With respect to "compromising in terms of a listening room size", I stand by my original response.
Unless you are designing and building a listening space, all rooms are going to suck (or perhaps I should say "are less than ideal") in one way or another. When I first started to design a system for my current listening space (which is far less than ideal) I was told to invest in a headphone system, which, incidentally, is the extreme answer to your second issue - the 'neighbor noise factor'. I wasn't particularly interested in this option.
So, I approached the challenge from the room backwards:
Where would I be sitting?
Where will the system be placed?
Where will the speakers go (approximately)?
Where are the first reflection points?
Where can I put bass traps?
Will there be a rug?
EtcÂ…
An appropriately-treated room with also help with the 'neighbor noise factor'.
Then I started to evaluate my component options. I chose monitor speaker that are time / phase aligned, and that sound excellent at low volumes, but can also rock. I didn't want floor standing speakers because I wanted to control the level, phase and crossover of the low end due to the nasty nodes in my room).
I chose an integrated that also sounded good at low volumes (and still can rock) and doubled-down into 4 Ohms. The rest of my choices support the design philosophies I desire in my equipment (that may or may not be relevant to you).
Bottom line, you can get satisfying sound in a challenging room (or with neighbors in an adjoining space). You just have to consider the space itself before selecting components. However, I may be misunderstanding the advice you seek.
The key to getting good sound within a small room is 1) recognizing the issues with the room, 2) addressing those issues with the room, and 3) designing a system that is synergistic with the realities of that room.)
Unless you are designing and building a listening space, all rooms are going to suck (or perhaps I should say "are less than ideal") in one way or another. When I first started to design a system for my current listening space (which is far less than ideal) I was told to invest in a headphone system, which, incidentally, is the extreme answer to your second issue - the 'neighbor noise factor'. I wasn't particularly interested in this option.
So, I approached the challenge from the room backwards:
Where would I be sitting?
Where will the system be placed?
Where will the speakers go (approximately)?
Where are the first reflection points?
Where can I put bass traps?
Will there be a rug?
EtcÂ…
An appropriately-treated room with also help with the 'neighbor noise factor'.
Then I started to evaluate my component options. I chose monitor speaker that are time / phase aligned, and that sound excellent at low volumes, but can also rock. I didn't want floor standing speakers because I wanted to control the level, phase and crossover of the low end due to the nasty nodes in my room).
I chose an integrated that also sounded good at low volumes (and still can rock) and doubled-down into 4 Ohms. The rest of my choices support the design philosophies I desire in my equipment (that may or may not be relevant to you).
Bottom line, you can get satisfying sound in a challenging room (or with neighbors in an adjoining space). You just have to consider the space itself before selecting components. However, I may be misunderstanding the advice you seek.