Have your say & ask the experts

OK so here's the deal. I'm a newb when it comes to Hifi and this will be my first little setup.
I'm planning on using my set for 70% music 30% Home Cinema. I am very confused right now because I read a lot of reviews and user opinions! Hope you guys can help me make a choice!

Musical preference: Hip Hop, Funk, Soul, Jazz, RnB, Blues, Reggae, OST, Classical (sometimes).

Additional notes: I have a big room so floorstanders is a must. Bass is very important to me.

I have selected a few speakers:

-KEF IQ 90 (can get em for a sweet deal 565 euro a piece)
-B&W 684 or 683s (683 would hurt my budget though)
-Monitor Audio RX-6 or RX-8 (RX-8 would hurt my budget)
-Mordaunt Short Mezzo 6 or 8 (can get the 6 for 399 euros a piece)
-Wharfdale Diamond 10.7

I am planning to pair one of these with a Pioneer SC-LX81.

I am leaning towards the Mezzo 6 because of the sweet deal I can get for these and I heard a lot of good things about 'em. But I don't know if they would pair well with a Pioneer reciever. And I love me some good bass which some people say these can lack.

Any advice, tips or recommendations would be appreciated! Help I'm confused!

Thanks!

You don't say what the rest of your kit is and many on here will agree that matching is important.

However it doesn't change the advice that is the most important, especially with speakers - go listen to them for yourself and take your time!

Forums such as these are littered with stories of people who rushed into buying a pair, only to go through a number of (expensive) changes before they finally found what they really liked (and matched their kit).

Don't place much if any store by recommendations, trust your own ears as speakers are surely the most personal of choices when it comes to hifi.

Good luck. 

Thanks for your reply.

 This will be my setup for now. The Pioneer reciever  connected to my macbook with one of these speakers. I don't have the money right now to buy other stuff. Which will come later. So based on that is there any recommendations anyone can make?

I know that listening is the best way to select speakers, but i do no have trained ears (yet) if you know what I  mean.

 

 

I'd add the Q Acoustics 1050i (or the new 2050) to your shortlist. The 1050i is a big old box, very natural/analogue sounding speaker by all accounts and Hi Fi World's speaker (or Product) of the year for last year. Typically available for £200-250 with the replacement 2050 now out, it was £370 at full price. Well worth hearing if you can. It'll give you the bass you want in spades, also has the dynamic range you'll be looking for in your preferred music, yet still give you the scale you'll want for big classical pieces too.

Mezzo 6 can be a little disappointing in the bass department, especially with a bright sounding system.  Mordaunt-Shorts also tend to need a lot of volume to get the bass thumping generally.  I have a pair with my Cyrus setup and am looking to change.

This one's easy.  MA RX8!  I repeat RX8!  You love bass.  You have a big room.  You are about to make a costly mistake with the Mezzos.  If you buy them, you will try and love them and it will eat at you.  At first you actually will love them, but deep down you will know the bass isn't what you're after.  Eventually you will come out of denial and then you will make the painful post about how you're disappointed and need advice.  Save up and get the RX8.  Detailed and clean but with bags of deep solid bass.   For your needs it's a perfect fit.  You're welcome...

thought I'd have my 2 cents worth:

check these B&W DM2 series 1 speakers ... these are the older version that were handbuilt and use the same tweeters/supertweeters as the old spendor BC1's ... these are 3 way transmission speakers

crystal clear ... and the bass is superb (you can actually feel the bass) ... these are easy to drive ... these normally fetch less than £200 on ebay ... I have heard the mezzo 8's and was not impressed

ebay item 110455117914 ...

you might get these for way less than £200 ... (paid £50 for mine)

dont get the B&W dm2 series 2 speakers, as they were mass produced ... you will need low stands for these and the stands normally sell for approx £15 on ebay (used) ...

Sorry to repeat myself but all the speakers mentioned and recommended have varying sonic characters, so do yourself a favour and book yourself a number of demos with equipment that closely matches your current/ intended system.

I understand people fall in love with the speakers they have and enthusiastically recommend them,  but given how emotional the choice of speakers is I find it hard to understand what purpose it serves?

Trust your own ears..