Ideally after bookshelf.

Don't require Bi wiring.

£150 max

Any suggestions?

Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo 1's
And for much less cash, B&W 600 series are decent speakers.

I've got old Bose 301s which are superb – better than the current crop (they've made them much more cheaply)

Get good cable too.

You could look HERE ,
lots of reviews, I have just got the Q Acoustic 2010's (but for AV use) and I am more than happy with them.

Some of these;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Celestion-Ditton-15-Speakers-Classic-British-Hi-Fi-/230495077200?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item35aa93c350

Please whattever you do dont go down to somewhere like richer sounds with your £150. The celestions will wipe the floor with anything up to around £500. i've modified mine (rewired/tiled) and am confident they would give anything up to £1500 new these days a good run for their money.

The purists maybe along shortly to ask what you are partnering them with before offering suggestions. Always worth listening to as well as one persons "great" speakers will not sound the same to you. Case in point – lots of people rave about B&W speakers. Personally I don't really like them. Sound a bit poor for the money to me – too sharp / tinny and miss out mid range. Some of that will be down to my dubious hearing and also my musical sound preferences. Generally I have liked Mission and Tannoy so you can tell I have an inclination to a warmer and more detailed sound. Having said that, bookshelf speakers are always going to sound a bit limited so it may not be such an issue.

How much do AVI Neutrons go for sh? Would be hard to beat IMO.

Not sure I would go for something as old as those Celestions.

to ask what you are partnering them with

hilarious anthropomorphism :o)

Biking – I'm not mad keen on B&Ws either but they are fairly good VFM and sound good if set up EXACTLY right. Anything other than that and they don't do it for me.

Al – bit over budget but not much over.

cynic-al – Member
How much do AVI Neutrons go for sh? Would be hard to beat IMO.

Not sure I would go for something as old as those Celestions.

Agreed.

You can get bargains second-hand, but crossovers can give up the ghost as they get older.

WHY OH WHY HAS NO ONE ASKED WHAT SPEAKER CABLE THE OP IS USING?
What direction, is it magnitised, etc how can we let you know without all the facts at hand?

Monitor Bronze BR1's come in at around £130 – £140 which are nice.

What direction, is it magnitised, etc how can we let you know without all the facts at hand?

any idiot knows the cables have to be run along a ley line to be worth listening to

simonfbarnes – Member

What direction, is it magnitised, etc how can we let you know without all the facts at hand?

any idiot knows the cables have to be run along a ley line to be worth listening to

And chilled to absolute zero.

Only if there is an ionizing crystal in the room, otherwise you may as well burn your money.

(I like Wharfedales BTW, no idea how they're rated these days, its been 12 years since I've bought any HiFi kit)

I guess all speakers sound the same? 🙄

He's looking for £150 speakers.

Not £15,000 ones.

Last time I went listening to a variety of speakers, I thought Missions sounded gash and B&W sounded gorgeous. I've got some KEF Cresta 2s at the minute, and they sound fine.

Personally though, I reckon a bigger box and driver always sounds better. We've got some ancient B&O speakers from the 1970s, and they sound gorgeous. Probably technically not as good, but the deep bass is incredible.

I'm actually dreading having to find some floorstanders when I get round to buying an AV amp. I think a boggo AV amp for the telly box will be fine, but I always promised myself some nice floorstanders so I'd like something nice.

However, the task of reading back up on what's out there at a good price and cutting through the mountains of horsesh^t the HiFi world is infected with fills me with dread these days.

Please whattever you do dont go down to somewhere like richer sounds with your £150

And why not?

About 12-13 years ago I did exactly that (Well, with £180, but it's close) and came away with some brand spanking new, just released at the time Mission 733i floorstanders. They were £360 full price IIRC…..And I still have them, and they still sound great 🙂

(Oh, and my Marantz amp paked up, so I bought a Cambridge Audio replacement, and I've got a Cambridge Audio AV amp too. It's all good stuff!)

I guess all speakers sound the same?

no silly, it's all ears! Try one and see…

Richer is fine if you know what you're looking at and the value of old rope. You can get some real bargins, there is a lot of dross.

The sales assistants are generally nicer than in HiFi shops plus la haute where the cripplingly arrogant weasel faced creatures of the electron usually deserve punching hard in the face, repeatedly.

This at least, is my experiance.

Buy my rel strata iii and hide it in a corner, a bargain at £300 cash!

cripplingly arrogant weasel faced creatures of the electron

surely such grubby details as electrons are beneath their notice (or comprehension) ?

Buy my rel strata iii and hide it in a corner, a bargain at £300 cash!

FYI Mr. Nutt is always trying to shift his old tat onto people and he was most put out when I wouldn't have some old photo equipment he wanted to unload!

Richer's OK for budget stuff bought my 1st system there in early 90s – JPW Sonatas were good speakers for the cash at the time.

Buy the biggest cabinet you can and don't buy anything with mid/bass driver under 6" unless fashion is more important to you than sound quality.

The Celestion Dittions are by far the best sounding of the suggestions.

Sfb that's all in your head, I've never been in the slightest bit put out by anything you've done or not done! You really are quite odd, have you considered upping your fiber intake?

I have a pair of Living Voice Avatars with a bespoke finish if you fancy something in the bigger league. £3100 new, yours for £1.2k.

I have a spare MF A308cr pre amp if you have £425 (rrp was £2k).
Plus some Nordost Vishnu & Shiva power leads and some Isotek main filtering units for sale.

Guys, didn't the OP say he wanted bookshelf speakers ideally?

I love the sound of Celestions but I'm not sure those ones would fit on a bookshelf!

IIRC the speakers Denon sell with their all in one jobby – radio, cd (can't think of numbers sorry) come with rebadged Missions. They would fit a bookshelf, sound reasonable and should be within budget.

Sfb that's all in your head, I've never been in the slightest bit put out by anything you've done or not done!

perhaps I imagined your exasperation on the phone ? I was otherwise engaged when you called and you didn't have my full attention 🙂

You really are quite odd, have you considered upping your fiber intake?

I'm quite regular thanks all the same!