Best speakers for a small room? 10'X14'

Addendum to my earlier post, Spica TC-50s are not ported. The TC-60 is ported and goes a bit deeper in the bass (though not close to being full range). Keep in mind that ported speakers are usually more difficult to mate with a sub. Both are excellent, but within its range, the TC-50 has the edge in resolution and balance. Most bookshelf speakers sound best at least 2' from the rear wall. If that is your concern, consider the Totem Arro, though ported, it can be placed closer to the rear wall than the Spica without losing its soundstage.

I've had very good luck with a pair of ProAc Tablette 50 Signatures in a 12 x 13 foot room. Running them with a subwoofer creates a very full sound. I have a lot of stuff in the room, and having a bathroom and a walk-in closet behind each speaker seems to compensate for the rear ports of the ProAcs. A weird setup yes, but I'm happy.

Just a bit over your budget, but absolutely marvelous. You might be able to find a used pair of Sapphire IIIs under $1k. These little devils just disappear and leave a great soundstage. A BIG improvement in many ways over my previous Sonus Faber Concertos

Thought I'd post an update. Was thinking very seriously about the TC-50's, but only found one posting for a pair here on AudiogoN and the seller never replied to my message. Plus the condition of them was not very good which made me hesitant to begin with. I could always wait, but I really want to get my system going again for some listening sessions over the holidays.

I was also very interested in the recommendation for Totem Arros. I really needed to sell my speakers before buying something else (don't want family strife before Xmas!) but found two tremendous deals here on the AudiogoN that I tried to buy them even w/o selling my Hales. Well, they were both such good deals that they were already sold!

I posted my Hales Concept Twos on this site and didn't receive much in the way of interest. Because they're so heavy, I had to list them for local sale only. I decided to drop the price and advertise for sale or trade for a pair of monitors.

I got a couple of very nice offers but have decided on a pair of Aerial Acoustics Model 5s. I had actually listened to these at Bay Area Audio in San Jose the day before I got the trade offer (talk about coincidence) and was VERY pleased. They're a sealed enclosure and don't have a tremendous amount of bass response so I think they'll work very nicely in my small room. They've got a buttery midrange which I LOVE (kind of like the Spicas) and also have a very extended upper range w/o being too forward at all. Needless to say, I'm excited about making the trade and getting them hooked up.

I'm scheduled to pick them up in Oakland on Tuesday evening, so I'll post again later in the week with m final thoughts.

Thank you all very much for your input. I value your opinions and am glad to have a group of "virtual friends" with whom to share this fantastic hobby.

Good listening and warm holiday wishes to you and your families!

Kindly,

Dan Hirschler

I own the Thiels CS2.3. I am very pleased with them. But I would caution anyone considering them for a small room. Because of their first order crossover the listener needs to be positioned 10 feet or more from the speaker. The drivers in the Thiel integrate poorly in a nearfield listening position.

Refer to the online stereophile review and read the test results by JA.

The only way I know around this is to use TacT RCS 2.0 to smooth out the frequency response.