The EQ is more than I need. Lyngdorf has a terrific bass management system with RoomPerfect. Maybe better to focus on those fancy tweeters, though budget is indeed a concern.
Small speaker, big room, looks great
Hi all! I'd once again be very grateful for some guidance about speakers. Short version: I am looking for some small monitors — no more than 12 inches deep and 15 inches tall — that also look terrific and can fill a big room. (And 2.1 is fine.)
Here is the big picture:
These would be for a rectangular open plan family room and kitchen, 17 by 36 feet with wood floors, standard ceiling height and a lot of windows. There is millwork on one of the 17 foot walls that is about 25 inches high and 13 inches deep, with a sofa pushed up against it. The speakers would go on the millwork, so very close to the wall. Alas, there are no other options, due to spousal concerns.
I want something that sounds very good at low volume and also fills the room without too much sweet spot fussiness. (My old Ohm Walsh 1000s were pretty good on this actually, but they were power hogs and my wife just didn't like the look of them.) I like to listen on the couch or on a chair that is a little bit off from the actual sweet spot. (And I have no expectation that any speakers are going to sound right when you are sitting between them. But I do like sitting on the sofa, so I take what I can get.)
I have tried Heresy III speakers on either side of the sofa, and I liked the character of their sound, but they just didn't fill the room and the sound stage was terrible. A placement issue for sure, but they could only go where they went. I got a Schiit Aegir — great little amp! — but no real improvement of the big picture. I demoed Buchardt A500s, and they sounded very nice indeed, but somehow inhuman — too many parlor tricks? Or maybe it's just that they were pushed right up against the wall. The mysteries of this hobby.
Next up: Room correction. I got a used Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 from another Audiogon member. Looked great, terrific UI. But I just could not get the Heresy speakers to sound good. Maybe this placement situation was impossible.
Then: A lucky break!
Walking down the sidewalk, I found a pair of beat up, paint-splattered KEF reference series 102 speakers. No Kube equalizer, just the speakers. Could the Lyngdorf make them sing? I hooked them up and they worked fine. Then I ran RoomPerfect and they sounded terrific! Whatever the Kube did, the Lyngdorf figured it out and did the same. Good deep bass, wide soundstage, the works. I had our contractor paint them and now they look great, too
So a happy ending. And yet! Now that I know good small speakers can sound good, even in this very unforgiving placement situation, how much better could even better speakers sound there?
Here is what I am thinking about:
1. Just add a subwoofer. Lyngdorf makes a matched BW-2 "boundary" subwoofer that goes up to 800hz. That could help with room-filling, especial at low volume. My main music is acoustic jazz, and my guess is that upright bass would really benefit from this.
2. Add the BW-2 and also the matching MH-2 satellite speakers. I am really into Lyngdorf now. But would these little speakers really sound any better than my KEFs? (I do have my doubts about the KEF tweeters, which are after all 30 years old.)
3. Now that I know that the right small monitors CAN work, just get the best ones I can. There is a pair Trenner and Friedl Suns for sale in Brooklyn right now. Maybe them?
4. But! I am also interested the Gradient 5 monitors. They use a similar SEAS coaxial speaker, and they are gorgeous. Leaning toward this option right now, but there is no way to demo them, so it is a bit of a leap of faith.
5. Or maybe compact alnico monitors from Omega?
What else am I missing? Or should I just leave well enough alone? The KEFs are, after all, very good speakers. And they have complete and natural feeling with the Lyngdorf that makes me finally understand what people are talking about when they talk about component matching. Everything just has a rightness to it. I'd like to keep that rightness but continue to improve everything that can be improved.
All thoughts would be most welcome!
Here is the big picture:
These would be for a rectangular open plan family room and kitchen, 17 by 36 feet with wood floors, standard ceiling height and a lot of windows. There is millwork on one of the 17 foot walls that is about 25 inches high and 13 inches deep, with a sofa pushed up against it. The speakers would go on the millwork, so very close to the wall. Alas, there are no other options, due to spousal concerns.
I want something that sounds very good at low volume and also fills the room without too much sweet spot fussiness. (My old Ohm Walsh 1000s were pretty good on this actually, but they were power hogs and my wife just didn't like the look of them.) I like to listen on the couch or on a chair that is a little bit off from the actual sweet spot. (And I have no expectation that any speakers are going to sound right when you are sitting between them. But I do like sitting on the sofa, so I take what I can get.)
I have tried Heresy III speakers on either side of the sofa, and I liked the character of their sound, but they just didn't fill the room and the sound stage was terrible. A placement issue for sure, but they could only go where they went. I got a Schiit Aegir — great little amp! — but no real improvement of the big picture. I demoed Buchardt A500s, and they sounded very nice indeed, but somehow inhuman — too many parlor tricks? Or maybe it's just that they were pushed right up against the wall. The mysteries of this hobby.
Next up: Room correction. I got a used Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 from another Audiogon member. Looked great, terrific UI. But I just could not get the Heresy speakers to sound good. Maybe this placement situation was impossible.
Then: A lucky break!
Walking down the sidewalk, I found a pair of beat up, paint-splattered KEF reference series 102 speakers. No Kube equalizer, just the speakers. Could the Lyngdorf make them sing? I hooked them up and they worked fine. Then I ran RoomPerfect and they sounded terrific! Whatever the Kube did, the Lyngdorf figured it out and did the same. Good deep bass, wide soundstage, the works. I had our contractor paint them and now they look great, too
So a happy ending. And yet! Now that I know good small speakers can sound good, even in this very unforgiving placement situation, how much better could even better speakers sound there?
Here is what I am thinking about:
1. Just add a subwoofer. Lyngdorf makes a matched BW-2 "boundary" subwoofer that goes up to 800hz. That could help with room-filling, especial at low volume. My main music is acoustic jazz, and my guess is that upright bass would really benefit from this.
2. Add the BW-2 and also the matching MH-2 satellite speakers. I am really into Lyngdorf now. But would these little speakers really sound any better than my KEFs? (I do have my doubts about the KEF tweeters, which are after all 30 years old.)
3. Now that I know that the right small monitors CAN work, just get the best ones I can. There is a pair Trenner and Friedl Suns for sale in Brooklyn right now. Maybe them?
4. But! I am also interested the Gradient 5 monitors. They use a similar SEAS coaxial speaker, and they are gorgeous. Leaning toward this option right now, but there is no way to demo them, so it is a bit of a leap of faith.
5. Or maybe compact alnico monitors from Omega?
What else am I missing? Or should I just leave well enough alone? The KEFs are, after all, very good speakers. And they have complete and natural feeling with the Lyngdorf that makes me finally understand what people are talking about when they talk about component matching. Everything just has a rightness to it. I'd like to keep that rightness but continue to improve everything that can be improved.
All thoughts would be most welcome!
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