Speakers for oomph and er clarity

I suspect that ATC SCM40s may be too much for a 180 — they are not the easiest speakers to drive if you really want to hear what they’re capable of. Within the current range of power amps, I wouldn’t want to use anything less than a 250 and a 300 is even better. Of course speaker choice is so personal, so you may well come to a different conclusion. Let us know.

Have you considered SCM 19s as an alternative? They’re inside your price range and well worth an audition, I’d say.

Roger’

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If you’re upgrading the amps next year, why not wait till then to change your speakers at the same time? Maybe the much anticipated 272 successor will appear by then and you could run that into a 250DR/ATC SCM 40 or perhaps even better directly into active ATCs. That would certainly give you plenty of “clarity and oomph”.

Roger

Thanks Roger - food for thought I’ll add the SCM 19s to the list

Anyone mentioned Russell K yet?

With a 180 stick to smallish speakers if you prioritize ’oomph’. ATC SCM7 (possibly SCM11), smaller Neat standmounts etc. And as Yeti mentions - Russell K (50 or 100).

On threads like this it never seems to matter what the original question is! 90%+ of the replies are simply a rehash of contributors’ entrenched justifications of their own purchases. I don’t understand why new members bother.

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This comparatively mew member has enjoyed and learned from the members on here, whatever their personal preferences. Anything I don’t agree with is obviously wrong and everything alse confirms my personal prejudices. :slight_smile:

Isn’t it better for members to recommend kit that they know and have heard rather than kit they haven’t heard?

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I would certainly audition the Rega RX5. I have had the RX3s for a couple of years and find them excellent, very capable and entertaining, with superb bass, even with my simple Naim Nait 3 set up. Easy to position and ‘domestically acceptable’ with the front port too.

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I have demo’d the Russel K, I think they were the 120’s. In my view they are good, but have a more laid back presentation in comparison to the Dali’s, which is why I didn’t recommend them for someone desiring a lot of oomph.

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… 15 inch Tannoys. I don’t own a pair, so not trying to justify a purchase.

As perfectly embodied in the Westminster Royal, perchance? Oops, maybe not, unless the OP’s budget had slipped the decimal point!

Thanks haydj another helpful answer :clap:

S5e here. We have a big ish room but it doesn’t take much to load the bass. The S5e was the only Spendor in the S range that could play bass convincingly in our room. The bigger models sounded bigger but lost control of the lower registers.

As always it comes down to room matching. There’s only one way to know for sure. We tried a ton of bigger and more expensive speakers (budget was £4K) before we landed on the diminutive S5e. One might convince oneself that something is good enough. But if it clicks, you know it instantly

Thanks Harry - I remember now as I use to have A5’s which were the replacement for the S5e which I enjoyed and they worked well in my room. I seemed to be in a minority in liking them at the time!

I still have the A5’s. A fine speaker for a larger room. Recently given a new life with the 252/250-2 combo. I’m thinking of replacing them with D7.2 s but am enjoying the A5’s so much I’m not sure I’ll bother untill this Covid stuff is under control and I can get back to blighty for a proper demo.

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