2. speakers
  3. 1212633048

Small room, "budget priced" speaker advice, please

Hi,

I recently sold my dearly beloved, old Vandersteen 2C's here on Audiogon (and I hope SgtPeppers is loving them at this moment!) :-) I did this because in our remodeled house, my new listening room (which will double as a guest room) is just too small for the 2C's. The Spousal Acceptance Factor was just too low. ;-)

I have a PS Audio Elite-Plus integrated amp for power (around 70 W/Ch) and a soon-to-be-shipped-off-for-a-refurb Sota Sapphire for an analog front end (I have "miles" of vinyl)! I will also get a CD player at some point.

For now, I need to find a pair of best-of-breed, truly "budget" speakers. By "budget," I'm talking upper limit of $850/pair. (Gone are my free-spending, single days... I'm a dad now...) :-)

Listening habits: lots of 60's and 70's folk and rock, some jazz, Donald Fagen/Steely Dan, a little classical. Listening volume: not too loud. Sonic preferences: I value transparency and imaging/soundstage. Bass should be accurate above all, as opposed to chest-pounding powerful.

I've looked at Paradigms, which I know are highly regarded at lower price points. Trouble is, our one, local dealer is primarily a TV/home theater outfit, so you're trying to hear them in a showroom crammed with other stuff... you know the drill. I've also hit a high end shop. Listened to a pair of PSB small towers and disliked them; they sounded muddy and veiled to me. Listened to a pair of the smallest Rega's and liked them quite a bit, but would want to go back to listen again. I even wrote to PS Audio for advice; they recommended the "baby" Epos monitors, but they're out of my price range.

Thanks if you've read this far. Knowing how subjective all this is, I'd still welcome any advice you have to offer about what I should try to audition.
rebbi

Showing 1 response by ethanh

ethanh
48 posts
 
Hi Rebbi,

I also have the Totem Arro. I use them with a 35 watt tube integrated and an Onix XCD88 player that, incidentally, is supposed to be internally identical to the Music Hall CD25. Imaging and soundstage are definitely the Arro's forte in my system, and the room placement is not optimal (I have them about two feet from a side wall and one foot out from the front wall, no toe-in). I also use crappy cables almost exclusively. Still, I do notice that the soundstage is enhanced at the expense of bass response if I move the speakers at least two feet into the room and away from side walls, so that may be something you should try out.

I bought mine used, so I can't give you any advice regarding break-in.

FWIW, I found that swapping out small signal tubes usually nets noticeable effects regarding soundstage and imaging, so this maybe something you should consider experimenting with.
More to discover