Getting a great deal isn't everything, could be a real expensive annoying lesson.
I believe the W/P 8's would be a better fit do to that 12.5' measurement but that being said the MAXX might just work.
Daisiu ask your self this question;
what will I do if they do not work, if you are not concerned then go for it.
Here's my speaker story, for years I was always intrigued with MBL 101E speakers and wanted a pair but do to all the mixed information I received stopped me from getting them.
Well guess what I own now, MBL 101E speakers and they are by far my favourite speakers I have ever owned and only wish I would have done it years ago. |
Try Wilson's voicing instructions. Stand with back against wall and speak in a normal voice as you walk out into the room. When you hear your voice decouple off the back wall stop and put a piece of tape on the floor at your toes. Continue to walk towards the wall in front of you speaking at the same level until the wall in front of you reflects your voice; again, tape on the floor at your toes. The space between the tape is the neutral zone to initially place the speakers. Do the same off the side walls for both sides of the room. You will have an idea how much space you will need to take most of the room reflections out of your positioning. You will measure from the center of the woofer to the side walls and you may be able to get away with 2.5 feet. The good news is the Wilson module on the MAXX 2 has adjustment for the tilt based on distance from the tweeter to your ear and your ear height off the floor while seated in your listening position. You first measure from center tweeter of left speaker to center tweeter of right speaker; Multiply this distance by 1.1 and 1.25. Your listening distance measured from the tweeter of both speaker to your ear should fall between the two distances computed and the distance to your ear should be equal for left/right channel. Your listening position should have at least 12-18 inches behind your head to the wall behind your sitting position. The manual will tell you how much tilt you should have on the mid/tweeter module to dial in the sound. Last adjustment is the toe in, then spiking them. I have a little wider room and shorter length and they work alright, but I will be honest and say if I had a bigger room they would be even better. Hope this helps. I had the Watt/Puppies years ago then moved to the MAXX and the sound was so much more dynamic, full, and effortless and the MAXX 2 is even smoother, more refined, detailed and much more coherent top to bottom than the first version. |
Hi, not sure I said they won't be a problem, more they will work but placement is critical (preferably by a wilson dealer). Also the Stereophile review with Michael Fremmer has the Maxx 2's in a small room for another opinion... |
FWIW my room is close to yours 14 1/2 W, 22 into kitchen= +3 = 25 L, 10 H. I have Sophias 1's and think WP 8's might be to much for this space, I think they would probably work but more ?!!!!! |
The MAXX's will work in that size room, you may need to add some bass traps depending on position and bass loading in the room.
The best course of action would be to install the speakers and then have an acoustician sweep the room and then use placement and bass traps to ameliorate any problems which will occur.
In most rooms the major problem is bass loading problems rather than overt problems with the higher frequencies.
The Maxx2 are better than the WP 8 however, there are other speakers even in the price of a used pair of Maxx that you may prefer. |
Maxx will work in that room, I have seen them reviewed and noted they worked great in much smaller rooms than yours, also I disagree big time the Watts would be too big for that room too. |
WP 8's not to big, just a tremendous amount of bass for that space. I didn't state what I meant well, sorry. |
They dont extend all that lower than the Sophis so again its still not too big of a speaker IMO |
Great responses guys, thanks for all of them.
I'm made to understand that the bigger(biggest?) issue is bass overload?
A friend has suggested the Synergistic Research Acoustic Arts treatment for the room, I read up a bit about them and they seem to be quite the thing now for audio tweaks.
Would additional treatments like Auralex foams and diffusors on the ceiling be any more helpful? Does anyone have any specific product they've had experience with? |
12.5' wide? This is very narrow. I wouldn't put any wilsons in a room this narrow. Wilsons are ultradynamic, and have a lot of bass. I would look into a a smallish pair of monitors for a narrow room, and place a subwoofer where it will minimize the room problems. |
Err..that for starters isn't something I'd consider.
I listen to rock music at least 50% of the time, and dynamics are very much a consideration.
Thanks anyway, Goatwuss. |
I can not speak about the Watt puppy 8's or the MAXX2's. But I have a very similar sized room and have had Sophia's in the room they worked fine as far as the low end goes...and did not over power the room. |
Daisiu - With all due respect, and I do with you the best of luck, you can consider whatever you'd like. However, I've had smallish standmounts that were too large a speaker for a 14 ft room dimension.
Of course dynamics are a consideration, but any wilson speaker, except possibly the Duettes, is far and away too big a speaker for a 12.5' room dimension. If you are looking for somewhat even bass, you will need to spend thousands in room treatments to deal with the bass problems that you will get.
Clearly other people have had other experiences, but I've tried several times to put largish speakers in rooms that are too small, and it never, ever works out. |
Wilsons generally need large rooms. You may get away with a pair of Sophis, at most, for your room, but forget about WATT/Puppys or any of the MAXX series. WATT/Puppys and up are great speakers, but will sound awful in a smallish room. Not worth it unless you will be moving soon. |
my room is 16 x 14 with ceilings 9' 7". my watt puppy's sound very, very good. i have no treatments with the exceptions of three floor to ceiling drapes and a painting on canvas that covers most of one side wall. i am sure some bass treatments would help out but it sounds great. a close friend who sold wilson for 15 years also thinks it sounds great.
good luck whatever you decide. |
We have a purpose-built mastering room with almost the same dimensions. We have WP7's with the WATCH surround system. We are planning to upgrade to the MAXX3 in the future. I would do this if this were a "normal" room. We lost about 1/3 of the cubic footage with bass trapping. Without the bass trapping, the MAXX3's would be too much. |
i actually have WP6s in a small room, and i am not the only audiophile who thinks it sounds terrific---ask fcrowder from this forum for his opinion (and look at his rig). just did measurements of it and it spec'd w/in +/- 5db from a psychological ideal w/ the Rives software, all through room treatments. i hope to be posting pics of it all when i review the PARC on PFO
untreated, it was awful. so, simply get treatments as part of the deal.
see pics of my rig for an idea. |
Goatwuss, I did not mean to come off as stand-offish nor dismissive. I was merely being clear about my music choices.
I do know my music choices tend to be off the beaten path amongst most audiophiles, hence the need to state them clearly.
I appreciate your comments greatly, and hope no harm was offence was taken by my posting. Please feel free to continue to contribute to this thread, thank you. |
