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Help building new system: devore, verity or Sonus?

I'm getting a dedicated room for my gear, but the room is tiny, at 11.5' by 11.5' with about 9.5' ceiling.

I've been listening and reading up on a lot of speakers and the one's I'm most curious about are Devore Fidelity's The Nines or Super 8s, Verity Audio Finn (possibly Rienzi) and the Sonus Faber Liuto.

My current system is a McIntosh MA6600 with Dali MS4 Euphonia's, Clearaudio Turntable, and MHDT DAC with Mac Mini and Denon 3910, and Harmonic Tech. cables. I listen to folk, singer-songwriter, jazz, classical, female vocals, classic and indie rock, as well as solo guitar work. I Prefer smaller scale groups and intimate recordings.

My previous experience with the Dali's in a small room makes me feel they will be too much. I will treat the room as best I can, but WAF is a big issue.

I want to build my system around my speakers, and am in the NYC area, so can demo a lot. I'd prefer to buy from a dealer probably. I am looking to build a system that is very natural sounding and has some life and emotion to it, with no listener fatigue. I like: nice, taut, round bass that isn't boomy, muddy, or over-pronounced; sweet highs that are neither syrupy nor hyper-detailed and analytical; lush but not over-romantic mids.

I'd like to spend under $7,000 on the speakers. What do you guys think about the McIntosh with the speakers I listed? I am happy with the McIntosh, but would consider changing to something else if I found it didn't pair best. It's a small room so don't want anything that runs super hot.

Any other speakers I should try out? Any particular speaker/integrated amp combos you guys love?

Sorry this is so long, and thanks in advance for the help!
brookjoo
saki70
907 posts
 
I'm in a 10'X10' room and enjoying my Ref. 3a Dicapo i's . They are rear ported monitors but only @ 20" from the wall behind them . Also , I have them setup on the diagonal as mentioned above . Be aware , they don't have to be exactly on a diagonal plane . Some say that being off to one side more than the other is better , some don't . I do have some room treatments added , just corner and seam cushions from a company called 8th Nerve . These are not very big and obtrusive and can be colored to match your walls .

There is thread here which addresses speaker characteristics to look for . It was visited by a speaker designer whom contributed some very useful knowledge .
It is titled "How do you choose speakers based on room size" . It was initiated on 1-12-10 .

Good luck .
edo_musica
113 posts
 
Brookjoo,

We need an update. Did you go Devore, verity, or another route? Or did you find Silverbacks at a garage sale and cram them in your room?

I just picked up a pair of second hand Nines for my 13 x 18 x 8ft LR and it fills that with sound with ease. But with the rear ports, I found they need to be 3 feet from the wall. So I wonder how you would do with those in your 10 x 10? I still have my Super 8s but have yet to compare them back to back...too busy listening to music! The difference is easily apparent in my room with the bass heft and body. I occasionally ran my Super 8s with a Martin Logan Abyss sub (12" driver) and there is no match--the Nines trump it for overall cohesiveness and balance. Though, the nines are just at the edge of being too much for my room size.

FWIW: Music is everything from Nick Drake to RL Burnside to Massive Attack. Fed by: Red Wine 30.2 amp + Modwright pre + Brick DAC

So let us know Brookjoo: speakers, amp, etc.....
brookjoo OP
26 posts
 
Hey Edo

Got the Nines and am working on tuning the room around them. Are they a little too much for the room: yes. Are they amazing; yes. I can always try out super 8's to see the difference, but I found a great deal and I'm happy.
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