Need speaker advice

djones513,523 posts02-10-2021 10:10amYes, glad you found it. LoL Findland? I plead fast fingers on a tablet.

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IF OP encounters something there he/she loves, Finland will indeed be Findland!

Can your amp be used as Mono Blocks? Get another, thus keep your preferred sound, double your power?

That will put you in a position to consider a wider range of speaker efficiencies, now and any future changes.

I would not want to be that close to physically large speakers. Smaller enclosures puts you in a situation: the small speakers that make the ’best’ (not most) bass tend to be less efficient.

That means perhaps you need excellent efficient satellites and one or two self-powered subs. That’s not always easy.

I have done that very successfully in my office with Vintage B&W bookshelf speakers, one self-powered sub for general extension. Similar spacing: speakers 5’ apart, I’m 5 ft back, my ears diagonally 6’ away. Sub volume adjusted to give extension without awareness, unless I turn it off. If main system, I would go for a pair of smaller subs located near the satellites for bass localization.

Preamp to self-powered sub, sub sends only upper bass, mids, highs to amp, thus both amp and satellites do not try/need to make low bass. That means a lower powered amp like yours will not need to produce low bass.

I’m not a fan of ports which are often used to get ’extra’ bass. If so, front firing ports only

As for low volume, especially if listening to music with distinctive bass players, i.e. Jazz, Pop, Rock Groups with great bass players: I highly recommend having a ’Loudness’ option (fletcher munson) to bring the bass up to an equal volume as you would hear at louder volumes. This is even more important for speakers that make decent, but not low bass. And even a nice sub, when balanced for normal volume, will need a boost at low volume to maintain distinction, involvement, and localization if imaging had been nicely recorded.

’Loudness’ filters, when set up properly (often not), are out of play at normal volumes, and begin a progressive proportional boost as volume decreases.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour

Use of tone controls at casual low volumes, can maintain involvement, but much current equipment lacks tone controls.

I use a Chase RLC-1 Remote Line Controller to give remote control of volume, balance, and it has an automatic fletcher-munson circuit as it enters low volume. It also has tone controls if desired.

this is an old listing, but it shows it well. S/N 120db. None of my golden eared friends can tell if it is in or not in the system, it just does it’s job.

1 main system; 1 office system; 1 spare.

https://reverb.com/item/12411621-chase-rlc-1-remote-line-controller

I try to think long.

If you love that amp as you say you do:

I wouldn’t be too concerned with tubes, it’s only expensive every few years.

think hard about rearranging things to fit them, perhaps near/behind your speakers, short speaker cables (less $ to try others in the future).

speakers: double power: your chance of finding a great deal, new or used, are increased by more options available at a high and/or a bit lower efficiency, again, now and future.

live long.