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Running ACA7.5 Pre + PSXR, 2 x Mono power amps, DAD3Q CD player + PSXR.
Budget about £1k.
Bookshelf or stand mounters considered.
Listen to all types of music really, mainly vocal stuff.
Thoughts?
My old cyrus amp sounded really natural with b&w floor standers, mordant shorts sounded thin. Ended up getting celestions as they had greater impact.
Had a good hifi store who didnt mind you bringing your kit in and trying speakers for hours.
Try before you buy the best way especialy if your spending the region of 1k
Better if you can find a store that will lend you speakers to try at home as the room acoustics are likely to be quite different, and as we all know that is one of the dominant factors determining the sound...
I am a big fan of the Stirling Broadcast V2 LS3/5a which is in your budget and is especially good with vocals (but I am also a friend of Doug Stirling so I would say that...). Much more dynamically capable than the original versions.
But if you are near Horsell in Surrey I can lend you some to try.
The Kef LS50 is supposed to be a modern take on that type of speaker and is about £800 and everyone I have seen who has tried a pair has said it is very capable. I haven't tried a pair myself for fear they might be better than my current setup.
I also remember being impressed with some PMC FB-1+ speakers I tried at home and how well they controlled their extended bass - if you scout around your might be able to find some 2nd hand for the budget, but it is always a risk if you can't hear something first.
I would be very wary of the LS50s with Cyrus. I happened to try some out this week with a Cyrus 8 DAC and CD player. The bass was nicely represented but boy, were they harsh at the top end. Really uncomfortable to listen to. For bookshelf / stand mount speakers the B&W CM5s sounded very much better. If you want greater depth to the sound then you want floor standers. Much more kick and depth to the sound. At this point the B&Ws go back to being how I remember them - a bit muddy. Monitor Audio Silver 6s are also quite harsh although they have nice bass depth. The Silver 8s are a bit higher then your budget (rrp of £1250 but you might be able to get a deal somewhere)but were more natural sounding than the Silver 6. Great bass depth and kick. You would need to listen to them with your kit though as they were still a tad harsh at the higher frequencies. Might be worth checking out the KEF R500. Spend a bit more money and it would be worth checking out the PMC twenty range, although your budget would only be getting the stand mount speakers.
It's all subjective though really. I have some mature Cyrus kit which will have to be sold soon and I have Mission 752 speakers with that. Initially I thought they were quite boxy and directional but having played it a fair bit over the last few months I think they have warmed up a bit and now sound really very nice indeed. To my ears they top all the speakers I have been listening to recently.
Vienna Acoustics are a lovely match with Cyrus
Avoid Monitor Audio at all cost - yuk
Old Dynaudio Contours. 1.1 or 1.3's. still my favorite small passives. Great with Cyrus kit from memory.