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Advice on speaker replacement

Greetings all. Audiophile wannabe here. Champaign taste on champale budget.

Seeking advice on a possible speaker purchase. I know some will say I should be on the walmart advice to the love-lorn but I'm hoping some may lend an sympathetic ear and offer some saje advice. I'm a 75yo male with some hearing compromise. Bass and mid are ok but anything over 10khz  is gone. 

Current (modest) system: Yamaha R-N500 receiver, Technics SL-1200 MK2 with Ortofon 2M red, Sony UBP-X800 M2 Blueray/CD player, KEF Q300 speakers with a HSU VTF 1 sub. The sub is wired and good to 25hz+/- 2db.

Living in the St Louis metro, which has become a Audio store desert, I'm really not able to listen to much outside of Best Buy. There is one high end store but their equipment is out of my price bracket.

Based on many hours of online searching and looking at spending in the $1500-2k range I have picked out several candidates. KEF r3 (on sale for $500 off) or possibly LS 50 Meta. KLH 5, Wharfdale Linton or Klipsh RP 600 MII.

My room is 18dx13wx8high. Hardwood floor and sheetrock walls. Area rug and couch with a few wall hangings. Primarily want to listen to Amazon Ultra hd and occasional LP. My other purchase is probably going to be a blusound node 2i for streaming. Right now I'm stuck with Airplay. Thoughts?

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deadhead1000's avatar
deadhead1000
714 posts
 

I owned the KEF 300 a while back, great sounding, but they are too small for your room even with a sub. My room is similar  to yours and when I went to a bigger speaker, it was much better. If you like the KEF sound, go with the bigger KEF, you can't go wrong, if you want to try something new, the Lintons/Klipsch are great speakers, but will sound different. Not bad, they are just voiced differently. 

The Bluesound Node will fit your system very well and will open a whole new world of music for you.

dinosore
107 posts
 

That's a good price for the older KEF R3, but will you also need new stands since that is an odd-sized stand-mount speaker?  Would you consider the Q750 in that price range if you like the KEF family sound?

I'm not sure what your long-range plans are, but the R3 strikes me as a couple of levels above the rest of your system.  You don't want a speaker that will reveal the shortcomings in the chain.  I would lean toward the Q750, Linton or KLH, and away from the LS 50 Meta and the Klipsh.  Go big if you have the space to place them properly.

I agree that a Node would be a good addition down the line.

zlone
645 posts
 

I love the LS50s, but the Yamaha doesn’t have the power to do them justice. I would lean towards something more efficient. Something bigger for your room size might be wise, as the others have stated. 

llg98ljk's avatar
llg98ljk OP
168 posts
 

I kind of think that the KEF r3 is probably the higher end of this group.

Unfortunately, I don't have any reasonable way to compare them. My previous speakers were ADS L810 II that I purchased in 1978. I'm afraid if I vacillate too long, the r3s will be gone. Re: room size. 235 square feet is not all that large. the Yamaha has 80 wpc and is 4ohm stable. Can also push 175 watts into 2ohms dynamic. Obviously not high end gear but works for me for now.

 

jeffreyw's avatar
jeffreyw
268 posts
 

@llg98ljk 

The KEF LS 50 Meta is a beautiful-sounding speaker. The r3 has been updated to a meta version, also. The LS 50 meta is better sounding than many of the older R series. However, now the R series has been updated to the Meta; the playing field might be a little more even. 

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