Best Small Speaker NOT B&W's 805N?


We auditioned B&W's Nautilus 805's in our living room and they sounded great. Unfortunately, my wife doesn't like the aesthetic styling of the B&W's and would prefer a more tradional looking box. We'd like to listen to some alternatives before making our final choice and would appreciate some help. Our living room is sonically awkward, because it is large and very bright. The windows and the furniture are situated to take advantage of some lovely views; but this makes speaker placement difficult. Still, we can create a quite nice near-field listening environment so long as the speakers we use are roughly the size of the B&W 805N's. We listen mostly to jazz, particularly piano and vocal. We would appreciate suggestions for 'best' speakers that are similar in size to the B&W's but with a more traditional look to them. Thanks in advance for your help! Kurt ield . look of the tweeter sitting on top of the box We have a living room in which the furniture layout prohibits anythin auditioned the B&W 805 Nautilus y wife and I
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We had shoot out with the following speakers last week: B&W N805, Dunlavy SM-1, & Dynaudio Contour 1.3mkII. It was the first time I had heard any of them, including the just released Dunlavy SM-1. The SM-1 was so far superior, that we thought there might be something wrong with the others. You should have a listen to all 3 (all of which are about the same price). Also, when reading the hifi magazines, keep in mind who is advertising the most, and who's getting the press that follows. 1 page ads in some of the hifi mag's run in the $10,000.00 per page range. Keep this in mind. SM-1's are the best monitor we have EVER heard. I purchased a pair for myself in Kavazinga wood. www.dunlavyaudio.com If you know what live music sounds like, then this is the speaker for you!
Try these small speakers: Dynaudio 1.3 MkII; Harbeth HL-P3 ES; Harbeth HL-K6; Proac Response 1SC or Tablettes; Spendor (I forgot the model); Totem Model 1; They are all good/classic spkrs. Some are used for monitoring reference (i.e. Harbeths), and some are regarded as good-all-rounders. If you really want to get a small speakers that can sing, get LS 3/5a. They are manufactured by KEF, Spendor, Rogers, and Harbeth. Good luck! PS: I personally use Harbeth Compact 7. Not so small, but can be categorized as standmount spkrs in the US.
Try Platinum Audio Solo's. They are around the same price range as the 805's and are more traditional looking if that's what you're after. They are very transparent and they produce absolutely incredible bass for such a small size-- around the 30 hz range! It's soundstaging is quite large too. I think that they are in their second generation now and haven't heard them yet but the first generation Solo's are quite excellent in my book.
The finest loudspeakers in the world are the Wilson Audio. Watt 5 or the wilson cub are the best for wife appeal. You can hear every sound in those recordings accurately and clearly. It is spooky!!!! Amazing detail!! Sound so smooth and sweet regardless to what you listen too!!
I just saw a photo of the new JM Lab Micro Utopia on enjoythemusic.com Go to CES 2000 advance report.