Big, big room -- which 10-20k speakers?

I've heard the Anats in a decent sized room. Very nice, at least with the acoustic vocal jazz recordings demoed.

The audiokinesis and Classic Audio suggestions are probably a good one for use with the integrated amp. Less efficient speakers may need more juice in a very large room. Class D amps are a nice fit there, but that would require an amp switch if that were an option.

John Strohbeen at OHm Acoustics has recently been touting some new models in the $10K range that incorporates large 15" powered subs into the model 5000 design that otherwise is advertised for up to 8500 sq. feet or so (and costs ~ $6500 or sowithout the powered subs). Might be worth a call to OHM to see what might be done there.

WHoops, sorry, I of course meant to say 8500 cubic feet, not 8500 square feet.

Sorry.

I think whether the 120 w/ch Luxman would cut it or not with the less efficient speakers would likely depend on listening habits, volumes, type of music, etc.

Having powered subs in the mix would help if needed.

A big room like that is likely one that you want to leverage, and not fight, unless you are up for major sound treatment expense. Omnidirectional speakers lend themselves to that with their tendency to fill a room with sound rather than fire it directly at you.

I'd love to hear my big OHM F5s in a room that size. I think the Luxman could do a pretty decent job.

An alternate approach would be to go for near field listening. That opens up many new possibilities, including with the current amp.

OHM F 5015's with 15" powered subs built in for ~$10,000 (if available currently) can fill that room as good as just about anything dsigned for home use, I would bet. The powered subs would take a lot of load off the main Luxman amp and could work very well I am thinking.

My OHM F5s which are similar but without powered subs running off my $3600 used BEl Canto ref1000m 500w/ch amps could even do a respectable job I bet. This combo has yet to show any signs of stress or breakup at any volume in my setup. The wide range OHM CLS Walsh driver that handles most music up to ~7Khz or so and minimizes demand on the tweeter is a big reason for that. Few other speaker designs can compare in terms of ability to go loud and clear, perhaps none at similar cost.

Older earlier generation OHM Walsh 4s or 5s might be had for less than $1000 used. I have used old OHM Walsh 2s outdoors even off an 80w/ch Tandberg receiver, and volume was never an issue. It sounded as much like live music as most anything I have ever heard, including many big buck reference systems. The sound of the older model OHM Walsh speakers are not as refined overall in most rooms as the latest and greatest, but might work very well for very little if room size and acoustics becomes the bottleneck towards achieving the kind of high end audiophile sound one might expect in most rooms.

Pro gear is more often applied in very large rooms/venues. Not as sexy, but perhaps the most bang per buck?

I'd say pick up a pair of old OHM Walsh 5s somewhere for <$1000 and give those a shot first before spending big bucks. You'd have little to loose and much to save/gain even if they do not cut it. They can be resold easily with little or no loss,or traded in to OHM for up to 40% discount on a newer pair if desired.

I would love to have a room that size for any OHMs and would never trade it if I did for anything in the smaller rooms most of us are limited to in our homes. I've found the OHm Walsh CLS speakers are NEVER the bottleneck. In your case, the amp would be, but it may still be good enough that it not matter. MAxing out the amp with the OHMs in a room that size should be an incredible experience that I would love to hear! That or the option of adding a good powered sub.

[url=http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/687ohm/]1987 Stereophile Review of the OHM Walsh 5[/url]

Fact is most any good speaker can sound good in a large room. The determining factor will be how much volume and bass is expected.

Tyler Acoustics are one line I have never heard that I would like to hear. I have seen several models that look well suited for a large room.

"So if you have a speaker of higher efficiency you have a much wider range of amplifiers available! "

That may be true but you only need one and there are plenty to choose from.

There are many ways to tackle the problem effectively.

High efficiency is likley part of the solution somewhere, be it more efficient amps capable of delivering more power in a smaller more efficient package, higher efficiency speakers that require less power to sing, or perhaps even both together, or some middle ground even perhaps.

Lots of ways to skin the cat.

Tannoys and Classic Audio are certainly good contenders, but the there are many possible ways to skin this cat, including use of power subs, especially when already integrated into the speaker design by teh vendor, though adding separate subs can work very well also.

These would be my choice for that room in the $10K range, if available.