a humble upgrade for my stereo
Well, you know, when I’m fed up with computers (yes, that does happen sometimes) or when I just don’t know what to do, I like to spend some time, wandering around in audioland.
Now my home stereo has grown throughout the years to something which for me is a very pleasing set. Everything in my set has been on a budget and somehow I guess that’s half the fun. When I see these pics of almost perfect setups on home theater forums or such that’s all very nice and I’m not criticizing it either (I would probably be in an audio store the day after I would win the lottery) but still… sometimes it’s just too damn simple, expensive amplifier brand, expensive speaker brand and tada! look at my perfect setup… right. Finding parts second hand, combining stuff which should match according to your own theories and just try your luck here and there is a lot of fun! (and a whole lot healthier for your budget)
Anyway, this weekend I added some ‘new’ rear speakers. They are Mission 700s, speakers which get some pretty good reviews all over the place. Since these speakers weren’t too expensive to begin with when they were new, these can be picked up for very little money. I was really surprised actually and now, after two days of listening (I’ve also listened a long time just to the rears) I’m even more surprised. It’s just that good, really!
Mission 700
click to enlarge
A while ago I also purchased (at the same audio store actually) a solid center speaker. It’s a Tannoy Saturn S6LCR, a center speaker out of Tannoy Saturn S6-serie. Now I’ve been experimenting with all kinds of speakers for my center, even though I knew a center speaker is almost the most important piece in any home theater setup. And now I finally have a solid center speaker myself I can only add to that advice… Personally I’ve been waiting way too long with that. If you enjoy watching movies, invest in a solid center speaker! You won’t regret it.
click to enlarge
Now, how does such a set, all of my speakers are from different brands, combine? My front speakers are from 1984 (although I upgraded the tweeters once) and build by a Dutch manufacturer called BNS and they match wonderfully well with my just acquired Mission 700s. The Tannoy, when I test it by playing the same music through my center, sounds a little different from my fronts, but normally there’s hardly coming music from the center, only dialogue. As a center speaker it does it’s job rather well actually. The sound which now comes from this speaker is a much ‘fuller’ sound (it can fill my room on it’s own!) than what any of the speakers I’ve been experimenting with earlier on could do. I’ve been a cheapskate when it comes to my center speaker way too long, really.
the front-end of my set
click to enlarge
In total, I guess this will be the speaker pack I will use until I finally find the money to have a truly homogenic set all round, the real problem is that my taste is a little expensive I guess… ^_^ I’ve been looking into building my own speakers also, you can save a lot of money by going that way. Still it will be something I might be doing once in my life and when I do, I want to build an ultimate speaker pack (imho) and believe me, even when you build them yourself, ultimate speakers cost a lot of money ^_^
I guess I can say the same about speakers or audio-equipment in general as what I sometimes use as an anology referring to how I buy a lot of my equipment “I’d rather drive a second hand BMW 7-series than a brand new VW Golf (they probably cost the same)”
So, until I win the lottery, keep them second hand BMWs coming! *^_^*
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My mate used to have some of those. Very nice speakers. He painted the front panels surrounding the cones. I wouldn’t recommend this, although it looked good.