Top 5... BUDGET SPEAKERS - Up to £500
There's nothing technical about this top 5 listing and I fully realise that there are loads that could have been here that aren't... but these are speakers that I've bought, sometimes owned and sold over the years. They are all, in my humble opinion, great units within their price range. My strongest advice is that if you like your existing speakers but are looking to upgrade, first look further up the model range from your manufacturer before heading elsewhere.
1. Linn KanIf you can't afford a pair of BBC spec LS3/5A speakers from the likes of Rogers, Chartwell etc, then a pair of diminutive Linn Kan speakers are a great alternative. KEF Reference 101s are another very pretty alternative, but seem thinner on the ground. The Linn Kans come up for sale quite regularly and consistently sound terrific and are perhaps one of my favourite small (very small) speakers. Expect to pay... From £300
2. Monitor Audio Silver RS6Here's a great floorstanding speaker that we sell a lot of. Quality of the cabinet construction is excellent and these speakers consistently sound lovely. Cheaper floorstanders can easily disappoint, but these never do. The oak finished cabinets look great, but they're available in a number of different finishes and are not rare, so bag a terrific sounding speaker for not a lot of money. Expect to pay... From £250
3. Castle HowardNo-one seems to rate Castle speakers, except me! The styling is a bit old fashioned I'll grant you. The Howard was Castle's top of the range unit and you can find it in S1, S2 and S3 form. All are worth catching and certainly don't discount the earlier versions. The Harlech is a smaller version of the Howard and even better value!
The Howard has an almost seismic bass, but it also has a sublime mid range an a very easy-on-the ear treble. Positioning is important and they do not like being close to walls. But locate them correctly and I doubt you'll be disappointed. Expect to pay... £350+ for a really tidy pair. |
4. Celestion Ditton 15 & 44If you can tell anything from the heading, it's that I'm a fan of Celestion speakers. The small Ditton 15s are super cheap these days (from £50), but one of the nicest small speakers you can find for the money - great on midrange and vocals. The Ditton 44 is a large great hunk of old-fashioned speaker and that can often put people off... finding an unmarked set can also prove tricky, but the sound is really great - well worth trying if you have the space. And don't ignore the Ditton 25 or 33 too. Expect to pay... From £50 for a Ditton 15 (a bit more for a 15XR), from £150 for Ditton 44.
5. Q Acoustics Concept 20Q Acoustics has made a huge noise (excuse the pun) in recent years, and produced a number of great small bookshelf speakers. There are also some good floor standers as well. I'm not going suggest they set the world alight, but they can sound very easy on the ear - an easy speaker to live with. There are quite a number of different models to look out for, but we like these Concept 20s. Expect to pay... £175
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