I second the JBL Studio 530 speakers, they are awesome! and not "just for the money" either. |
|
As I said above, the Rega bookshelf speaker was designed to be placed right against the wall. Once you get comfortable with the speaker, you will be surprised with the amount of real bass that it delivers. The Rega bookshelf used to get a decent amount of press coverage in the UK magazines, but not much now. I think it may have to do with price, as the speaker has bone from roughly $500 USD to $700 USD in a few years.
Rich |
now pairing with musical fidelity X-A1, typical British sound as you may expect. warm vocal, no punchy or deep bass. but i have not bought spikes yet.
it seems that RS1 can really put closed to the wall although it is rear ported
I dont know why RS1 is not covered by hi-fi magazines |
If you already purchased the Rega RS1, CONGRATULATIONS! I've been eying on those two speakers for a long time. Give us your first impression when you have a chance. GOOD CHOICE, Enjoy! |
Today I went to a shop which sells both silverline minuet and rega RS1
silverline: very dynamic, fast, excellent to play percussion, but too bright in high freq., the vocal is very clear
rega: not as fast and dynamic, but i guess given the size, it is OK, just silverline is superb. not bright, vocal and piano is warm sound. then i played vocal jazz patricia barber, rega touched me immediately while silverline cannot.
I would say minuet is an amazing tiny speakers. but i still choose rega RS1, because vocal is more important to me then dynamic or details.
thanks for the advice above, cheers |
For desktop use you'd be hard presses to beat a used pair of NHT M-00 powered monitors. Designed for near field use |
JBL Studio 530 and on sale at amazon for 479.00
Save your money for music. |
thanks for your advice indeed!
i guess my subject should be changed to desktop speakers for very room, LOL |
ATC pro studio monitors. Great with any and all genres, and will run circles over most speakers. If you want a consumer electronics offering, KEF and Paradigm over nice monitors. |
I've done a lot of playing around with small speakers in the last couple of years, because my wife insisted on having an entertainment center, which limited my speaker choices to those under 13" tall and they were being place on shelves.
I've had good luck with System Audio SA-505s, Peachtree D5s, B&W 685s (tight squeeze for me), and Minuets. In the end, I settled on Paradigm Studio 10s. They were all good. It came down to more of a matter of taste for me.
I didn't look into anything by Harbeth or Spendor because I couldn't justify the expense for the application.
You may also want to check out the LSA .5s. |
Ok before I said my was 10x8. Much more like 8x8.
check out the system audio web page and check out the Mantra 10. Check out the specs
dimensions (WxHxD) cm: 14.5 x 38 x 26
recommended amplifier: min. 50 Watts
recommended placement: by wall, on shelf, in bookcase, on speaker stand
design principle: 2 way bass reflex
They sound good close to the wall. The are only 14.5 wide. You get two drivers. They also sound awesome at low volume and high volume given space. If you ever expect to move the speakers out of the small room I would get something that could move to a bigger room and more powerful amp in the future.
They might be to long for you but may give a look.
Those Silverline are said to be great. I wish I could hear then. If this is second system or will always be in a smaller room I would seek the out silverline after looking at what people say about them on the gon. |
I haven't heard many small speakers...but I own Silverline Minuets and really enjoy listening to them |
I have a small bedroom. 10x8 maybe. I have a bed, tv and wierd closet in room.
I agree that you can't get the best out of speakers in a room like this but I will say if you get a good speaker that has the ability to play well at low volumes you can get a great sound and minimize the rooms effect.
I started out with an entry level System Audio 505 ($400-600). Once broken in they did sound good and provided some image about 1 foot from back and side walls.
I reccently upgrade to System Audio Mantra 10 (1200-1300 in europe more in us :(. While I can't play them really loud on bass heavy music because the room comes into play. At lower levels they sound amazing. The music dances around the room.
