Help Deciding On New Speakers For Small Room, $10k budget


Hello everyone! A brief background. For the first time in my life, I have a dedicated room for listening! šŸ™Œ Iā€™m very excited about it. However, itā€™s not very big. Something is better than nothing though. Previously I always lived in apartments and had to primarily listen on headphones. The room size is 10 feet by 11 feet with 10 foot ceilings, almost a perfect square. It has already been professionally sound treated with many panels from Gik Acoustics. So despite its tricky sizing, it should be all set up for a proper experience! And I already have a nice chain, a McIntosh MC52 Preamp and Primare Power Amp and CD Player with a Holo Audio May KTE. Oh, I also have a Rel A7X subwoofer.

I unfortunately have a disability that makes it very difficult for me to travel. I cannot easily just go to a hifi store and try things. I also live kinda in the middle of nowhere. But Iā€™m a former professional musician and music is my life, and I want to feel connected to my music as much as I can, so Iā€™m willing to invest into it. I have a budget of about $10k give or take $1k or so. I donā€™t mind looking at used options in like new condition.

A little about my hearing preferences: I am very sensitive to high frequencies, specifically around 7k-10k. For reference, every hifi headphone Iā€™ve ever used made me wince because the high frequencies are too pronounced. I just put up with it because I didnā€™t have a choice, but Iā€™ve noticed that with speakers Iā€™m usually not so sensitive to them so Iā€™m excited to go down this journey and enjoy my music listening more. I like powerful, punchy bass, and generally prefer a warmer sound signature, however, even though my ears are sensitive to higher frequencies, I love a nice crisp and realistic cymbal sound. In general, as a musician, I think Iā€™d love something that sounds ā€œtrue to lifeā€ because I have obviously a lot of experience hearing instruments live. I mostly listen to jazz (because Iā€™m a jazz musician) but I also love music of all genres like rock, electronic, pop, soul, alternative, and occasionally K-Pop too, Iā€™m pretty open minded. So something that is a good all-rounder might also be nice. Writing this all out, I now think I might be asking for the moon though, so letā€™s just say jazz and realistic instruments is my main priority šŸ˜‡


So with all that said, I would greatly appreciate your suggestions. Iā€™ve been looking at Focalā€™s line of Kanta and Sopra but Iā€™ve heard they are bright. Iā€™ve heard B&W but I donā€™t think their house sound is for me, again too bright. Ā Also debating between bookshelves and small floor standers for a smallish room. Iā€™ve been looking also at Canton, Dali, Tannoy and Wharfdale, but Iā€™m not as familiar with the speaker world as I am the headphone or IEM world, so Iā€™m quite open to ideas. Thank you so much and best wishes on the evening of this crazy time Iā€™m in the U.S.!

cookiecurls

Joseph Audio pulsar2 graphine. Would be an absolutely perfect speaker for what youā€™re looking for!

PureAudioProject open baffle speakers are an interesting recommendation made above. Ā The smaller models, like the Trio 15 with something like the horn midrange/tweeter module might work. Ā I have not heard these speakers in as small a room ss you have, which is why I said ā€œmightā€ work. Ā Open baffle speakers need at least two feet of space behind then, and ideally, more than that. Ā The Trio is a fantastically good speaker well within your budget.

Charney Audio makes some extremely good sounding speakers that work well in small rooms. Ā Iā€™ve only heard several versions of their Companion model, which is beyond your budget, so I donā€™t know how well their lower-price models work, But I am hopeful.

My best bet would be Audio Note speakers. Ā Their big speakers, the AN-E are actually quite compact and fit in the corner of the room, but they are probably too big in terms of bass response, so look at the smaller AN-J or AN-K models. Ā Within each model type, there are many options that can take one well past your budget, but, there will be something within budget. Ā There is nothing harsh or bright Ā about any of their speakers. Ā These speakers are normally used with low and medium-powered tube gear, but they sound good with almost anything.

Ā I would go with standmounts or small towers with twin subs to give you the bass you want. Ā I Also am sensitive to sibilant sound with my old guy ears. Ā Consider beryllium tweeters. Ā I have a pair of Revel M126Be on stands with a pair of subs in a similar sized room and it sounds great. Ā Revel has 226 towers too that are smaller towers if you want to avoid stands.Ā 

TAD ME1 second hand would fit your budget and are amazing speakers. I have niched preferred them to Joseph Pulsar. Not sure McIntosh amp would be an ideal match though.Ā