Which Speaker


Hi, I'm building my first set up and need some help deciding on a set of speakers, I don' have a ton of money to spend but I've narrowed it down to some speakers that are in a sale deal so I can get the best ones I can. The main input will be vinyl from a pro-ject debut carbon evo and the amp will probably either be a marantz pm6007 or yamaha As501 depending on the speaker. The options I have: KEF Q550, Q Acoustics 3050i, Fyne Audio F303, Yamaha NS-F350, Wharfedale Diamond 12.4, Dali Oberon 5, Bowers & Wilkins 603 and Monitor Audio 200 or 500.
The website does say I can enquire about others to see if they would do a deal for them, they have many options like KEF 750, Dali Opticon 5,Elac Debut F6.2, Monitor Audio Silver 6, Kudos x2 and Mission QX4 - I dont know if they would allow any of these but I can always ask.
Music wise I tend to listen to indie/rock/metal but also a bit of everything from across the board, good bass is important but I can always add a subwoofer in the future. I know the best thing to do would be to listen in person but with full lockdown due to Covid I cant.
I think thats all the information I can give, I know I've listed quite a lot of speakers but it's my first try I want to do it well, thanks in advance for your thoughts.
oliverben5672
If you could swing a Rega IO and a pair of Monitor Audio Gold GX100’s you’d be off to a really nice start...  I’d make sacrifices for a few weeks if I had to, as in use my phone with a 3.5 mm cord and no dac until I could get a Bluesound node 2i, then I’d use the dac in the Bluedound until I could get a better dac like a schiit bifrost multibit or whatever and then you’d be sittin pretty.

I think Monitor Audio Silvers would be my choice (and a good one!) in the lesser price range.  Q acoustics, kef, dali are all great speakers as well but I feel that the Silvers are best in that price point. I had some Gold GX50’s and loved them.  They are just built so well.  Silvers look to be really close.  The bolt thru drivers are a cool idea and unique to them.  Check out those bolts on the backs of the speakers.  Those contect to the drivers and hold the drivers in the cabinets that way.  The drivers, cabinets, internal wiring all looked really nice in my Golds, like really nice.

As stated above about the differences in the models, as you go up the line they get bigger and with more drivers / bigger drivers.

I’ve found that the 7” drivers can handle more abuse or louder volumes than the 5” drivers.  Take this into account... I had paradigm studio 60’s that had three 5 1/2” drivers.  I also had the Studio 20 which had one 7” driver.  Both were from the same generation, v5.  The 60’s sounded awesome and had slightly more dynamics at low to medium levels but the 20’s could play louder and stay composed at higher volumes than the 60’s.  Paradigm makes a studio 100 that uses 4 of the larger 7” drivers which would have overloaded my room so the only way to get “more” within the brand was to move from Studio 20’s to S2’s.

Point is, if you like to crank it up at times, the 7” drivers are better.  If you are always listening at quiet to medium volumes, sometimes the 5” versions are better because all other things equal, the smaller driver will be faster and the thinner front baffle can produce better imaging.  A thin, tall speaker is pretty sexy too.

I don’t think you have to worry about much when buying speakers  preowned at this level (just do your due diligence with the seller) and I think you can save some $ doing it that way.  Preowned integrateds in the $500-$700 range aren’t going to offer much, if any, over something like a new Rega IO @ $500 and buying electronics new is reassuring (warranty etc).

When looking at speakers remember that stands are going to cost $150 so that eats into a savings you have with a standmount vs a floorstanding speaker.

Good Luck and have fun!
With the Monitor Audio Silvers definitely consider at least the 300 as this is where you get a dedicated midrange driver, which should make it a meaningful qualitative step up from the 200.  
If you listen to any rock or metal you want to go with a good vintage speaker from a prominent vintage brand the list of all those speakers will not be able to play that style of music at all and you will be throwing your money away and be sadly disappointed. Try to find a vintage seller in your area and listen to a jbl, altec, electro voice, or klipsch in your price range and make sure the manufacture date of the speaker is prior to 1981. The reason for this is that the quality o all american speakers went down the tubes at around this time.
Only vintage speakers can play rock music?  That is a first for me.  Guess I need to dump my Revels... 
You missed out, the Wharfedale diamond 11.2 was only $199.99 on amazon and is a better speaker than the 12.4 or any current diamond model. The 225’s, even better. Awarded component of the year by both Stereophile and the absolute sound in 2017.
If I were you, I’d audition the Lintons. I’ve yet to read a single bad review, and there are many many reviews.
Another option is the Martin Logan 15 over at crutchfield, on sale for only $249 each, usually $399 each. Great deal but only in black. It has that great folded motion tweeter.