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Floorstander Speaker Recommendations for Sansui AU-X701

kk_coastal

kk_coastal

New Member
Hi everyone,

I'm finally moving to a larger place in a few months and want to pick up a pair of floorstanding speakers to use with the Sansui AU-X701 (100 watts @ 8 ohms)

I've been using some bookshelf speakers (Ascend Acoustics Sierra 1's w/NRT upgrade) for a few years now.

Any thoughts or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
 
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kk_coastal said:
Hi everyone,

I'm finally moving to a larger place in a few months and want to pick up a pair of floorstanding speakers to use with the Sansui AU-X701 (100 watts @ 8 ohms)

I've been using some bookshelf speakers (Ascend Acoustics Sierra 1's w/NRT upgrade) for a few years now.

Any thoughts or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
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Budget?
 
There’s a multitude of options depending upon your budget, preferences for new vs old (or modern vs vintage), listening preferences and room size. The 701 is a very clean, accurate and high fidelity amp that will drive most speakers very well, so it leaves you with a lot of options.

[gets on soapbox] In most cases, when it comes to feedback re: suitable speakers, you will get relatively limited and biased feedback from people who own a particular speaker and enjoy it, rather than feedback based upon experience across a wide range of comparable speakers on the same amp in the same room. In essence, the sample/data pool is small and not comparable. It’s not dissimilar to the feedback posted when people ask for feedback on whether whether they should buy old vs new Sansui amps - unless those providing the feedback have tried Sansui amps across the years, have identified and can articulate the differences, the feedback is again subjectively biased based upon ownership of said amp and needs to be considered accordingly. [/kicks away soapbox]

Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with either of these scenarios - it holds true across many aspects of our lives - but one should always take this into consideration when evaluating any advice received.

What’s your budget? What music do you listen to? Do you listen at moderate or (subjectively) loud levels? How big is your room? Old vs new speakers? New vs used?

The Ascends are well regarded, high fidelity speaker so I suspect you’ll want something with at least the same sonic performance, but with the ability to perhaps go a bit deeper in the bass and perform well in the larger room?
 
pete_mac said:
There’s a multitude of options depending upon your budget, preferences for new vs old (or modern vs vintage), listening preferences and room size. The 701 is a very clean, accurate and high fidelity amp that will drive most speakers very well, so it leaves you with a lot of options.

[gets on soapbox] In most cases, when it comes to feedback re: suitable speakers, you will get relatively limited and biased feedback from people who own a particular speaker and enjoy it, rather than feedback based upon experience across a wide range of comparable speakers on the same amp in the same room. In essence, the sample/data pool is small and not comparable. It’s not dissimilar to the feedback posted when people ask for feedback on whether whether they should buy old vs new Sansui amps - unless those providing the feedback have tried Sansui amps across the years, have identified and can articulate the differences, the feedback is again subjectively biased based upon ownership of said amp and needs to be considered accordingly. [/kicks away soapbox]

Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with either of these scenarios - it holds true across many aspects of our lives - but one should always take this into consideration when evaluating any advice received.

What’s your budget? What music do you listen to? Do you listen at moderate or (subjectively) loud levels? How big is your room? Old vs new speakers? New vs used?

The Ascends are well regarded, high fidelity speaker so I suspect you’ll want something with at least the same sonic performance, but with the ability to perhaps go a bit deeper in the bass and perform well in \ larger room?
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Hi Pete,

Thanks so much for your very thoughtful response. I love the clarity of the Sansui X701. I had it recapped a couple of years ago.

My budget is up to $1000.00
I listen to a wide variety of jazz, rock, reggae, bluegrass.
I prefer to listen at moderate levels mostly.
You are correct in regard to the Ascend Acoustics, I would want something with at least the same sonic performance with the ability to go deeper in bass and larger room performance. I am fine buying new or used speakers.
I would say the family room is about 20 x 20/30 feet (I'm guessing on this one)
 
My pleasure!

I don't think it's worth spending $1k on new floorstanding speakers - you should get better bang-for-buck with second-hand speakers and I'm sure there's a multitude of options. That said, I am not across the US market at all.

