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Speaker recommendations for large family room

Hi all,

I'm looking for a little help with speakers for my family room. The room is approximately 20x20 ft with 10 ft ceilings. It's an odd shaped room and I've been trying to figure out a pair of speakers that will sound good in the room.

The speakers will be along a wall that has an opening to another room on the left, a fireplace left of center and the tv to the right of the fireplace. Between the fireplace and the right wall is about 9 feet. I currently have a pair of Linn Katans along that wall, one to the left of the tv on the fireplace hearth and the other about three feet from the right wall. The speakers are backed up pretty close to the wall. Seating is about 11 ft back from the speakers.

The Linns are great speakers but sound thin on bass and kind of get lost in the room. I'm looking for some monitors that can be backed up to the wall and have more bass presence.

The rest of the system is Linn but I'm thinking about moving things around and using an Oppo BDP-93, Benchmark Dac and an integrated to be determined. Budget for the speakers is $500-1000.

I'm sure the room dimensions and placement are a big part of the issue, but I'm pretty limited to the current layout.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

bmdduck
bmdduck
10 responses Add your response
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Sticking with monitors probably will not yield better results even when placed closer to walls...plus one loses
the depth of soundstage and some imaging attributes small speakers are known for...so that leaves us with a floorstander or a sub...personally...I feel there are more under 1k musical subs than 1k audiophile floorstanders...but YMMV...HSU,SVS,etc.
tbromgard
814 posts
 
why not consider floorstanders? look at zu and tekton
jrinkerptdnet
430 posts
 
the Guru 10 is designed for placement near or against the wall and is reputed to have good bass (I have not heard them) ... a classic speaker i HAVE heard placed against a wall that sounds AMAZING is the EPI 20+ ... not many of them on the market though I would guess. The Direct Acoustics Silent Speaker is designed by the same man as the EPI and has gotten excellent reviews. I have not heard that model though
bmdduck OP
99 posts
 
I actually have a nice pair of floor standing speakers, Linn Ninkas. They definitely sound better in the room than the Katans. Even though I like their looks they just don't blend in well enough. With one on the hearth (elevated 11 inches) and one on the floor they are uneven and look goofy. I moved them downstairs where no one cares how they look:) I have a set of different height stands for the Katans to even them out.

Maybe a good sub is the answer. Any suggestions other than HSU or SVS? Budget would be a little less than $1k if I keep the Katans.

Thanks

bmdduck

Thanks
ebm
9,311 posts
 
MAGICO Q1 or S1 wonerful!!
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Other subs...REL, Martin Logan, etc...on the entry level end...I have a BIC F12 sub which is a very good value...
bmdduck OP
99 posts
 
Thanks for the subwoofer recommendations, I will do a little research on them. Phasecorrect, your comments on the strengths of monitors being lost close to the wall got me thinking about playing around with placement. Maybe I could move the speakers out from the wall for more "serious" listening and see if it helps.

I recently saw an original M&K Volkswoofer on Craigslist. Are M&Ks worth considering?

Ebm: I bet the Magicos are wonderful, but my budget is under $1K, not $16k. I need to look for a new job:)
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Just trying to help!...never heard the Linns...but Linn anything is always considered quality...I'm a big placement guy...that alone would improve 90% of systems...maybe others can chime in about room treatment, sub implementation, etc...it never ends!....haha
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
Audio Advisor has a sale on the MartinLogan Descent through Sunday. The sale price is a bit over your budget, but we're talking about a 3-driver $2200 sub marked down to within striking distance. I've found the higher end MartinLogan subs to be *really* good. Given that they're made to blend with electrostatics, they're fast enough to blend with just about anything. I'd love one of these for my Maggies, because you can pick really low crossover points (as low as 30 Hz) and two selectable high pass frequencies for the mains (40 or 70 Hz).
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