Hi,

My brother have a pair of KEF Cresta 30 mini floorstander speakers and one of the driver is bad. He was quote RM450 for a replacement driver.

Is it worth replacing the drivers or just buy a new pair of bookshelf speakers. He got quote for Mission M32i for RM1200 and around the same price for Wharfadale Diamond 9.1 bookshelves.

Is the cresta 30 better than the 2 bookshelves speakers or is their other better speakers choice for the same money?

Wharfy 9.1 can get below 1k easily lah. Those are speakers for peasants (which I am using)

Cresta 30 also for peasants but i read the Wharfy 9.1 good speakers for the price. Question is that should he buy the driver or just get a pair of new Wharfy 9.1.

This post has been edited by lightning69: Aug 11 2009, 04:45 PM

i think that depends on how much he likes the cresta.
but personally would prefer the bookselves.......

Hi Lightning.

I'm a speaker expert about to give you an expert's advice. Here goes:

1. If your brother likes the KEF and is not complaining, replace the cone, even if it's RM450. Otherwise, he's going to waste a good pair of speakers and contribute to higher carbon emissions.

2. If he thinks he wants to toy around with a new pair of speakers, then just go ahead and buy them. At around RM800 to 2000, most any speaker will satisfy many ears, unless the person is really fussy.

3. As for which speaker is better? Well, this one will depend on many factors e.g. his type of music genre, his preference on the range of sound emphasis, the size of the listening room, the type of wall and floor covering, the type of Transport, DAC, Amplifier, Interconnects, Speaker Cables, length of cables, isolators, electrical stabilizers, rigidity of stands, ...........

In short, he's gotta trust his ears. If he likes it, it's a good speaker, even if you only pay RM800. If he doesn't like it, even if you pay RM5000, it's a lousy speaker.

Happy listening.

Mikahl

I would prefer the KEFs. If he's not familiar with Mission or Wharfedale, audition is the best. I've owned Wharfy 9.1 before, good dependable speakers, just that it's really warm. I prefer a more balanced sound.

And yes, I bought my Wharfy 9.1 for just over RM700 if I can remember correctly.

By the way, I forgot to mention that for that kind of budget, I'd recommend the Paradigm Titan bookshelves from Canada. I think Asiasound in AmCorp Mall is the disti for this brand in Malaysia.

For around RM1k, it's got good deep bass and solid midrange clarity in general. But that being said, mine was a Titan v3. Now it's probably v5 or so but I suggest you go give it a listen if you have a chance to.

You built or repair speakers?

He BUYS them ... ???

Well, the TS need expert advice. There he has it, so hard to get that really.

oh I don't mean to be sarcastic. That is an honest question and no double meaning

I second this recommendation, but I think it might be more than that - a couple of years ago I asked about an Atom - that time it was still v3 or v4 and the price in US was $198. I was quoted RM1071. the Atom v5 is US$250 I haven't asked the new prices

I bought my Wharfy 9.1 for RM799 back in 06. I love em more and more each day. Maybe it's because of my peasant ears.

yes , htkaki sure say too harsh wan..

Peasant ears cannot differentiate between 799 and 7999 speakers mah

as long as you got elite landed property island side can already..

Thanks you all.

Anyway Mikahl, you know exactly how much the Paradigm Titan would cost? Got the phone number for Asiasound?

Apa lu orang gossip?

ar188, I am no match to elite Chew His HT setup might be entry level but as you mentioned, the piece of precious land can buy a few containers of mbl / Wilson Audio speakers

LOL, haha! Gotcha! I'm NOT a 'Speaker Expert'! Just an ordinary guy posting a humble comment like everyone else.

Anyways, since I've gone this far, I may as well share my story, that is, if you guys still care to read on.

I started listening to 'Hi-fi' since 1990. But actually, it was really 'Low-Fi', cause back then I was a student in Melbourne and had a really tight ass budget. So with whatever little money I had, I went to the ends of the earth in search of the 'Big V'. Yes, VALUE. Best of the best value that my little money can buy. And I was lucky cos Australia had choices, many many choices from low to big budget. I spent a lot of time reading HiFi Choice, What Hi-Fi and many other audiophile magazines, and countless hours training my ears to pick up on details that exuberated from really lousy to really great speakers. And not just speakers, but combinations of amps and CD players.

Then I bought, with whatever little money I had, a HiFi, which later I sold and upgraded when I had more money, and then again. But I stopped after about 3 or 4 rounds of upgrading, becos I realised that this 'hobby' requires not just deep pockets, but plenty of engaging and embracing of technology and ambience settings, and most of all, time and a consistent knack for good tone. And all that I did in around 8 years. Now, I don't even have a system set up anymore cos I cant find the time to do all that. But lucky for me before I quit the scene, I had the opportunity to 'sample' the sound of a peculiar amplifier while in Melbourne. It was the Audionote GakuON. You wouldn't believe the sound.


Ya, anyways, and after all the study and reviews and whatnot, I came to the conclusion that Great Sound is actually what makes you Happy, now! That's why I wrote to Lightning that, if his brother was Happy with the sound, then fix the KEF. Suggesting the Paradigm Titan Monitors was just me trying to be polite, as in, I won't just stop short of an opinion, I'll be nice and throw you some other options based on my experience. Otherwise, no point to share here right?

And since you requested, here are the links that I Googled for you (lazy you):

Address:
http://www.paradigm.com/en/dealer_locator/...tional_city.php

Here's the Paradigm Titan Monitor factsheet link:
http://www.paradigm.com/en/pdf/product_she...itanmonitor.pdf

Here are some reviews:
http://stereos.about.com/od/stereospeakerr...adigmTitans.htm
http://www.audioreview.com/cat/speakers/fl...rx.aspx#reviews
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_6_3/...n-speakers.html
http://www.audio-ideas.com/reviews/titan.html


As for the price of the Titans, I'm not sure, but I bought mine from Australia so you have to go find out yourself. I heard last time there was this guy in Pertama Complex selling them for around RM900, but he's closed shop dy.

Maybe one day I'll dig up my old Pioneer A400 amp and Titan speakers and give it a go. I packed them up some years back. I'm quite happy with this budget setup, coupled with Cable Talk 3 and hopefully my Cambridge Audio DACmagic still works.

Happy Hunting. Hope I didn't poison you

but you never built or repaired a speaker, right?