I've had excellent results with various used Energy and Paradigm floorstanding speakers in the past in both my system and my Dad's system. I suspect they'd be more readily available in the US compared to Australia, but again, I don't know the market. A pair of Energy Veritas (various model numbers) would get me very excited, and some of the Paradigm Reference/Monitor/Studio range are also very nice.

Monitor Audio is another brand that I have enjoyed, although I haven't heard them in my own system, so take that with a grain of salt.

I wouldn't recommend Focal JM Labs speakers with the 701 - I didn't enjoy this paring at all. Far too forward in the upper mids and treble and dry in the bass, which is characteristic of many Focal JM Labs speakers in my experience. Initially spectacular, ultimately fatiguing. They sound OK with older-gen Sansuis that are warmer and less resolving though.
 
If you want some new speakers, check out:

Monitor Audio Bronze 200
QAcoustic 3050i
NHT C-3 and some stands

I really like Monitor Audio speakers and the Bronze series is a great value to me. I own two pairs of their floorstanders and drive them with either a Rotel or Parasound power amp, or my vintage Pioneer receiver and find them to be neutral, detailed, and with good bass extension for their smallish, wife-friendly footprint. My room is 17" x 23" and they fill it up.

Edit: If you want used, look for some Monitor Audio Silver series.
 
From my experience, I could wholeheartedly recommend Proac speakers. If you can find them in your area, I think Studio 125 in your sized room should sound great. I myself use SM100 but have heard both 125 and 115 driven by X701. All very good.
 
wladers39 said:
From my experience, I could wholeheartedly recommend Proac speakers. If you can find them in your area, I think Studio 125 in your sized room should sound great. I myself use SM100 but have heard both 125 and 115 driven by X701. All very good.
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That’s an excellent suggestion which I didn’t think of. I’ve had two pairs of ProAc-inspired speakers - a pair of 1S clones, and my current Elite Aesthetic 1 Mk2 which are influenced by the ProAc Response 2.5 with the same tweeter and the Usher clone of the 7” Scanspeak ‘crinkle-cone’ woofer. Both sound superb with my Alpha amps, including the 701.

There are some pics of the Aesthets in the thread below:

My system - new house = the next chapter!
 
ScottFan355 said:
Well my philosophy with speakers is to go too new for the vintage crowd and too old for the new crowd. Say around 1990-2010. With a 1k budget you could likely get some very nice speakers that were perhaps 5k new. I would look at what’s available locally and audition as many as you can.
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Yes, agreed wholeheartedly!
 
Hey KK, did you make a choice on speakers yet? I have owned a AU-x701 for a dozen years or so. In fact I picked up a second one recently as I like the accurate presentation so much from this Sansui series. Even though I also acquired a G-22000, sound-wise I believe this amplifier tops it. I also have a fairly large listening area 24x30ish, mostly listen at moderate levels, a mix of jazz, fusion, prog, rock, reggae, funk, blues.

Here are some speakers I have found to provide some pleasurable listening hours-
JM Lab Micron Carats: I listed these first as they were acquired these from the original owner of my first AU-x701. Yes, they are a little lacking in bass but paired with the right subwoofer negates that. I didn't find them to be too far forward in the mids and treble, rather they are quite articulate and revealing especially with vocals, acoustic and jazz instruments. I think some more modern Focals would provide a similar experience.

Vandersteen 2CE: this speaker provides very good imaging in a larger size room. They don't require a lot of power and the Sansui drives them well. You definitely want to get the stands they do make a difference. Bonus if you can find a pair of Signature models for under 1k, though the various model 2 iterations will suffice.

Dahlquist DQM-9 (or a 9C): I chose this speaker over the Yamaha NS-1000M and could have picked either one at the guy's house and came away with what I liked better. They have rich deep bass (no sub necessary), sublime mid-range, and highs that are neither bright nor laid-back. They are harder to find, fly under the radar, but more affordable (and better) than say a JBL L112/4312 (own 112s).

My experience with this amp and Klipsch: it was okay with KG4s, really good with Forte 2s, terrible with Heresies, and not much better with Cornwalls.

Edit: checking today's listing on SF Craigslist there's a set of Polk SDA-2s and some nice Linns that would probably pair up well with the Sansui. I do agree with some of the others and saying you should pursue recent vintage/older modern types of speakers. Kefs might be a way to go also.
 
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