It is easy to give up the chase and make that final speaker purchase. I have done it many times. |
I'd go for the Dynaudio C1 in that room in that price range. |
I second the Dynaudio C1. Also, I'm having good luck with Harbeth SHL5 in a room roughly that size with a pair of Cary 805Cs. |
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I agree with Ejlif, the Dynaudio C1 is a great monitor. |
I have a smaller room in NM-10 x 13 x 8. I have found the LSA1 Statements to be outstanding. Now I have treated that room with Zilplex and now the room sounds like wherever the recording was made. The speakers are about $2700, stands about $400, and Zilplexes about $2200. You could have heard a demonstration of the Zilplexes at the RMAF. |
In a small room, I suggest you consider Harbeth. They are true monitors, which means they are designed to work well for nearfield listening, which is not the case with all speakers. You don't list your musical tastes, but if you enjoy vocals and acoustic music, they will fill the bill very well. Unfortunatly, IMO, the sad truth is you cannot predict how a speaker will work in your room until you get it installed in your system. I have had several speakers that, in a perfect acoustic environment, sound much better than the ones I have now, but just wouldn't work in my room. Good luck. |
My room is 12x11x8 and my Merlin TSMXe speakers sound good to me. YMMV........ |
Another vote for the Dynaudio C1. MKII version would be even better if you can find them used |
Of course, everybody is going to tend to recommend what they have already! :-)
That said, I would recommend that you take a look at either the Dulcet or MM De Capo iA from Reference 3A of Canada. I owned a pair of Dulcet's for about six months that I bought direct from Reference 3A. I then took advantage of their six month, full value trade up deal, and moved up to the MM De Capo iA, which is the latest iteration of this speaker.
My room is not that much larger than yours, about 16 x 13 with an 8 foot ceiling.
Both of these speakers image like crazy and have satisfying bass response. My new speakers are still breaking in at about the 75 hour point, and they keep getting better and better. And either speaker, brand-new, will come in substantially below your price range. Hope this helps. |
I currently own Dynaudio C4's, and up until recently have considered the C1 something of a benchmark in the reasonably priced monitor category. I've heard the C1 many many times, and through it's many iterations. It's not the best monitor I've ever heard, but until RMAF was the best I've heard under $10,000. What changed my thinking was Vapor Audio, their offerings were just overall cleaner sounding with more air and detail, but also a more 'real' sense of musicality. I'd highly recommend looking into their offerings as many will fit into your budget new, not used. |
An excellent speaker choice in the used category would be the Platinum Audio Solo or Platinum Audio Duo.
Priced ridiculously low as the brand name long gone.
These are among the speakers that passed through my systems, and in hindsight are clearly among the modern era's over-achieving monitor speakers.
Sub-woofer not required to get full range thrills from these. |
I suggest Proac Response D-2. I had a set of the original Response 2 in a room that size and was hapy for 9 years. I only changed when I moved to a larger room and I am not sure that was necessary. Plenty, but not too much bass and they will work well with your Cary integrated amp. |
Mlman: If this helps I have previously owned Micro BE's and KEF 201/1's in a 12X13 room, untreated at this point. Earlier this year I took a chance on a pair of Vapor Audio Cirrus and have been living in speaker blissdom ever since.
The BE's were more narrow in their dispersion and would seem to do better in a larger room. They also would finish last in a qualitative performance ranking of the three speakers mentioned. I liked the 201/1's a lot, better in every way than the BE's excepting cosmetics and build quality. From what I've seen of the 201/2's the 1's have arguably a better complement of drivers but a lesser quality cabinet. I have not heard the 201/2.
After thoroughly researching Vapor products and speaking to the builder/owner, Ryan Scott, I was convinced he really knew his craft. If you can stand the wait I highly recommend the Vapor Cirrus. My search for a high quality small room speaker is permanently over. There is an excellent thread on the recent RMAF on Audio Circle which discusses impressions of the Cirrus.
Good luck with your search. |
Petrakis_a, I had largely the same experience with the DC10 Audio monitors but the Evolution Audio MMMicros ones were great also. |
I would suggest a small tower speaker. No reason the space taken up by the stands couldn't be used to increase base response. It wouldn't take up any more floor space.
Bob |
harbeth compact ES7,
end of the search.
good luck |
I purchased a used pair of Totem Arro's just to try while waiting for a pair of SF cremona auditors to come up for sale on Audigon. My room is 17' X 30' living room/dining room with 8' ceilings HWF and area rugs. Well these little guys have just blew me away. They have an amazing organic sound like live music with plenty of bass and just disappear in the room. I listen to jazz, blues & classical, but not hard rock or that ilk. My amp is a 100 watt hybrid and I use a tube buffer in between the CD & Amp. I always liked the intimacy of the sound stage stand mounts offer but the Arro's do the same. |
Mlman, there is a pair of the Vapor Audio Cirrus black that just went up for sale. Get'm before Petrakis :D |
Totem Arrow (limited dynamic range), Totem Forest (superb, dynamic and play low but need power and treble is tipped up) or the new B&W PM1's wt stands...power required but they are in the same league as my Wilson WP6's, just smaller scale. I've owned al the above and tons more if you have any questions:) |
Platinum Audio Solo's with dedicated stands! I have them in moderate size NYC LR....13'x23' No sub needed. Requires POWER...150 good w/ch at least. |
Neumann KH310A - then you can sell your amps and recoup some money. They go really low too.... |
Have you heard the Fritz Carbon 7 speakers. His speakers are awesome! |
