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Speakers (and system) for a small-ish room

I bought a pair of KEF LS50 wireless for my study/home office a few months ago. First off, I am absolutely in love with the speakers. After integrating a REL sub (T9i), I moved them to the game room (20 x 25), where they are doing everything I hoped they would. So now, back to the study/home office :)

The room is about 10 x 13 ft with 12-foot ceilings. Given the way the furniture is laid out, and of course WAF considerations (she shares the office), I have very little flexibility in terms of placement. The biggest problem is that I cannot place them more than 1 foot from the wall and 4 feet apart. My desk chair is about 6 feet away from where the speakers would be eventually set up. The speakers would be flanked by two bookshelves on both sides.

My initial thought is to just get another pair of KEF LS50 wireless since I like their sound in the game room. This way I don't have to worry about getting a separate amp (integrated) and streamer. This setup has the highest WAF score :)

But then a little voice inside my head is telling me "why have the same sound everywhere?" It'll be nice to have a bit of variety. Hence this post. Given that I can get the LS50 wireless for about $2400 (including custom stands and taxes), I  want to put together a system which is around the same price. I don't intend to play anything loud in the study. Genres: jazz, vocals, some classical, some R&B and soft rock. Don't care much for metal, rap, EDM type of music.

There is an almost new pair of Harbeth P3esr for sale in my vicinity (craigslist) listed for around $1100. I'm seriously thinking of buying them. That leaves me with around $1300-1400 to spare. Does this sound feasible?

If possible I would like to experiment with tubes. But I have no idea as to how they would (a) pair with the Harbeths (always heard that they do better with SS), and (b) the cost, since tubes generally tend to be more expensive.

I am open to ideas as long as the total budget does not exceed $2500. I am willing to spend a little extra for used stands. 

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Showing 1 response by joseph_mullar

joseph_mullar
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I used to build a small system with speakers being 2 feet apart and I got a clear soundstage. Remember to keep some distance between the wall and your speakers. The sturdiest speaker stands I have ever used are DIY. I stacked three Concrete Blocks ($1.35/each) sold by Home Depot and glued them in between as a stand. If you think they are ugly, you may wrap them with a fabric in the color you like. 

Now I built a medium system in my living room and learned that the  Stereo Imaging is influenced by the length of audio cables. The imaging with a pair of 3 meter long cables is larger than the imaging with a pair of 1.5 meter long cables. They sound like the difference between watching a 70 inch and 46 inch LED TVs in my living room.

To see if your Unitiqute is powerful enough, you may use this Calculator to find out.
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