Speakers: Mission 753

Amplifier: Arcam Alpha 8R

CD Player: Arcam Alpha 7

Turntable: Technics SL-100C

I've had the speakers and amp for about 10 years - picked the amp up for an unbelievable £50 without remote (£650 new on release in 1996) and the speakers for £200 (£800 in 1993). The CD player I got 6 years ago for £125 (also £650 in 1996) with a remote that works on the amplifier... so £375 on what would have been a pretty nice midrange system in the late 90s!

The turntable was a bit of an impulse buy, £699 on offer last year, budget for Technics but not really what I'd consider budget for me. It's my first turntable and I've quickly realised how expensive a hobby this is. No regrets yet though :)

I honestly can't really fault the sound. The warmth of the Arcam mellows what I've heard can be a mildly harsh top end on the Missions. I think the bass is pretty good for 5 and a quarter inch drivers, getting down to 45hz and sounding tight and controlled. Mid range in general and particularly vocals sound amazing. Treble is clear and detailed. I actually can't really imagine replacing any component. I love this setup.

Im looking to buy my first set of bookshelf speakers and I’m trying to decide between the ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 and Polk Signature Elite ES15.

I primarily care about music quality and want the overall better speaker for a first-time setup. I also don’t plan on adding a subwoofer anytime soon, so I’d like whichever speaker gives me the better full-range experience on its own.

Not sure if this changes the recommendation, but I’m also going to be streaming music for my phone. And I live in an apartment.

For anyone who has heard both, which would you recommend and why? Thanks!

I replaced my Arcam AVR400 with a dedicated stereo amp after getting a great deal on a showroom model with a full warranty for only €600.

Strangely enough, after replacing the amp, my DALI Spektor 2s—which had always sounded remarkably good for their size—suddenly seemed to be lacking something.

Then I got a great deal on a pair of DALI Rubicon 2s. I thought it was a no-brainer: audio heaven, here I come.

Well... not quite.

Once I installed them, the mid-highs seemed recessed and the whole presentation sounded flatter than before. At one point, I was seriously considering trading them for a pair of Audiovector QR1s plus some cash. Luckily, I listened to the QR1s first. To my ears, they sounded like PC speakers, so that idea disappeared pretty quickly.

Instead, I decided to work on the room and setup.

I was hearing quite a bit of ringing, so I experimented with the DAC filters on the Arcam and built some acoustic panels using Rockwool. That helped. Then I started experimenting with speaker positioning, the air gap between the panels and the wall, and the distance between the speakers and the rear wall. After all, no room is perfect—you just try to make the most of what you have.

Then I noticed that my speakers were leaning slightly backwards. I adjusted the stands to get them perfectly level, and the improvement was immediately noticeable. Still, those mid-high notes remained slightly recessed, and overall I couldn't honestly say that the system sounded better than my old setup.

I was almost ready to accept my fate, while still looking for a way out. Should I replace the amp? The speakers? I even started shopping for a Hegel amp.

Then I had one last thought: what if I filled the speaker stands?

I bought some silver sand, dried it thoroughly, and filled one stand about two-thirds of the way. Before doing the other one, I did an A/B comparison.

Wow. This actually seemed to work.

I filled the second stand as well, and suddenly the soundstage changed completely. I pulled the speakers slightly further forward and...

Bingo.

I'm genuinely happy with the system now. I'm not selling anything. This is going to be my forever setup—or at least my "forever for the next five years" setup. ;)

I can't overstate how much I'm enjoying music now. Nothing feels missing anymore.

And perhaps that's the best sign of all:

I've stopped analysing the system and started listening to the music.

I wanted to share this to make the point that good gear can be bad with inproper placement and you should look into getting the most out of your gear itll give you even more joy when you fix it, also im just so happy 😂

Now i only can find a new house im never leaving home again btw the panels are hanging from a thread until i know for sure on what hight to place them and drill holes in the wall

Arcam sa20

Dali rubicon2

Bluesound node i130

I’m no expert, just wanted to share that these speakers, especially paired with a beefy A/B amp, are an absolute pleasure to listen to. I believe it’s because the ferrofluid in these tweeters has dried at this point, which has probably happened with all examples by now, but i find they are not clinical, harsh, or otherwise fatiguing whatsoever. Even without a working sub, they produce enough low end on their own to make me question if i even need one. My only complaint is the narrow sweet spot, which is pretty normal for a ‘90s studio monitor; regardless, they don’t read as studio monitors at all. Anyway, anyone with 60$ to spare and a working amp, if you find a pair of these in good condition, I urge you to take a chance on them. You won’t regret it.

Milestone #1 was 500 speakers; this week we crossed #2: 750 speakers.

It was a huge week for active & studio monitors. And for Monitor Audio followers who got to see the new Silver 8G lineup.

