# Used bookshelf speakers - what to choose from?



## roastpuff

Hi all! I am getting a turntable, and a receiver to match it, most likely a Hitachi HA-330 with 45W per channel. Obviously, I'm going to need speakers to match it. I have been looking around in the local buysell website, and have come up with the following:

 Marantz LS-333 - 65CAD

 Realistic Optimist T100 - 75CAD 

 AGS AD50 - 50CAD

 Boston Acoustics - A70 100CAD

 BW Series 570 - 130CAD - includes quality speaker cable

 Dynaco A-25 - 130CAD

 JVC SK101 - 15CAD - Can this be true?

 Mission 710 - 50CAD

 Polk Audio Monitor 10 - 125CAD

 Acoustic Response M-1440 - 125CAD

 Yamaha NSA635A - 50CAD. 

 Right now, I'm leaning towards the Mission 710's, the Yamaha and the Marantz, but I can't seem to find info on them online. 

 Please help me in selecting the best one! Thank you!


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## so_cal_forever

Out of your listing, you'd probably be better off with the B & W 570s.


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## Jeff E

Tell us a bit about your musical tastes. What kind of music do you like to listen to? Which sound characteristics are most important to your enjoyment of music, i.e. what would be your most heavily weighted criteria in making the speaker decision ?


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## Aman

Out of those, I'd cross the Polk, JVC, and Yamaha off your list immediately.

 By the way, Mission is a respected audio company, as is B&W (I'd go for those if I were you), Boston Acoustics, and Merantz (but they are popular for their sources, and not their speakers).


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## Yikes

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Aman* 
_Out of those, I'd cross the Polk, JVC, and Yamaha off your list immediately.

 By the way, Mission is a respected audio company, as is B&W (I'd go for those if I were you), Boston Acoustics, and Merantz (but they are popular for their sources, and not their speakers)._

 

Boston Acoustics is a speaker company, although in recent years they have been marketing some tabletop radios and such to compete with Bose. Twenty years ago BA (Boston Acoustics) was a true high performance speaker company. They have sold their souls to the dark side (Tweater) and now make predominately mass market products, at best mid-fi.

 B&W and Mission both make quality speakers. Missions' star has faded in recent years, although it still has decent product. Everything else listed is mass market trash. Surprisingly Polk and BA occasionally produce something worth getting.


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## smuh

I am "quite" happy with my mission bookshelf speakers, best value in all my audio equipment buys so far!


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## roastpuff

I think I'm going to go for the Mission 710's, any thoughts? It's the factor of cost that is hindering me right now. Trying to get an amp, an iMac G5, headphones AND speakers is tough on the wallet. Not to mention I haven't finished selling all my computer parts yet. 

 After I buy the speakers I like best, how should I place them? This is what my area looks like, and where I'm going to spend most of my time in the house. 






 Should I be using stands, or put them on my bookshelf or wear them around my head?


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## Aman

Well... it doesn't really matter what speakers you get, because you don't appear to be wanting to do any detailed listening to begin with 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 I would suggest just putting them on the desk, about one foot away from the wall. Have them spread as far apart from each other as they can be.


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## roastpuff

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *Aman* 
_Well... it doesn't really matter what speakers you get, because you don't appear to be wanting to do any detailed listening to begin with 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 I would suggest just putting them on the desk, about one foot away from the wall. Have them spread as far apart from each other as they can be._

 

What's that supposed to mean? If it means I don't want to spend too much money on them, you try being a 16 year-old student who's got to get all his own stuff on his own. That PB is my mother's and I'm using it while I gather up funds for my iMac. And most of the money is going towards that, the sources, the amp and the headphones. Speakers get lesser priority because I'm going to spend less time on them than I am on the headphones. And a good source/amp combo is more important than a good pair of speakers. 

 Thanks for the suggestions for placement Aman, I'll try them once I get them. I think I'll have to go with stands, because the table is going to get pretty crowded when the iMac arrives.


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## Aman

Quote:


 What's that supposed to mean? 
 

I don't see the point in listening to speakers in front of a computer. That's what it is supposed to mean. If you're pre-occupied with the PC, how can you listen to loudspeakers properly? You won't be able to pin-point imaging, and you will hardly be able to make any time in for serious listening if you are sitting in front of your PC doing something else. If you want to multi-task, that is better left to headphones.

 Speakers, to be used properly and to their advantage above headphones, need to be listened to with devotion and concentration. Speakers bring you intimately close to the recording with their superb depth and imaging abilities, and these cannot be noticed the least bit if you're typing a report on your PC.


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## roastpuff

Well, I will be using headphones when working. The speakers are for my relaxing time, when I'm not trying to block out the rest of the family in that room - it acts as TV/Work/Game room, and gets rather noisy. That's why I tend to stay up late, until 12 - 1 am when everyone else is asleep.


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## AdamWill

aman: 16 year old are not generally noted for having dedicated listening rooms. Sheesh. Lay off the guy.


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## CRESCENDOPOWER

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *roastpuff* 
_I think I'm going to go for the Mission 710's, any thoughts? It's the factor of cost that is hindering me right now. Trying to get an amp, an iMac G5, headphones AND speakers is tough on the wallet. Not to mention I haven't finished selling all my computer parts yet. 

