Guess which speakers gave us the most hair pulling issues. Boston. People were blowing woofers or having the midranges dragging the voice coils or the just total tweeter failure. I had to go on the calls because I could take my Tektronics curve plotter. It wasn't that the crossovers were bad or defective I thought. It was the parameters they chose for the crossovers. Plus the crossovers were cheaply made.

We only had a very few Boston crossovers fail causing the speakers to be come subject to abuse. Another issue with Boston was the Advertising people for the company were always to optimistic about the power the speakers could handle. But if the power was concentrated in the bass or folks liked to emphasize the bass Boston woofers didn't have chance. With more Highs on records due to the disco craze Boston tweeters became very susceptible to failure. When You are giving 4 year warranties on a total systems we sold we had to be concerned with Boston.

Now the Boston rep, was our, Mcintosh, Telarc, Krell, and Bozak rep, too. He was a stocking rep so all we needed to do is give Charlie a call, and the appropriate parts would be on the bus that evening and I could have them installed by 10:00 AM the next morning. Parts cost us nothing. But salesman and service people need to get paid and that is where the rub came in when servicing Boston. A series. Now the Lynfeld (SP!) speakers were much more rugged if you could stand the screachy tweeters. Thats why I preferred M&K and B&O 4700, 5700, M and S series loud speakers. So if the deal is on the later Bostons have at it, but if its on the earlier speakers just remember to tread lightly on the with the volume and tone controls. Place them closer to back walls and corners if you need more bass.

But don't feel you are buying defective speakers. Klipsch had the same issues as did many others. Just be fore warmed. Then there is the issue of load impedance of Boston Speakers and that caused many of the issues with integrated amps and receivers coming from the Orient at the time.

 

[roberton]

sorry for my tardy reply @twiiii
nice experience with boston of that era, thank you for sharing. very interesting. those bostons that had issues were for the 70's boston speakers? how were the 90s boston speakers? were they better? some idiot was selling a v30 pair for $225. I told him get lost. $225 for 35 year old speakers. you so crazy.

I nabbed a pair of MINT MINT MINT KEF Q55 for $105 (currency converted) I have a pos chinese all in one amp. tried connecting one and it sounded broken. crackly and would hardly put out sound. connected the denon receiver and lovely sound. but I think something was wrong with my laptop audio so i connected it to my ryzen pc and holy cow im in love. nice tight bass. not super low but the mids and highs were so nice. not shrill or muffled.

the only problem is I dont understand the connectors on the back. does it matter which of the red or black terminals I use?

thank you to all the great folks here who threw their experience and expertise at me. very much appreciated.