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Speakers with wide listening window

I am looking to upgrade my speakers (currently Paradigm Monitor 7 v3). My biggest complaint about the Paradigms is their thin optimal listening window. If I am out of a narrow corridor directly in front of them, or if I am listening more than 4 ft off the ground, the sound drastically depreciates. I realize that all of this is inherent to some degree in any 2-channel system, but I am generally active and moving around while listening to music (e.g. while cooking) so I'm really looking for a set of speakers that can fill a room (20x30x10) without needing to be too loud.

My budget is about 1500 (up to 2k, max) new or used. The rest of my (vinyl only) system is:

Clearaudio Virtuoso Cart
Marantz 15-TTs1
Onkyo A10 integrated amp

Thanks!
blnd2spll

Showing 1 response by shadorne

shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
As others have suggested get a speaker with good off axis response.

Think of speakers as lights. Most designs are like a spot light. A few are designed with wide even dispersion that makes the off axis match the on axis - a flood light.

What to look for? Take a look at Stereophile frequency plots where they show the on and off axis response for various degrees. Look for a design that is even and smooth both on and off axis.

Example of good "flood light" response

Example of Bad "spot light Response

Notice how the bad response had a huge hole in the midrange off axis. This means that with this design you will only get an even response when sitting close to the speakers and in the sweetspot.
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