Recently my 25 year old Technics SU600a Amp died, so I replaced it with a Marrantz PM6004 Amp, which sounds much better…

So, do I now replace my 25 year old Mordaunt Short MS-15 speakers? Would I notice the difference spending £200-£300 on a new set? Do speakers age? Has modern technology made any significant jumps in performance?

cones are now mostly a kevlar weave or metal these days. Whether its a jump in performance I don’t know.

I’m vaguely tempted to book a listening session at my local store and see if they’ll let me bring along my current speakers!

Yes most definitely, the Marantz amp you have bought is a pretty decent amp too, even something under £200 will give you a step up in performance!

Dali Zensor 1, Mission MX2, Q Acoustics 2020i all under £200 and would match your amp and outperform your old speakers, budget for some decent speaker cable to something like QED Silver XT.

Enjoy!

I think the speakers were £150 in 1986, so that’s about £350 in modern money, but no idea how good they are….

I think the speakers were £150 in 1986, so that’s about £350 in modern money, but no idea how good they are….

It doesn’t work like that really, you can get better kit for your money than what you did 25 years

Recently my 25 year old Technics SU600a Amp died, so I replaced it with a Marrantz PM6004 Amp, which sounds much better…

You answered your question your self there fella!

I know that’s the case for electronics, wasn’t so sure about more mechanical things like speakers which haven’t really changed much….

Any recommendations then for decent speakers in the £200-£300 bracket?

better kit for your money in most cases. not so convinced it’s true for speakers.

In short speakers will have the largest effect on the sound as they interact with the room and all that. 300 quid spent second hand will get you something cracking I’d say and speakers don’t really age badly. 300 quid in a shop will get a you a lift but not that much I’d say. My Audio Physics are 1996 vintage and sound brilliant. If anything I prefer them to newer versions as to me they sound better.

As for cables VanDamme is cheap and good enough about 3 quid a meter.

These look alright http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/B-W-DM601-S2-speakers-/190635732200?pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item2c62c66ce8

Monitor Audio BX2 are very good bookshelf speakers. I picked up a set at Superfi for 225.

My local store has the BX2s and they get very good reviews, so a possibility…

I really want to buy local as I want to give my custom to a local store…..

where is local?

Some speakers age better than others, but on the whole, technology has moved on quite a bit in 25 years so there is the potential that just swapping for something newer at the same price point will get you a better listening experience.

On the other hand, the speakers I’ve got are basically a 30 year old design and while the drive units have been constantly improved, the construction of the cabinet and overall design remains unchanged. And they sound sublime.

Sometimes the design of a speaker is just so inherently right that it’s hard to better it with technology. The other design that springs to mind is the Magneplanar MG series. The 20 year old ones I heard recently were just incredible; breathtakingly good.

superfi are doing some wharfedale 9.1 & SW150 sub 2.1 system for £229 you could really annoy the neighbours.

Do the magnets, crossovers, voice coils or anything inside the speaker deteriorate with age?

I know the foam surround on the drivers can go brittle but aside from that – anything to watch out for?

Yeah what he said ^^^ Also how big is the room, where will they be positioned, do they need to be hard up against a wall etc etc etc it all makes a massive difference. we picked up an amp once from a guy who had some massive and lovely ATC monitors facing each other in opposite corners of the room it was depressing.

It doesn’t work like that really, you can get better kit for your money than what you did 25 years

Can, but not necessarily will.

we picked up an amp once from a guy who had some massive and lovely ATC monitors facing each other in opposite corners of the room it was depressing.

Fail

It was a massive fail, I bought a Bryston 4b off him as he’d just laid out about 12 grand on a naim stack.

Do the magnets, crossovers, voice coils or anything inside the speaker deteriorate with age?

If there are electrolytic caps (not poly ones) in the crossover then they degrade.

Any decent local shop will let you bring your own speakers in and compare them against what they have. Take a couple of CD’s in you know and like as well.

Buy what you like not what some hi-fi mag, expert (or mtb rider!) says is good.

Years ago I went into a shop to buy an amp and I listened to a Naim Nait 2 amp that had not had great reviews as well as the one I fancied. Thought the Naim was far better and bought it and sold it 15 years later at a £60 loss. (Now have Naim pre/power combo)

As a bit of a guide a well regarded expensive SH speaker from 15 years ago will most likely be better than a new speaker at the same price.

Joolsburger – fancy buying a slightly malfunctioning Wadia 850 for only £300. It doesn’t come with a remote but it’s kosher!

