Question Acoustic Energy AE300 vs Dynaudio Emit M20 vs B&W 606 vs Fyne Audio F500 - Advice Please

malcolmduffin

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Acoustic Energy AE300 vs Dynaudio Emit M20 vs B&W 606 vs Fyne Audio F500 - Advice Please

Bit of advice hugely appreciated. I have a working studio in the basement of my house. 14' x 12' but with fairly low 7' Roof. I'm a printmaker so lots of ink and paint and materials being moved about. As a result, my current set up is a Sonos (Tidal) as the source to Marantz PM6006 amp out to Dali Spektor 2s on wall mounts. But I've never been happy with the wall mounting or the Dalis so I'm looking for new speakers.

Been on a listening day to various retailers and while I was able to spend 10 minutes or so with each speaker getting some feedback from actual daily users I think would be invaluable.

I narrowed my choice down to Acoustic Energy AE300, Dynaudio Emit M20s, B&W 606s, and Fynne Audio F500s. I was unable to find anyone in Manchester UK who could demo the Kef Q350s so I'm sadly disregarding those.

I really like all the above but for slightly different reasons. The Acoustic Energy's are probably my favourite (but, at £650, perhaps too expensive) followed jointly by the Dynaudios and B&Ws. The Fyne are a bit of an unknown factor to me. I didn't feel the sound was as even (stronger in bass and treble but not midrange) but their selling point was their driver construction which the salesperson said would allow for a wider listening space throughout the room (I move through it a lot doing different projects) as opposed to a single 'sweet spot'. Also, floorstanders might be more stable and less likely to be knocked over so any recommendations there appreciated that are in a similar £500 - £600 price bracket. So these are perhaps my questions:

1. Anyone have experience with the Fynne Audio F500s?

2. Anyone have views on Dynaudios M20 vs B&W 606s? (or just had a pair for a bit and can feedback)

3. Same as above for the Acoustic Energy AE300s - just in case I can get a Black Friday deal!

4. Any alternative and small floorstanders? I did hear the diminutive AE 109s which were impressive but preffered the standmounts I heard.
 
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The marantz isnt that suited to the Dynaudio due to its electrical load sadly and at just 45w / channel too.. so rule the Dyn's out.

I am not familiar with the Fynes so cant comment on those.

The 606 electrically starts at 8ohms and dips to 3.7.. so again.. could be quite taxing on that power reserve at volume.

The AE's are a nominal 6ohm load...

Out of the 3.. i would say for the marantz on paper.. the AE would be the easier to drive as are the fynes.

Realistically with the marantz.. i would be looking at the MA Bronze 2's or the Dali range (spektor 2, zensor 3, etc) which do get sold as a kit with the 6006 (although they are a stiff load at 6ohm and some dip lower) and use solid stands.. not wall mount!
 
The marantz isnt that suited to the Dynaudio due to its electrical load sadly and at just 45w / channel too.. so rule the Dyn's out.

I am not familiar with the Fynes so cant comment on those.

The 606 electrically starts at 8ohms and dips to 3.7.. so again.. could be quite taxing on that power reserve at volume.

The AE's are a nominal 6ohm load...

Out of the 3.. i would say for the marantz on paper.. the AE would be the easier to drive as are the fynes.

Realistically with the marantz.. i would be looking at the MA Bronze 2's or the Dali range (spektor 2, zensor 3, etc) which do get sold as a kit with the 6006 (although they are a stiff load at 6ohm and some dip lower) and use solid stands.. not wall mount!
Many thanks for the advice - much appreciated
 
Many thanks for the advice - much appreciated
if you have access to stands.. try the dalis you have first in different stand outs/toe ins from the wall/corners.. i'd prob say 20-30cm (10 to 12") from a wall for the spektor 2 and float in/out till you get the spot before you spend..

And also .. go demo. if you have a RS near you.. then perfect.. they have the marantz and the ma/dalis :) and you can also get home demos from them and/or the likes of Audio T for example with a no obligation to buy
 
Could try an offer?


These are being sold by the manufacturer.
 
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That's an amazing price and being sold by Acoustic Energy so won't be duds either. Thanks for the pointer!
 
Out of those I would go for the AE's. Had a few pairs of AE's over the years and they have all been great, customer service is also very good from the company.

I bet you could get those ex demo's for £299 if you are lucky!
 
Could try an offer?


These are being sold by the manufacturer.
Thanks for the tip off - managed to secure these for £325 so absolutely delighted. Arriving end of week and can't wait!
 
-- As an eBay Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases --
Out of those I would go for the AE's. Had a few pairs of AE's over the years and they have all been great, customer service is also very good from the company.

I bet you could get those ex demo's for £299 if you are lucky!
I went for it and secured them for £325 - delighted!
 
what do you think?
They were good. But not that good. I found them competent and pretty dynamic but they didn't blow me away. It might have been what they were set up with. So in the end I sold them. I decided to go down the vintage / 2nd hand route and am delighted with current set up which is:

PMC Twenty 21 Speakers
Bluesound Node 2i
Chord 2Qute Dac
Arcam A39 Amp
Arcam P35 Poweramp
Rel T5 Subwoofer

Took me a year to source and put together but delighted with final result. I'm an artist and for my work studio where I am all day it's an endgame setup for me. Now slowly changing my upstairs system and deciding whether to go down the Tube Amp route at the moment...
 

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