I heard the most amazing speakers the other day. They were called Royd Ministrel SE and looked ridiculously puny. They are floor standing, lean back a little, and can't be more than 20 inches tall by 8 inches wide. They had the most incredible soundstage and bass! I could not believe it at all. The dealer was laughing at me saying that no one can believe the sound coming from these little speakers sitting on the floor. They were very very cool. |
There are a number already listed that I agree with. I tend to find the "bigger" size is an illusion created by credible bass. As such coupling small speakers with a great subwoofer will increase that illusion further. My office system uses Red Rose R-3 speakers that are isobarik loaded and thus produce far better bass (both deeper and well controlled) than a speaker this size should. |
Disclaimer: I am a Talon Audio Dealer. VERY good suggestions from everyone so far. Out of those mentioned so far, I really like Totem the best. Some that have not been mentioned yet that I also really like are: Talon Khite-C, Audes Studio, Vienna Acoustics Haydn, ProAc Tablette or Studio 100, and JM Reynaud Offrande or Trente. Regards...Mike - Father & Son Audio |
"3chihuahuas": Perhaps, you might want to check out my fourteen year old KEF Reference 102's. The 102 (which is how I am going to refer to them from here on out) is a small bookshelf two way monitor with a 6 1/2" mid bass driver with 1" tweeter. It provides a stable conjungate load to the amplifier that is driving them. And the impedence is 4 Ohms throughout the entire frequency band. They're rated to go from 65 Hz. to 20 Khz. without any assistance from the KUBE equalizer, and goes down to 45 Hz. with the KUBE in circuit. And the sound they deliver is awfully big from what is nothing more than to be small bookshelf speakers that you can either stand mount (which is how I have mine installed), or place onto a bookshelf. The sound is described as clear, open, precise, and neutral with plenty of resolution. They also present a huge soundstage with a respectable amount of depth (which is not always the case, because that depends on the quality of the recording), and the bass these things deliver is nothing short of astounding. The treble can be quite extended at times, but without overextending itself, and everything at those extremes and in between is blended together very nicely. The only knock I have with them is that sometimes, I may get a little crazy with the volume control on the GFP-750 when I have it set into the "active" mode. And when I do that, the 102's will let me know very quickly. They'll do that by emitting an annoying "popping" sound when either I have the volume control set too high or playing some material that have excesive amounts of deep bass, letting me know that I need to either turn down the volume or take the KUBE out of the circuit. So, it goes to say then that either playing these babies at lease breaking levels or at SPL's that approach those of a rock concert are out of the question. But appreciate them for what they are, then they can be a refined speaker system that while is suited for small scale works such as jazz ensembles, and vocals. But considering that I listen to R&B, and Rap and Hip-Hop, these speakers sound remarkably clear and accurate when I listen to this type of music on them as well. Surely, Vandersteen 2Ce's would be better for the type of music I listen (and I think that these will be my next speakers) to, but don't knock the little KEF's because they are small and a little more refined. I bought my 102's back in 1988, and I paid around $900.00 for them back then. If I were to get them brand new today, I'll be paying anywhere close to $1,500.00 to $1,600.00 for them. Anyway, I'm glad I bought mine when I did, and do I regret my decision to buy these speakers??? Well, fourteen years later, I would say "not". --Charles-- |
Thank you everyone for your inputs. There are some very good suggestions. I guess I should have made my question a little clearer. My current speakers are the Dynaudio 3.3. I want to stay with about the same size but I am looking for bigger sound, like the one you can find from speakers like Wilson Slam, Nearfield Acoustics, Wisdom Audio, and etc. Is this achievable or the law of physical doesn't allow for such things. You can suspect that I like to listen to my music loud. |
Spendors are legendary for having a vast,open, soundstage...they really do have a deep, spacious quality to them...maybe not the best for extremely loud listening...but I would opt for accuracy and transparency over volume...they are one of the few box speakers that can compete with planars and stats...and they dont sound thin in the midrange.... |
Poorguy, B&W 805s are not my speakers for life, BUUUTTTT, that said, these diminutive units reward every upgrade I make. All the components in my system cost 2-3 times more than these speakers, including my cables. With the right front end they are capable of BIG, detailed, harmonically rich orchestral sound. However, beware the front end that isn't up to the task. |
