I'm looking to create a short list of speakers for music only. The room is 15x28 with 9' ceilings and hard surfaces, except a few padded chairs and light fabric window covers. The main listening area is 15x18 and the rest of the room is my kitchen which opens up to it.
Musically, I listen to rock, jazz, and a variety classical but no hip hop or electronic to speak of. The ideal speaker will provide smooth tonal response, good dynamics and importantly freedom from stridency which the live room will only accentuate. High SPL's and subterranean bass are not required but I don't want something that gets lost in the space. The speakers must be compact - 35" or so tall and not more than 8-12" wide and deep. I prefer floor standing designs because of the room volume and as protection against a 6 year old. My budget is around $1k used, maybe a bit higher for the right choice.
A few of my early thoughts are the smaller Spendors and Quad L series as well as Totems and Dynaudio.
The source will be a Squeezebox playing lossless digital and the amp is TBA, but will be matched to the speakers which I think should be picked first.
Any and all comments are welcome. Thanks in advance.
"just so listenable" is a perfect description Wdrazek. And they won't take up any more room than monitors on stands. I gave up on trying to get good, "listenable" sound from monitors when I purchased my Kestrel HRs. However, I think the price the referenced seller is asking is ridiculous. That's why they've been listed so long, maybe the second time.
timrhu and petland speak truth. sub issue IMO depends on sub and settings... if waf is met with original kestral looks and they indeed do sound equal to K2's you should consider those. i bought nearly new K'2 for about same price so i too think price is high. UNLESS a monitor is firmly mounted to $$$ lead/sand filled stands they will topple easier than kestrals. 6 yr old will get 'safety' lecture in either event. placing MOST speakers close to wall will generally present warm sound anomoly. less so with front ported design as with kestral. what made you give up on floorstanders or have you? $1K monitors with flat low bass in big space, sounds great to me!;)
Haven't given up on floor standers and I agree that small boxes on stands are more likely to get knocked over. It's all about WAF. OTOH, once she sees the Target stands I will want for mini's she might change her mind. She rules the living room which is OK since the den (and kitchen) are 100% mine.
The #1 spouse choice is a pair of 4" round Gallo's but that won't cut it.
My wife's thoughts exactly. "Why can't we get the little Bose speakers in our living room?" I moved my system into a vacant bedroom after hearing that question.
time to go clint eastwood man! if this gal does not approve of K2's looks i question this whole relationship! even the nib originals in mahogoney are furniture grade finished. get a bose wave cd radio and hide the kestrals behind the bigscreen when not in use. she must be a helluva wife ;). italian by chance? mine WAS. seriously tho, don't buy sound gear to satisy well intentioned but occasional listeners, you will live to regret THAT purchase long after you have upgraded your wife. speakers make or break systems. get her a gift cert. to Vic's secret and satisfy her in another room. audiophiles are behind you.... let us know what you do.
Yes, she is Italian and a beauty ;-) My den is exactly what I wanted - THX 2 ultra, plasma, black leather, breuer tables, etc. Ultra modern. And the kitchen has all the Wustoff and Calphalon I want but when it comes to the public areas it's a different story. She rules that with the fervor of a true zealot.
The main issue is that the speakers are supposed to be invisible. Since the sideboard the speakers will flank is only 35" tall and all the wood in the room is stained dark my choices are limited. I might end up with S3/5's, small Dyn's or Tablette's and a Sunfire sub. But I'm afraid they will get lost in a 15 x 28 room. Not that it will play Mahler's 5th at staggering levels. Mostly it's for background and entertaining.
As i suspected! sub, sat is what you are left with eh? imo you can do a lot better than a sunfire for starters. musically that is. many great sub deals out there. don't go too small on monitors tho. imo, a sub should ideally only handle LOW bass, below 40 hz. to really keep music believable. you are down to brass tacks now. it will be an interesting search to find sub sat trio for $1K that is 'audiophile' quality. a shoddy sub will ruin a good system so do not skimp there if you really want great sound. (lessons learned). love to know what you end up with! is she southern or northern italian? :)
Have you considered Vienna Acoustics, Bachs. Very musical speakers and I believe less than 36 inches tall. Or has any one suggested the Monitor Audio RS-6 that recieved rave reviews in Stereophile. This speaker is only 33 inches tall. I haven't heard them but they seem worth a look.
I'm taking the wife to look at a few speakers today - small floorstanders and stand mounts. Yesterday she started talking in-walls so the urgency level has been raised... She objects to beefy stands so maybe a floor stander will win after all. That would eliminate the need for a sub.
