Best "budget" surround speakers – KEF or something else?

Hi all,

recently moved house & looking for a fairly discrete 5.1 / 6.1 system to stick in the living room to also play music through – it’s not massive, maybe roughly 13′ square-ish so was thinking of those KEF egg 1001/2001 things – anything better for the price second hand? I’ve seen them go pretty cheap on ebay so just wondering if there’s anything else I should be looking for, gonna be using my old Sony DVD player for cds as it sounds pretty good in that respect & gonna pick up an old Sony STR-DA1200ES or suchlike to power it… basically the stuff I wanted but couldn’t afford 10 years ago 😉

Ta!
j

Boston Acoustics xs speakers are well worth a look. 5 out of 5 on what hifi. I bought some to replace my floorstanders and I’m really impressed by them. Look better than the kefs too imo

Have a look for Q Acoustic speakers. On a back to back audition of them along with the KEF Eggs they were clearly the superior speaker which I was disappointed with as I wanted the Eggs with them being KEF’s the same as my Coda 10’s. The Q Acoustics keep winning awards for their speakers in What HiFi and I hadn’t heard of them prior to buying them but it was the shopkeeper who insisted I try them which I reluctantly did and was pleasantly surprised and saved myself a bit of money too.

What HiFi Best Buys

I have the Q Acoustics 2000 series cinema pack (5.1) and am very happy with it, it is still a current model (albeit with a i update) but the game seems to have moved on again with the 3000 series. Well worth a punt IMHO.
http://www.qacoustics.co.uk/

Cheers guys, i’d seen the Boston ones but didn’t know much about them – doesn’t seem to be many on the s/h market but i’ll keep an eye/ear out, the QA ones are a decent bet but most I see are a bit bigger – there’s actually a set of 2000 series for sale near me… same guy also has an Onkyo 609 receiver for sale which might be worth a punt too… hmmmmm 😉

Monitor Audio Bronze BX are worth an audition.

I use an Onkyo 606 with mine, 609 should work well. Are they set up for you to listen to?

I didn’t know much about the Boston ones either but took a punt. Really impressed with the build and sound

Back again – just took a punt on a Sony STR-DA1200ES with a set of QA 1000 series fronts/centre/sub on that there ebay & bagged a bargain 8)

The 1000 series stuff seems to get decent reviews so if I like the sound i’ll pick up another pair for the rears, otherwise i’ll shift those on & try something else, but for the price – unless they sound like a tramp’s wet fart into an empty can of super tennents I suspect they’ll do the job fine!

I love my Mordaunt Short Alumni surround speakers.
For the money, they do a great job.
Proper window rattling bass.

Check out Roth Audio speakers…not sure if you’ll pick up any second hand, but they aren’t that expensive brand new…

Roth is a relatively new British brand, I think the guy who started it used to work for a high end speaker manufacturer

I’ve got a pair hooked up to a Fatman valve amp in my kitchen and they are brilliant!

Cheers for the suggestions all – the wife does not seem too impressed by the QA speakers, suggesting “classic boy racer good looks which would look really great… up the shitting loft” and so I may be looking for something else in that department, unless I pick up a cheap 50″ plasma & have a home cinema loft / shisha lounge instead 8) which is actually a decent plan…

Might keep an eye out for something more concealable like the KEF eggs or those Boston ones which can be squirreled away on a shelf / window-ledge unlike big silver stand mount efforts like these

some people have no taste (in speakers) 😉

I’ve got some KEF’s driven through a Yamaha AV amp and like what I hear through them – I find I have to turn the centre channel up a bit though.

Got them on their dedicated stands – can’t quite get the front soundstage I want though, due to room layout…

2015-09-18_11-47-48 by davetheblade[/url], on Flickr

Looks good – what size of TV is that? The KEFs do look a fair bit less imposing than chunky silver standmounts on chunky silver stands…

J

It’s a 40 inch

Oh you want really small?

How’s this:

https://www.cambridgeaudio.com/products/speakers/minx-min-12-22

Those are maybe a bit small – could get away with bigger as long as they’re pleasing to the eye of the beholder of taste, she who art known as “wife”

Those KEFs are looking like a good bet but I shall keep my options open… or just move everything up the loft, invest in some of those giant beanbags & get on with it up there… have already moved all my bike spares etc up there anyway as apparently the kitchen is for preparing & eating food in, not stripping & washing bikes & bike accessories in & around the sink… back when I was single I used the shower so I don’t see what the fuss is all about – degreaser cleaned the bath pretty well i must add 😕

I had the Q-Acoustics setup but the sub was massive. Didn’t go down well with the missus so had to shift it on.

I replaced them with some Kef Eggs and they’re still going strong quite a few years on. Sound is great (my parents can’t work the surround setup or the combination remote so occasionally when I get home the TV speaker is up and the difference is night and day).

Unfortunately my set came with the incredible exploding sub, and although it was apparently repaired by the vendor (hmm…) it still occasionallly farts out for a while. TBH it’s easier if we leave it off most of the time and only turn it on when needed for film night etc. The dynamic range from the satellites is quite impressive – you rarely feel you need extra bass, though I agree the centre needs to be boosted.

Some Kef subs can be fixed with a capacitor replacement if they are not too far gone – google model and fix.

IMHO the Kef eggs are a bit limited by using a std egg as a centre speaker – just not powerful enough.

Boston Acoustic here. Very happy although music is never really great through 5.1 systems

The sub woofer connector is a bit rubbish

They fixed it onceit broke

I fixed it, having googled the problem, in 10 minutes. Its been good sine

Kef stuff in really really good. It’s my brand of choice. The two most important speakers in a 5.1 set up are the centre and sub. So you can economise on the four surround speakers and invest more in a better sub and centre speaker. But i’ve had the Kef eggs before and they are great even for audio.

What he said, I use Eggs as front & surround (although the pro install ones) along with a big ass Infinity centre & REL stadium sub which I also us as a side table!

There ain’t no substitute for displacement as far as I’m concerned 😉

See HERE for others opinions.

Cheers.

I like the sound of a sub that doubles as a coffee table – if I find one that looks like something made by an up & coming Scandinavian designer I’ll be onto a winner 😐

Have you looked at BK subs? Dunno about the styling but they’re good VFM.

If the speakers need to be style over performance then look at the Q Acoustics 7000

http://www.richersounds.com/product/speaker-packages/q-acoustics/q7000i/qaco-q7000i-5.1-blk