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Hi,

I've recently bitten by the hi-fi bug again and I'm looking to set up a new system. I have very little experience other than that gained pouring over hi-fi mags and dabbling in solid state seperates on a student budget some 15ish years ago.

I've always wanted a valve amp and am pretty much sold on an Icon Audio 25 as the start point. My sticking point is now speakers. I'm currently down to two options... Dali lektor 2's (on stands) or a set of end of line Rega R3's that i've tracked down for approx £350 which is pretty much my ceiling. Any more and my better half will move to the next level up from 'the rolling of eyes' !

Can anyone offer any views on which set of speakers may be the most suitable? Auditioning the Rega's would be a 400 mile round trip. I can arrange to listen to a set of RS3's locally if they would offer a decent representation?

Room size is approx 4m x 4m, musical taste is quite diverse from classical to heavy rock, 70's - 00's pop, dance & electronica so I'm hoping to find something thats quite flexible.

Regards

Carl

I would go for the the Rega R3's at that price. (They were a £500 speaker up until the RS3's were launched.)

Not just because they are my own speakers - and I like them - but because they are 89db efficiency (6 ohms) and the Dali Lektor 2 are 85db (6 ohms). 

With a 25 watt valve amp you are going to need that extra 4db efficiency/sensitivity.

Not only that, but they are not fussy about positioning (with respect to distance from the wall) and - being floorstanders - you are not going to have to spend out on a pair of good stands like you would for the Dali's.

(And bearing in mind your partner, I think the R3's look much nicer than a pair of Lektors, especially if you consider how ugly most speaker stands are and factor that in too!)

Another vote for the R3's here, did plenty of auditioning with my kit and I got mine at the price you stated. 

Listen to loads of different music this week:-

Gun & Roses

The Police

Sting

Bon Jovi

The Dixie Chicks

Sharlene Spitteri

Gladiator and Batman OST's

So as you can see I have a varied musical taste and the R3's are nothing short of superb with anything I throw their way