Wadia 850 on eBay

joolsburger: local is Cambridge….

A moden speaker will not necessarily better an old speaker.

Modern materials and techniques mean that drive units distort less and perform more linearly, speaker matching is much better, and crossovers have to be less complicated.

However in the old days they used to design speakers by listening to them, rather than using a computer without any reference to comparing them to a real source, such as human voice.

This can make a big difference.

At the 2002 HFN London HiFi show the room with the 35 year old LS3/5as, driven by 30 year old amps, was one of the best sounding rooms in the show…

I Have a Set Of KEF Chorals from about 1971 / 72, which I bought S/H about 15 years ago, they sound fantastic, but they look like 70’s speakers which the OH doesnt like.

So I agreed to go demo some new ones (Having done this once or twice before)

we got up to the £1200-£1500 price bracket with no improvement in sound quality (And most sounded a lot worse)…..which was way out of our price range anyway.

Even the very helpful bloke in store was struggling to recommend anything to replace them, once he heard them back to back.

I`m still not allowed them in the front room though 🙄 as they dont match the Decor 🙄

Thanks for the replies – will try and take my speakers to my local store and have a listen against some newer models!

Geetee the devils discs are not for me, I’m vinyl all the way – Yesterdays technology tomorrow!

I thought I might be able to recommend somewhere SH for you Footflaps but I don’t know anywhere in that neck of the woods.

Still worth Looking at speakers SH from B and W, Ruark, Rega, Epos, Castle and Kef many of them will be excellent so have a trawl on ebay. Casle chesters are a nice SH buy lovely cabinets and a nice easy sound.

Geetee the devils discs are not for me, I’m vinyl all the way – Yesterdays technology tomorrow!

Flat earther eh 😉

THE best sound I ever heard was from a vinyl front end, a prototype turntable that was the hobby project of a engineer friend of my family’s but this was no ordinary hobby project. This was a ‘mass’ based design, huge granite tower and plinth, complex pendulum based suspension, huge acrylic platter, with a SME V tone arm and Koetsu cartridge playing through ARC pre and mono power amps into Maggie MG3.1s

I love the sound of vinyl, just not the convenience plus I started collecting just as CDs were becoming popular so that’s where all my music is.

he’d just laid out about 12 grand on a naim stack

Lovely. 8)

Castle, Ruark and Shahinian would all be good S/H buys. As would Linn Kan’s if you could get them. Having said that it is unlikely you could hear s/h speakers before purchase.

No idea of the modern stuff I’m afraid, my speakers are probably last century. (Naim again!)

I used to work for Ruark 😀

I think TUrnerguy has it re new speakers vs old. Technology, ease of measuring etc means new speakers can be more accurate and neutral, but you’ll really have to listen to what you buy (B&W were never my cup of tea, so if you want that kind of sound I’m not sure what to recommend, even Ruarks are more forward!)

Shahinian would all be good S/H buys.

Shahinians, for some reason, just don’t hold their value in the second hand market. I have no idea why. Maybe they are a slightly esoteric brand?

I have the Arcs myself and the only speaker I would consider trading them for is the Obelisk, although I would need to replace the power amp as well. The Obelisk is a pretty difficult drive.

will try and take my speakers to my local store and have a listen against some newer models!

Also make sure you have a cooling off period, or can borrow the speakers to try at home – the size, shape and construction of a room, the furnishings, your amp and front end, and sometimes even the speaker cables, can make a big difference to what you heard in the shop.

and sometimes even the speaker cables, can make a big difference to what you heard in the shop

Apparently not, according to previous commentators, even if you use solid-core elctrical wiring to do it…

Apparently not, according to previous commentators, even if you use solid-core elctrical wiring to do it…

not according to my amps – they seem to react to cables, particularly 4mm finely stranded cables when running certain speaker loads 🙁

The blue jacketted 2.5mm Van Damme that someone sort-of recommended above seem fine to me, and reasonably cheap.

No, that’s just delusional. Apparently.

All this talk of stereo-systems kind of makes me think what it must be like to be the man in the street when trying to explain why you just spent more on a bicycle than he did on his car…. 🙂

Mr Woppit – Member
and sometimes even the speaker cables, can make a big difference to what you heard in the shop
Apparently not, according to previous commentators, even if you use solid-core elctrical wiring to do it…

[physicist]Cables can and do make a difference. But mostly if your amp and or cable is badly* designed[/physicist].

*Or deliberately designed oddly to perpetuate the myth that expensive cables are needed.