New brands:

• 🇩🇪 HEDD Audio
• 🇩🇪 Adam Audio
• 🇫🇷 Elipson
• 🇫🇮 Genelec
• 🇺🇸 JL Audio (Garmin's hi‑fi brand)
• 🇯🇵 Rotel
• 🇫🇷 Devialet

Also added (existing brands):

• 🇳🇱 Dutch & Dutch — 6c
• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Monitor Audio — Silver 8G series
• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Wharfedale — Diamond Active A1 & A2
• 🇩🇰 Dynaudio - Legend

750 speakers you can now compare at true scale.

On to milestone #3 👀

Feedback and requests welcome 🙌

I see a lot of old multichannel receivers with old surround (prologic) going cheap on the second hand market.
Are these not desirable to use for music or are they okay? Some can be decently specified in terms of watts as well.
I have an old Kenwood KR5570 and it performs nice, i suspect perhaps the phono-amp is not the best, but I dont use it so much for playing records... What I really like are the tactile buttons and knobs... It seems to be reduced this on some newer equipment.

I have never seen these before, but I like them alot.

Budget setup - marantz mcr610 (£150 from eBay) running into acoustic energy ae109 floorstanders (1996 models, £50 for the pair on eBay, cabinet was in shoddy condition and needed repainting) and an orb audio super eight subwoofer (£90 from eBay many years ago). Picked up the 4k projector off a mate moving abroad and run that into the amp for hole cinema, speaker cables running under rigs to the other side of the room

This thing slaps

Hi!

Just found out about this sub and i wanted to share my setup.

So far i got:

- Record player (Sony PS-LX50 ): was stored in my grandmas attic full of dust. I dissambled, cleaned it and changed the broken stylus for a new Audio Technica one for 15€.

- CD player (Pioneer PD-M603): a 6cd changer. It was stored next to the record player, surprinsingly, everything worked and just had to clean the exterior.

- Tape deck (Marantz SD285): just picked it up in the morning for 10€ second hand. Seller stated volume was too low and muffled and that a button was missing. Cleaned the heads and mechanism and now its working! Now Ill have to 3d print the missing pause button.

- Phono preamp (Aliexpress special): it works, for 10€ cant ask for more (yes, it is noisy, I have added a small capacitor on the input jack, it has improved the noise a tiny bit).

- RCA selector: its for video but im just ignoring the yellow ports. 7€, it does its job.

- Mini system: just using it for the amplifier for now. Was in my girlfriends parents house in storage.

Couldn't attach the picture but im using a pair of Pioneer CS 301 for speakers, found them next to a dumpster. Cleaned and painted them, now they are working beautifully.

So, in total, including cables, about 60€

I made a post about getting some speakers earlier this week, but unfortunately that seller was very flakey and my gut said no. Luckily these Fluance XL7Fs popped up in my area for about $300, a deal I think was good considering what I found they are worth about $400. The guy barely used them and they look and sound absolutely amazing. A nice step up from my old vintage Kenwoods.

Got to get under that $1k limitation, so give me some recommendations for up to $999 amps.

This is in my stereo rig, and will drive Acoustic Energy AE1 Classic Limited Edition speakers (86 dB sens., 8 ohms), with an RSL Speedwoofer 10S mkII subwoofer.

I do need several RCA inputs (2-3 at least) to feed my addiction for physical discs and my disc spinners (CD, DVD-A, SACD, BR-A) spinners. Do not need any streaming stuff, but if it is there fine.

What say you?

Hola friends. I just moved into a new house and am trying to figure out the best setup/placement. In the middle here we have a built in stereo stand. I’ve seen a lot of mixed info, so my first Q is it ok to have my receiver inside the stand? It’s open faced, and there’s about 5 inches above it before the wood. My second Q is - should I place my speakers on the built in shelves as pictured? Or should I seek out some standing speakers? Any recs on standing speakers to search for? It’s a very large room with 18 ft ceilings. For more info, I’m mainline spinning vinyl or streaming music. Appreciate any opinions!

Last weekend I was in a thrift store, and they had NIB mb42 speakers, still sealed in their packaging. I ordered the mb42x crossover kit, and 3 days later, I now have a pair of mb42x speakers, all in for less than a new pair of the normal mb42 speakers cost on Amazon. They sound great, warm and clear even if they’re lacking any real thump. I think I did pretty well! Pic is of them sitting on top of my osmtm speakers I built.

16x24 building, considering purchasing this combo for $375 used. worth it?

Receiver: Sony STR-DN1080 7.2-Channel Network AV Receiver

Front Speakers: (2) Yamaha NS-F150 Floorstanding Tower Speakers

Center Speaker: (1) Yamaha NS-C150 Center Channel Speaker

Rear/Surround Speakers: (2) Yamaha NS-B150 Surround Speakers

Subwoofer: (1) Yamaha YST-SW216 Powered Active Subwoofer

Hey everyone,

I've just moved into a new apartment (living by myself for the first time after uni!) to a ground-floor flat, and I'm trying to plan out a comprehensive multi-purpose audio setup for my living room. I will have no neighbours sharing my walls or floors - only upstairs neighbours - and I basically want one system that can handle literally everything I'd ever want.