 After I buy the speakers I like best, how should I place them? This is what my area looks like, and where I'm going to spend most of my time in the house. 

 Should I be using stands, or put them on my bookshelf or wear them around my head?_

 

Put them right on your computer desk on each side of your computer monitor. Try to keep the tweeters as close to ear level as possible, and attempt to form an equilateral triangle with both tweeters, and your nose, and don’t forget to play with toe-in. These rules are not carved in stone, so in the end just play around until you get them to sound good.

 Missions are a pretty good choice for the near field because they don’t blister your ears with treble. I also recommend the Pioneer Elite A-35R Amplifier if you can swing it. Good luck!


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## roastpuff

I'm getting a pair of swinging shelves on the outsides of my desk from Ikea... they were originally designed for printers/monitors, and each side can mount 2. Supports up to 40kg, so no weight problems, and I'll be able to adjust the heigt/position easily enough. 

Swiveling Shelf 

 It's what the scanner is on.


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## AdamWill

Sounds good, I think magnetik from hardOCP forums has that setup.


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## Aman

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *AdamWill* 
_aman: 16 year old are not generally noted for having dedicated listening rooms. Sheesh. Lay off the guy._

 

And?

 That has nothing to do with it. As it appeared, he wished to use the speakers WHILE using the computer. If he were using the speakers in his room while relaxing, on the other hand, there'd be no question as to the purpose of purchasing the speakers in the first place. If his idea was simply to make audible noise for background, then any speaker could have done the job. However, as he has explained, I am getting the idea that this person will be using the speaker system for more than just background noise. So, to conclude, I made an assumption, but a warranted one.


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## dudlew

Quote:


 By Roast puff: After I buy the speakers I like best, how should I place them? 
 


 Get them off of the desktop. Thats the one sure thing I can tell you. The reflections from off of the desktop will mess up the sund dramatically, unless you actually like the effect or if the speakers are designed for such.

 I built a tiny version of the TNT Stubby for mine that lifts my new speakers (Which are Missions by the way
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





 ) off of the desk by about 12 - 13 inches, putting the tweeter at ear level. I used two pieces of 3/4 ply an all thread rod some nuts and a piecs of PVC pipe. If you can swing the DIY, the stubby is a good one and cheap. Just make sure you get them off of the desktop!!

 D


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## roastpuff

Unfortunately, I just called and the seller said they were gone. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	













 I'm going to have to go looking for other speakers.

 Maybe I'll luck out and find some Wharfedale Crystals.


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## Aman

You should get these:
http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....oni&1138132334

 If you have to raise your budget a little bit, it will still be worth it. These speakers are a step above the others you have mentioned in your original post.


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## roastpuff

Aman, they only ship to the USA. And if I'm struggling to afford <100CAD speakers, 200USD is an even bigger struggle to achieve.


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## Aman

Oh, I did not notice you lived in Canada.

 So, you're basically looking for speakers priced UNDER 85USD. Hate to break it to you, but that's just about impossible. You can't even buy a pair of Canadian-made Athena speakers for that cheap. You're probably best off getting a stereo mini-system.


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## joelongwood

Although these were not in your original list, I'm gonna suggest a pair of Klipsch KG1, circa 1990, which should pair well with your Hitachi receiver. I have a pair, and I can tell you that they are very efficient, and, their sound is reminiscent of the classic Klipsch sound, not the mass market sound they've evolved into in recent times. At moderate volume, they are remarkably close in sonics to the much larger Klipsch Forte which I also have. There's a pair on eBay right now, and they are in Canada.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Klipsch-KG1-set-...QQcmdZViewItem


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## roastpuff

Thanks joelongwood! Those look awesome... their only detractor is the price. I'm going to have to squeeze my wallet dry for this endeavor. 

 What do you folks think of the Wharfedale W70? I've got this gent who has a ton of speakers for sale, and I want to take a look at his stuff.


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## joelongwood

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *roastpuff* 
_Thanks joelongwood! Those look awesome... their only detractor is the price. I'm going to have to squeeze my wallet dry for this endeavor. 

 What do you folks think of the Wharfedale W70? I've got this gent who has a ton of speakers for sale, and I want to take a look at his stuff._

 

As I recall, the W70 was rather large with a 12" woofer, so it isn't going to sit on your desk.
 Here's what some of the folks over at Audiokarma (vintage audio site) have to say about the W70:
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthr...&highlight=w70


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## roastpuff

Yeah, they're apparently quite large. I'm really really leaning towards the Klipsches right now, because of their size. 

 My poor, poor wallet. 

 Off to do some recalculating of finances.


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## roastpuff

Mission m70's at 80CAD... what do you guys think? 

 I so want to get these because of their small size.


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## dudlew

If these are the speakers that are onsale at TSTO, they should be good value. I just got some M30i speakers and they are quite good for the price. You could try those if you want. US$90 from Amazon.com. just a tad over your budget maybe??

 D


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## roastpuff

TSTO? 

 These guys are local. Guy's selling bookshelf + CC's.

 EDIT: Figured out TSTO.


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## MoxMonkey

check out www.canuckaudiomart.com if you haven't already, similar to audiogon but more so for us canadians, might be able to find something on there


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