Speaker choice, help please.


Hi,
I am thinking of getting a new pair of speakers. My current set is Sonus Faber Signum on its wood stands.
Conditions:
- Distance from speakers: 9 ft
- Distance between speakers: 8 ft
- Room dimention: 22' x 12' x 9'
- There are equipment rack and TV set between speakers
- Distance from front wall to speaker: 1' or less
- Front wall (facing me): usual apartment wall, no treatment is possible.
- Monitor on stand preferred (but can be flexible as long as it is not too big).
- Have subwoofer (REL Strata II, not III): need to change as well?

Now, given conditions above, I am looking for something with very wide and deep sound stage, and easy-to-disappear kinds + of course great sound. My kind of music is classic - violin, piano, orchestra - relatively warm side, and accurate from top to bottom is required if at all possible. Yes, I like Sonus Faber sound, but would like to have broader recommendation. Budget is not much of concern for now. Thanks in advance.
khokugo

Showing 1 response by 213cobra

Don't know whether I am too late with a suggestion. However, I have a system in a room almost exactly the same size as yours, with similar constraints -- speakers must be close to the wall behind them, room treatments not an options, relatively near-field listening position, etc.

I was planning on Sonus Faber Cremona Auditors at a time when I was also planning Cremonas in another room.

I bought Zu Druids for the 22' x 12' room and Zu Definitions for the other system. The Druid uses a full-range driver plus a supertweeter. There is no crossover -- the signal goes directly to the FRD and the supertweeter is on a high-pass network rolling in at 12kHz as the FRD naturally rolls off.

Zu's speakers are 101db/w/m efficient and the Druids specifically are 12 ohm. They are an 11"w x 6"d x 50"h column on a 12" x 12" base-plate, so their footprint is about what a standmount would be. They can be used very close to the wall and even corner effects are quite limited. You get uniform transient speed, clarity, definition and punch up and down the range from just under 40Hz to 22kHz or so. The Druids can deliver true high-end sound from any of several inexpensive, low power amps, and yet fully justify amplification 10X their cost. Anyway, if you haven't committed, Zu Druids will deliver what you're looking for in a form factor you can assimilate. They are well worth considering.

Phil