Speakers for a unique small room


So I have been going about speakers all wrong.  I am used to having a large listening room, but due to a divorce i am in a house that is pretty small.  I will be buying a new house in July but I need some good speakers for a small room now and hope maybe they will blow me away for when I get a dedicated room. 

So first here are some specifics the size of the area where I listen.  The room is 10 feet (3.1 meters) x 14 feet (4.3 meters) and the listening position from a speakers which front is 3 feet (1 meter) off the wall is 8 feet (2.4 meters).  The 14 foot wall has a large window, behind the listening area are stairs going up to the 2nd floor and their is no right wall as it is open to other parts of the house.  Here are some pics to put things into perspective:

 

So right now I am running a NAD M12 and M23 as well as an SVS 3000 Micro, My speakers are PSB Imagine X2T an 8 feet is just WAY to close.  I want something that if I am sitting 8 feet away from sound amazing!  I cant listen anything fatiguing, I am looking for a bookshelf.  I also would like something that would be amazing when I have a dedicated room as well.  I have tried the LS50 Meta, still have them but thought they were mediocre at best.  

So I am hoping I can get two pieces of advice, great speakers for a small listening space.  Harbeth P3ESR XD's are the only speakers I have seen that can be great in small spaces.    I want something that will be great and I have a budget of $2500 with a little wiggle room.  Would love as wide of a sound stage as i can in a small room, No Klipsch and no Focal please.  Great speakers but just way too fatiguing to me.  

I listen to a lot of Jazz and Classical the rest is filled with Grunge, Punk, and Classic rock but Jazz and Classical are my priority.  

Based on the pictures if anyone sees any opportunities for treatments in any way please call them out and I will get them.   

 

128x128justinrphillips

I have a similar room but just no open end I use my Harbeth 30.1. They seem very forgiving as far as placement and distance position. Also I moved all furniture out of room. Ya gotta want it. They are big in a small room but I did already have them. I downsized when I retired and perhaps I would get something smaller but for me Harbeth is still the best. They don't have anything like the 30.1at that pricepoint now I don't think...

Wilson TuneTots. They work well placed next to walls, in a small room. I tried many “best in class” bookshelf speakers from Magico, Raidho etc. While my favourite, cost no object are the Raidho TD 1.2 (I haven’t had the chance to listen to the Borresen yet), which just about work in a small room, although ideally they need more space to breathe, I have to say that, of all these speakers I have tried, the Tots have performed best in a small room. Not a large stand-floor performance by any standard, but really engaging and delivering just about the right amount of everything.

Many people judge the Tots by price alone, comparing them to bigger, better speakers for this reason or that. But they are missing the point. The point is that little else delivers this level of performance in a small room like yours. The larger Duettes, now discontinued, also do well close to walls but I found their output overwhelming in my small room, near-ish field.

I would NOT run a pair of stand-floor speakers in that room under any circumstances. Not even petite ones from Neat etc.

Edit. Sorry, I just saw your budget. I don’t think you can do much better than LS50 for the money. Have you considered placing the speakers on the short wall?

On second thought - would you have the opportunity to audition some Quads, say the S2 or the Z1?

And another observation. If you want soundstage you should clear the space between the speakers. Get the rack under the window. Or keep the rack and TV where they are, move the speakers on the short wall. The TV between speakers is a very bad idea if you seek soundstage.

I assume you are using the soundbar for TV duty so there is no need to have the speakers next to it. 

I would consider the British speaker sound, all non-fatiguing and there will be options new or used in your price range. Those include the Spendor Classic Series (4/5, 3/1, 2/3) and A series (A1) bookshelf models, also Audio Note UK have a bookshelf (AX One, AX Two, AN K).

You have room problems and you can change the speakers all you want and spend crazy money on upgrading (or crazy money on downgrading) but it will all be a waste unless you can fix the room first.

Speakers should be put where the left and right speakers "see" the same environment around them. ie. you cannot have one speaker in a corner and one out in the open and expect them to sound right. Fix that first. Both speakers with a rear wall behind them and a sidewall beside them. Or both out in the open with no walls nearby.

Agree with some other comments about TV reflective, etc. but also keep the stuffed chair well away from the speaker's output to the listening position.  Stuffed chair on RHS and none on LHS gives you another symmetry issue.