Speaking of which, I've had a Sunfire True for 8 years and love it. You're right it should be crossed over low. The only really bad match was with a pair of NHT super zero's. The hole in the upper bass was huge. Anyway, I've ruled out getting something I'm not thrilled with just to be WAF compliant. Whatever it is, I have to love it.
as expatriot of chicagoland i feel your pain! glad you like your sunfire...if you are going to use it for this music system good for you! if not maybe checkout other brands, used, beforehand. those HR's are 36". maybe she could help out with design elements on end table itself. WAF is give n take. u gives, she takes;) u r right about monitors going to a solid 45 hz or so. imho one can achieve a higher sound quality with $1K used floorstanders than a $1K sub/monitor combo. many will disagree... but to match a quality sub to less expensive monitors will be a real project that may not satisfy in long run. still have old style beer up there? and a good vienna sausage!
Yesterday was a success. The in-walls are off the plate and the on-walls she didn't go for. Trouble is, what she liked best were a $5k pair of Martin Logan's which are not an option. The good news is a floor stander and mini are about equally desirable to her.
I wish the Kestrel's were still being sold. I only heard them once locally and really liked them but that was 5 years ago. The same shop carries Proac so I'll check those out, the Spendor's once more and choose between them, the Kestrel HR's and the long shot B&W CM4's.
And yes, Old Style is in style here - especially at the ball games and nobody beats a Chicago dog. They're the best.
congrats! btw, if you can't find the hr's any longer... the K2's are still around. never heard HR personally but i believe the tweeter was upgraded on K2's. you may be able to locate a slightly used pair in your stain with a little web shopping. from 'invisible speakers' to big 'stats! just like a woman eh?;).
yes they do. they only cover drivers on top 1/3 of speaker. they are nothing more than black grillcloth with monofilament line hemmed in around edge. they are a pain to remove and re-insert as the line strech itself is what causes them to fall into the cabinet groove that surrounds the two drivers, but they look just fine as far as that goes. in other words there is no structural rigidity and of course zero protection to drivers, not unusual in hi end gear tho. playboy mag picked them as part of a $20K dream stereo 2 yrs back so they may have a photo on line.
A guy recently sold a pair of K2s here in the cherry finish for $600. I made an offer (too late of course) even though I had no place to put them. That may have been one of the years best buys.
That is a screaming deal! I know the urge to buy something you can't use - there's a Rotel RMB1095 and pair of Spendor SP1/2's sitting in my storage as we speak.
Right now a scuffed pair of Kestrels is available for $500 (reduced from $600). I think with a little patience a nice pair should be available at a great price. One thing that impresses me is how satisfied Kestrel owners appear to be both here and on Audioreview.
i see the nib hr's are still for sale, see what he'll take for them. it is definitely a buyers market for a discontinued nib speaker from a defunct manufacturer! esp given the fact that seller is a dealer(?) and is now competing only with used products and more motivated individuals! take it from a real estate agent, dealers just want to move old inventory as it is not the main business to sell old product for full retail in a competitive market. just my take on it tho ;)
I've only been to a few on this round of shopping - Glenn Poor's, Saturday Audio Exchange and two local Tweeter's. Of all the local shops Audio Consultants in Evanston is my favorite. Pro Musica generally has very well matched systems and depending on who you get can be great or not so great.
So far, my preference from these visits is: Martin Logan Clarity (but they're $2800 new), the Polk LSi15, then Spendor S3e. The Spendor S5e was out of stock and the setup on the Spendor S3e was substandard so another trip to Saturday Audio is required. I will check out Totems at Van L Speakerworks (John is a great guy) and head to Pro Musica for the Proacs. Then I think I'll be ready to decide.
Oh, and I'm a little sentimental about the Spendor SP1/2a's that I own. Also, they're in offsite storage so pulling them out, photographing and listing them doesn't appeal to me right now.
Wdrazek: Thanks. I am not actively looking for anything right now. I have Spendor BC1 that I enjoy hugely, and while I have found better speakers, it was always a lot of money for a little improvement. So I'll wait until I can affod a "quantum jump". (I suggested selling SP1/2's because then you could afford to buy exactly what you want; what good even a good speaker is doing you warehoused? BTW was there really a model called SP1/2a or did you mean SP1/2e? I haven't followed them all.)
It is not an SP1/2e, I'll check what it is when I pull it from storage. I like the speaker but its large rectangular box form factor just doesn't work in the living room.
Wdrazek: No need to go to any special trouble; I was just curious about the exact model number. At some convenient moment though, you might want to know just what you have. :)
I don't want to overdo my suggestion to sell these, but to be honest I was struck by the fact that your budget of 1k is a limiting factor and selling SP1/2's will increase your budget's "breathing room" immensely, probably get you pretty close to your top choices. Sitting in storage, they will at best lose value gradually. If you don't like their looks, think if you'd actually use them ever again.
My Kestrel HRs are in storage in the closet. They are my sentimental favorites, I'd give them to one of my kids before I sold them. Altough the last time I did that my Paradigm 9seMIIIs were blown up by my son.
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