I think you will notice a diffrence in $1200 speaker in a small room. Just make sure it is a speaker that can preform at lower volumes. You could also treat the room but I thinks that is a little silly if its your bedroom and not a single use listening room.
|
I agree with Rich above, if you are just going to throw the speakers into corners or against a wall and not be able to set the system up with room around both the speakers and listening position, you'll never be able to realize the benefits that more expensive speakers provide. |
Some good advice here. I would add the Dali Mentor Menuet to the list. Yep, there is one for sale on Audiogon at this moment, though the price is too high, IMO. One thing to keep in mind is that almost all bookshelf speakers will need stands to sound right, which adds to the cost and may crowd the room. The Dali's may be an exception. You might also check the Naim Forum site for more options. This topic frequently shows up there. |
I wonder if any of the responders have used a room that size as both a bedroom and a listening space. My master bedroom was 2.4M X 3M (8' X 10') for 5 years. Other than a queen sized bed, a nightstand, and a tall bookcase tucked in the corner, there wasn't much room for too much else.
My system was an Onkyo receiver, a TEAC CD player, and some Polk speakers placed on top of the bookcase. It sounded great. You could not play the system too loud, because the room would just work against you. Granted this was 15 years ago and was my post-divorce apartment, but it taught me to be very conservative in what to have in a bedroom system.
I would never spend serious money for speakers in a room this size. You will be listening sitting in bed or possibly sitting in a chair (a remote is very useful btw). I would go for speakers that could be wall mounted or placed close to the wall. On the high end, I would go for Rega RS1. I have used the Rega Aras (3 generations removed from the RS1) and these speakers are phenomenal sounding inside bookcases, smashed against walls, etc. On the low end, I would go with NHT Super Zero ($400) or Polk RTi A1 ($325) which work very well on the wall or on shelves.
The other speakers mentioned are all fine ... no criticisms. I just don't believe that you need to spend that much coin to get good sound in a room that size, as the room will not make a $1200 speaker sound like it is worth $1200.
Rich |
Another inside-the-box solution would be speakers that use full-range drivers such as Fostex, Audio Nirvana, Lowther (although these drivers may push your price limit), and others. I recently bought some Audio Nirvana drivers and had cabinets built, all for about $1500, and feel they sound more like live music than other small room speakers I have had that cost up to $40K. |
That's a pretty tight room so you'll have to be careful and if you don't have any treatment in there, start to think about it if you truly want to get good sound. I've got a small room as well, but not quite as small as yours. I've had good luck with the LS-50's in my room, but I really feel that 1.) They'd sound even better in a larger space and 2.) They are at the limit in my room (11x12ft) in just being too much for that room. Compared to the Harbeth P3ESR and Silverline Minuet's that I also have, it's the Kef's that are the most finicky and require the most treatment in that room. They really do have to be in an exact spot in my room to work well and an inch outside of that spot makes or breaks them for me.
The LS50's..if you are really into imaging and soundstage, may give you fits in your smaller room and I'm betting you'll have to use the plugs in the ports otherwise, your bass in that room with the speakers so close to the wall could become too heavy.
The Harbeth's have a similar sound to the Kefs albeit in with a smaller sound with a little less bass. They probably image just a little bit better than the LS50's, but I suspect in a larger room than mine, that might not be the case. Also because the sealed design of the Harbeths make them easier to place in a tight room. That said, even used, they are probably out of your budget.
I'm a big fan of the Silverlines. Yes, there are many compromises involved with them because of their size but I often think when I'm playing mine that I wished my room was smaller because they'd probably improve in a tighter more intimate space. There's a nice purity about them that I really enjoy and depending on your music choices, their shortcomings may not even be a factor.
Good luck with your decision, I've found that these days, there are so many good small speakers that it's hard to make a bad choice. |
thanks a lot for your reply, the above ones, i have only tried silverline seriously. psb and proac i have heard briefly in demo. maybe i will try rega and go for a final choice
totem seems not available in my city. |
I'll second the recommendation for the Silverline Minuets. Remarkable little speakers. |
Silverline Minuets are the best I've heard for a room that size., smoked a pr of RegaRS 1 in my room. |
maybe the Totem Arro ... can be placed close to the wall ... is a floorstanding speaker but smaller than most monitors on stands |
You can get a used KEF LS50 for around $1200. An incredible speaker, as other reviews attest |
the psbs and proacs are both vg but won't work at or near the wall. the regas, on the other hand, are impervious to placement and should work well for you. |
Spendor 3/5 is a great little speaker. If you don't like bright stay away from the SA1,I have owned both and I think the 3/5 is a better choice. |
