2. speakers
  3. 195352-153063

Recommendations for speakers in a much smaller listening room.

My wife and I are in the process of buying and moving to a new patio home. We are both pretty excited about it. The only issue is I will have a much smaller listening room. I currently have a room that is 14.5 x 38, basically one half of the basement. The new room will be 12 x 16 with 8' ceilings.(taller than pervious room at 6'8") The question is what is a good speaker for that size room that will not overload the room. I like sound stage, imaging and listenability over analytical and highly detailed. My current speakers are Tyler acoustics Woodmere II and are giant towers. I do some vinyl on a vintage Panasonic DD TT with Ortofon MC1 cart. Mostly streaming with a Lumin T2, Oppo Digital 105 for disks with a Modwright KWH 225i. Thanks for any suggestions, Allen. 

backwash
rick_n's avatar
rick_n
363 posts
 

This first thing that should be done is install bass traps.  After doing so you will be amazed how many choices will work.  Good luck and have fun!

backwash OP
61 posts
 

I do already own a SPL meter, and two sealed Rythmik F12 subs. Also own Some GIK bass traps and some side reflection panels + some home made bass traps that actually worked pretty well. I have no intentions to change my amp or DAC unless I just want to go for an upgrade at some point in the future. I am very happy with how my system sound in the current room. I am fairly sure I can tweak it into shape in the new room. I mostly was curious as to what people were happy with in a room that size just in case I wanted to try something different. Thanks, Allen. 

mbmi's avatar
mbmi
621 posts
 

KLH...Model 3 or Model 5. Very exciting and Fun to listen 2.

kofibaffour
464 posts
 

@backwash uhm it's not about SPL meter even though that is important too. Do you have a calibrated measurement mic for taking RTAs?

panzrwagn's avatar
panzrwagn
655 posts
 

I'll keep i simple. You need a speaker that is pretty much full range, but small enough to be properly placed. Anything the 2X8" woofers needs to be to fat into your room. 2X6" woofers can usually be placed closer to the rear walls without getting boomy. Dual-rear ports allow 4 separate bass tuning settings: both ports open or closed, upper port closed lower port open, and vice versa. I was amazed at how much dialing in could be done that way. 

So, Id be looking for Monitor Audio Silver 300 S7, KEF R5.l Meta, Or a good 2.5 way 6.5" design. If your inclined to use the long wall, Maggie 1.7s could work, but they'll chew up a lot of floor space. What I would avoid is anything with too much woofer 2x8" would easily over power the room, and most mini-monitors, they are nearfield-voiced and will tend to sound too small in that room. My experience with KEF LS-50s. Loved them, except they just sounded lost and small -until I got them into a small 8x12 room, then it was "Oh ... that's what they can do."  Revel, Golden Ear, and Mertin Logan have very different  approaches, but have some interesting speakers in your range - I'd catch a listen to the M-L Electromotion ESL and ESL-X. Exceptional midrange and detail, might be a little bass light for some. 

More to discover