Music opus 2 m1

[TdC]

guys I can get a pair of wharfdale opus 2 speakers for "cheap". any thoughts on them?

review here: Wharfedale Opus 2-M1 review from TechRadar UK's expert reviews of Hi-fi & AV speakers

 

[Ch3tan]

They seem well reviewed around the net, you'll never know until you try them with your kit though.

How cheap is cheap btw?

 

[taB]

I can get you some Opus One quite cheaply.

Opus One > Opus Two

 

[nath]

They may well be technically very good, but it's often really worth trying them yourself. When it comes to hifi stuff, it's usually a case of personal preference, having a demo is a very good idea if at all possible.

 

[TdC]

cheap is 399e each, and yeah, I'll certainly be listening to them beforehand

 

[Ch3tan]

399 each!? Thats hardly a huge saving.

 

[old.user4556]

What everyone has said; demo with material you like and know and preferably with your amp and CD player if possible.

Also look at:

http://www.synergysav.com/product.php/173/0/mordaunt_short_mezzo_6

Been getting great reviews.

 

[Chilly]

Made from Australian eucalyptus and pine

hrrmhmmhmmmmmmmm

You'll find most wooden speaker cabs worth their salt are MDF or birch-ply, of at least 18mm thickness with vineer for finish. I'm not sure about the properties of their custom mdf-stuff (assuming they've ground up eucalyptus, pine and some other glue to make their own) but it might be worth checking out.

 

[Chilly]

What everyone has said; demo with material you like and know and preferably with your amp and CD player if possible.

Also look at:

Mordaunt Short Mezzo 6 > Synergy Sound and Vision, Hi-Fi and home cinema. Pinner, Middlesex, UK. 0208 86 86 123

Been getting great reviews.

Pretty crap sensitivity, 89dB.

 

[old.user4556]

Chilly, please.

Some of the best speakers in the world have a sensitivity the same or less and will have next to fuck-all to do with how good they can sound.

 

[Chilly]

inefficiency makes me sad! I'm used to playing with bigboy speakers anyway, 18" folded horn badmans with dedicated 10kW amps and all that good shit. My hifi skillz arnt what they could be.

 

[old.user4556]

PA and guitar speakers have better efficiency yeah, but they also can sound as frightening as Trem climaxing loudly into a pillow.

 

[TdC]

What everyone has said; demo with material you like and know and preferably with your amp and CD player if possible.

Also look at:

Mordaunt Short Mezzo 6 > Synergy Sound and Vision, Hi-Fi and home cinema. Pinner, Middlesex, UK. 0208 86 86 123

Been getting great reviews.

looks sweet, but I must hurry to say that I am going small because I want rid of my floorstanders, not change them for other ones

inefficiency makes me sad! I'm used to playing with bigboy speakers anyway, 18" folded horn badmans with dedicated 10kW amps and all that good shit. My hifi skillz arnt what they could be.

in your bedroom I'm sure

 

[Chilly]

in your bedroom I'm sure

Who said anything about bedrooms? I take the fuckers out into fields and jump around. I also build the cabs for them sometimes. My brother worked for both kef and martin audio and my father is an electronics pro so I've absorbed plenty of know-how

 

[old.user4556]

Just not much on the efficiency

My dad's a big speaker fanatic, builds his own custom cabs and crossovers for units from Kef and Linn speakers.

Interesting your bro worked for Kef, Chilly. What does he do now?

 

[TdC]

Who said anything about bedrooms?

I was taking the piss


in an aside, things like this also give me mad wood, but I think I'd have to put them on a flat surface due to my house being the way it is. somehow I think that would make them sound bad?

 

[Chilly]

Just not much on the efficiency

My dad's a big speaker fanatic, builds his own custom cabs and crossovers for units from Kef and Linn speakers.

Interesting your bro worked for Kef, Chilly. What does he do now?

Does electronics work for the MoD on new devices. While at kef he was in charge of getting the kit200 out the door and making it sound sweet. Then he went to martin audio where he worked on DSP and controllers for stadium-grade rigs.

 

[Tom]

What amp do you have TDC?

They're only 87dB per 1W at 1M, which means you'll need a reasonably powerful amplifier to drive them. A poor quality low-power amp will struggle without damaging them.

 

[old.user4556]

Does electronics work for the MoD on new devices. While at kef he was in charge of getting the kit200 out the door and making it sound sweet. Then he went to martin audio where he worked on DSP and controllers for stadium-grade rigs.

Electronic Engineering I presume?

My dad would have cut his legs off for a job like that; he became non-technical and moved into project and programme management.

 

[TdC]

What amp do you have TDC?

I currently have an Onkyo SR595. it's going to be upgraded sometime in the future for it's bigger brother, not the 806 but the strange one cos I like it

 

[Bodhi]

Last time I looked at hifi Wharfedale had a proper ropey reputation, don't know if this has changed, but certainly, they were cheap for a reason. I got some Missions instead - 12 years later they still give me wood with their clarity and punch. Only 89dbA, but that only matters for night time listening anyway, not that my KI-Signature electronics would struggle.

So my recommendation is get some Missions, then stop fucking about with Onkyo and get yourself a Marantz amp.

 

[Tom]

I currently have an Onkyo SR595. it's going to be upgraded sometime in the future for it's bigger brother, not the 806 but the strange one cos I like it

Ok that's an AV receiver, which basically means you'll be wasting your money on those speakers unless you plan to upgrade to a proper hifi amplifier.

 

[TdC]

but I must have my pretty dolby sweetness!!

 

[Chilly]

so get 3 pro stereo amps in a rack and a av decoder preamp to drive them only set you back about 5k or so for a reasonable setup you can get 1U 20kW class D amps these days...

 

[TdC]

haha I don't even know what that means

am thinking of getting an Onkyo 806 or 876, but if anyone has a coherent suggestion for a better AV amp at the price range of the ones I mentioned I'll gladly listen to them!

 

[Ch3tan]

I have the 875 and it is glorious, especially given its price point. I find it is fine for stereo sound as well.

 

[old.user4556]

Slightly off topic but relevant.

If I had the cash TdC, and I wanted my FLAC library streamed from my server in audiophile goodness, I'd buy one of these:

Linn Klimax DS

Edit: sorry, you need the power amps on top of that at another £6600

http://www.petertyson.co.uk/ebuttonz/ebz_product_pages/linn_klimax_500_solo.shtml?fshop

My dad has the non-DS version and it sounds astounding and the build quality (single billet machined from solid aluminium) is brilliant.

 

[Bodhi]

It certainly used to be the case that you could buy a good stereo amp then add a Dolby Reciever to it which handled the extra 3.1 channels, then used your stereo amp effectively as a power amp for the left and right channel. It meant the cake was both possessed and consumed - 5.1 for movies, glorious clear stereo for music. Do they still do these?

And just after recommending them my Marantz amp is playing silly buggers. The right channel has gone quiet and slightly muffled. I suspect a dodgy connection on the right speaker terminal, as it work briefly when I was checking the speaker wire earlier. However I've hooker up a set of speakers from a mini system and same problem

My poor amp It's 13 years old granted, and I've had my use out of it, but it still sounds so good.

When it works

 

[Ch3tan]

Yes bods, you can still do that. Certainly the route to take if you listen to a lot of music and have good front speakers.