you definitely do NOT EVER want to put vandersteen anythings in any room that small, 11 x 14 is way too small for those speakers to sound as their designer intended, you will hear shoutiness at the crossover point @ 2.8 kilocycles. i learned this the hard way. those speakers are meant for a substantially larger room, like twice the size, at which point the shoutiness goes away and the magical imaging [with real depth] happens. a speaker i've used for many years now, the thiel cs.5, OTOH works very well in that size [11 x 14] of listening room, and unlike their bigger thiel brothers, these speakers are mellow yet still reveal details in the treble range that lesser speakers [including the aforementioned vandys] gloss over.
Kef LS50s - great like me but need to come up for air
So over the years I've really enjoyed my primary speaker the Kef LS50s. They work well in my current setup: Schiit Aegir, NAD preamp (class A) in a small room (11'x14').
Maybe I like them so much because they are very much like me: precise, balanced, neutral but not overly. Contrary to many they are more on the warm than bright side. You just need to know how to place them and match them to the right components. Like me :)
However, l've gone through a change. I need to and been told by my wife and doctors that I need to relax some and come up for air. I've been working on this for the past 2 years. Now I've seriously realized my beloved music system has come to the same change point.
Like me and my ears I'd like to find a speaker with the same basic qualities of the LS50s but that can come up for air - call it more relaxed, warm...whatever. Those in the know will know what I mean. I can explain this more if necessary.
My budget is up to 1,500.00...I've online researched Harbeths, Dynaudio Evoke 20, Usher, Spendor but don't really know where to go from here. I've thought about higher sensitivity speakers but most quality speakers are physically too large (maybe).
Any input is appreciated.