Before you make a purchase. You absolutely MUST check out the PMC TB2's. 3 foot box with a 2.5 meter transmission line which offers lower bass extension. Speakers are also very neutral. Many of the the professional studios use PMC. The TB2 from what I hear were used for quality control on many motion pictures like Titanic and Independance Day. Check out there website link below under "user list" to see who also uses these speakers. I was about to purchase a pair of B&W 805's and in my opinion these TB2 walked all over them, when I spent quite a few hours at my local dealer testing them both. I'm currently waiting for mine to arrive. www.pmcloudpeaker.com Good Luck in your search, BLR |
You might want to consider the Wilson Benesch Discovery. It's a fairly small monitor but the stand is integrated, as it is an important part of this speaker's design. So, I don't know, if that qualifies as 'little box' for you. With regard to sound quality, I haven't heard too many monitors to compare them with, but regardless of size and price this is one of the finest speakers I've ever heard. No colorations, seamless integration of drivers, impressive bass due to isobaric loading (no need for a subwoofer) and wonderfully musical. They are a little bit out of my price range (8k, and they never show up used), otherwise I'd ditch my VirgoII for them. |
"Big speaker sound?" Hummmm...that one might have to be quantified more for me. If you're refering to a bigger speaker as sounding more"full, "weighty", and "authoritive" in the bass reigion, then that's one thing. I've certainly heard speakers that offer a MUCH BIGGER SOUND(potentially, considering good room acoustics and set up) in terms of soundstage, than others!(refering to pair) Infact My older SF electa Amators and MInima Amators produced a HUGE SOUNDSTAGE in a proper set up! The sound was "bigger" than what you'd get from most any speaker, regardless of size! That Dynaudio Essotar 330 tweeter produced as much detail and life as most anything I've heard! So, when you say "big" I'm just not sure what's being infered. Also, I'd submit that tiny speakers, even if they have better than average bass response(if that's what's being refered to), will still need a powered sub somewhere to pull off the "full range thing" properly...otherwise you've got a limited aplication monitor...if that's what you're after.(which for some applications is ok) That said, if you're after a monitor that produces a big sound(probably refering to size of soundstage) within its respective frequency response, and you add a well set up woofer somewhere,you should have some overall "big sound"! Of the "tiny" monitors out there, I have a hard time finding "a pair" that produce a HUGE SOUNDSTAGE personally. You might consider doing multiple minimonitors in a multi channel set up for that. |
Third for the De Capos... if you're looking for a small speaker with impressive bass response and that can handle a good deal of power. 300 Watts is overkill, obviously, (I'm assuming your Classes is 300 watts) but the De Capo can play loud and full. See my system--I'm using 150 watts, and the speaker doesn't even blink. However, if you want deep bass repsonse (solid response under 40 hz), no small speaker will do it. Look into subwoofers. If space is an issue, take a look at the Virtual Bass Technologies subwoofers (http://www.subwoofersolutions.com/). They are remarkably small. There is a review on Absolute Sound's AVGuide.com site. |
You know Bose has made a killing with their rather aweful sounding but cleverly engineered an marketed "cube" systems over the years. I know that set up appeals to many who want to get the gear out of the sight lines, and ditch the idea of boxes on the floor also. I've heard the likes of Gallo's and even Ergo's, and those seem to go in the right dirrection, if not being perfect sounding. Still, the Ergo's are a great product IMO. I wish Thiel would do something small like those or the Gallo's, using their tremendously good sounding mid/tweet coax driver they use in their 2.4 speakers!!!!...only let it play down to about 125hz at least! Then, you could get a fast little sub to mate with em! If they could pull that off, the sound surely could potentially be the best sounding little speaker offering out there, ya think? Now I know there's more to making great souding speaks than just using good parts. But I can't imagine why that wouldn't be possible! Infact, marketed properly, if the design was a success, I would think they could rule the speaker market for years to come! |
KRK V4 active speakers 9"H x 6"W x 7 3/4"D. They are very transparent, not harsh, and more dynamic than you will get from a passive design. I don't think I've ever heard speakers separate voices singing in harmony as well as these. The one exception being Khorus speakers. They are made as nearfield monitors and sound may not be focused enough for some people in the farfield. This wasn't a problem for me however. Sure Paradigm Atoms have bass but it's underdampened and not very musical. You won't find any audiophile magazines review such a monitor probably because it puts most audiophile stuff to shame. And they're made in the US!!!! Here's a review: KRK V4 review Here's another review: V4 review #2 Here's another review: V4 review #3 V4 for sale new: V4 Guitar Center is a national chain and also carries KRK. Here's the larger V6/V8 for sale: Could've had a V8 |
NSM model 5 is 8" tall, bass to 35hZ at -10dB: NSM model 5 The upscale version is Role Audio Kayak: Kayak "... they were shocking in their ability to fill my moderately sized 12' x 16' room with sound..." |