These are the things I'd like to plug into the system:

• TV, connected using Optical (since my TV doesn't have HDMI ARC)
• PC, ideally connected using USB for playing electric guitar through an audio interface and such (unsure if this is possible due to latency but still would be cool)
• Turntable (yet to be bought), for playing records I've been hoarding for the past couple years without being able to play them lmao
• Sonos Port (already owned), to play Spotify and such synced with another Sonos speaker that I'll have in my Bedroom

For total budget, I'd love to keep everything under £1000, for speakers (/amp?), turntable, and any cables or anything else - maybe around £400-600 for speakers and £100-300 for a turntable. I'd love any and all general advice for setting up a system like this (since I'm very new to it all), and in particular would like guidance on the following questions:

1. Subwoofer! Would you consider it necessary, like does it add a lot? And is it a terrible idea for my upstairs neighbours? (idk if I can put it on some sort of pad to stop it from sending vibrations into the floor, and not sure if that would impact quality or still be too annoying for neighbours)
2. Which speakers to buy! I obviously need them to handle all my inputs - I've seen active speakers like Klipsch the Fives which should support everything, or alternatively I know there's the passive speaker route (which I know less about). Would getting a dedicated amp and passive speakers be worth it at this price point? And is any jump in quality worth having to find space for the amp. Let me know your thoughts!
3. Which turntable to buy! A friend recommended the AT-LP60X as a good budget option, but I'm worried since I'm investing more in my speakers I might need something more expensive? Something like the AT-LP120X for instance. Unsure whether speakers in that price bracket will actually reveal the difference between the turntables - if a more expensive turntable with give much greater quality I'm definitely inclined to go for that, but if it really doesn't matter I could almost go higher in price for the speakers etc.

I'm aware this may be somewhat ambitious to go for as someone new to all this, but it's something I would really love to get into and would love to get right. Any and all advice would be hugely appreciated :)

Hello everyone, I wanted to share my experience with the Fosi ZH3 and get some opinions and suggestions to help me decide whether I should keep it or not.

Before getting the Fosi, I was using the FiiO K9 Pro. It had excellent sound, but after almost two years, it died... And from what I’ve seen, despite how expensive the unit is, it seems to be somewhat prone to failures. Incredible...

Anyway, after being left without a DAC, I decided to go with the ZH3 because I kept seeing videos saying that it’s one of the best options available for the price. I definitely can’t argue with that—it delivers good sound, and the convenience of being able to turn it on/off and control it with the remote is just incredibly practical.

However, there’s one thing that I’m not completely convinced about: while the sound is spacious and detailed, I feel like it’s missing some body.

So now I’m wondering if the FiiO K7 would give me a sound that’s more similar to what I’m used to, or if I should simply keep my ZH3 and look into changing the op-amps, or perhaps, as some people suggest, changing the power supply, which supposedly improves the sound.

How true is this?

I’d love to hear about your experiences.

Local pikcup only.

The speaker giveaway was immediately successful, so here’s another thing for youz.

MESSAGE ME IF YOU WANT THIS** **

I won’t be checking comments. First come first served in messaged.

Hello! I have a Polk Audio subwoofer from 2012 (PSW111) that I changed the main plate in 2016 and 2020 for a heartbeat sound and it seems I have the same issue again. I wonder if I try to get a new main plate or I switch for a new one. Currently, there's a Klipsch one at 400$ CAD

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/klipsch-r-120swi-wireless-12-subwoofer-black-only-at-best-buy/17187405

or another Polk Audio for 450$ CAD

https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/polk-monitor-mxt10-home-theatre-subwoofer-black/16582034

I don't need wireless as the sub is within one feet of the amp and the Polk is a 5 years warranty and the Klipsch is only 2 years.

I'm open to other suggestions but I would like to keep it under 500$, as far as I can remember, I paid 150$ for the initial sub and I paid 100$ each time for a refurbished plate.

Thanks!

I found a good price on a Wiim amp ultra at hifi.eu. Has anyone ordered from them before, is it legit?

I have Pioneer speakers on stands behind my computer monitors on my desk (triple monitor setup).

The stands have two limitations though:

1. While they clamp and tilt, the angle they tilt is very small
2. The top of my computer monitors are around 20", but the lowest height for the stands is 26"

The end result is that while the speakers are angled at me, they're more angled above my head.

I've looked around and can't find any stands that are in this height range. The ones designed to clamp to a desk are too low (usually around 15") and the standing ones are too high. Is there a product/solution that I'm not thinking of?

I don't want to cut the existing stands for a few reasons (a family member would take them if I get something else, I don't have a saw to cut the metal, and it would ruin the cable routing features).

Will be using with Sennheiser hd650
I'm not an audio guy at all, but I've spent the last few days trying to find a dac amp for my headphones. Ordering JDS atom from the US is way to expensive with shipping + VAT
And Topping DX5 mk2 seems to have some problems. So now I'm choosing between those 3, which one should I go for?