The "right" speaker


Here is my listening room:

21' long X 14'wide with 15' cathedral ceilings. This is split into two rooms a 8' long by 14' wide kitchen (behind the listening area)and a family room of 13' long by 14' wide where my system resides. I have treated the wall behind the speakers and the short wall birectly behind where I sit. The room is now devoid of slap echo and is tuned properly. I sit six to seven feet from the speaker.

I am looking to find a nearfield speaker that will work well in this room for 2 to 4 K used. Here is what I have listened to so far:

Sonus Faber Concertos
Wilson Cubs
Triangle Zayas(very nice)

I welcome any and all recommendations.
hiflyer
diapason adamantes are an excellent choice. a small, drop-dead gorgeous stand-mounted monitor that will do an honest 40hz. also one of the most holographic speakers i've ever heard. i heard the adamantes II; the adamantes III, the current wersion, is supposed to be even better. they retail for a bit more than $4k, w/stands; but are occasionally awailable for much less on the used market. 'rino of prosound, who adwertizes here frequently, has a pair w/stands f/s for <$3k, i tink. this includes shipping, which is spendy, as he's in italy. the speakers are mfr'd there, btw... ewe can find diapason in a-gons' mfr links...

doug s.

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the responses. What about some nearfield floor standing speakers in the 2 to 4K range? Jeff, I will definitely check out the Totems.

Sedond,

You always seem to have some good comments. I know you like the Newform's. I heard them at the NY show briefly. I have ML Requests right now that I want to replace.

Has anyont heard the Tyler Accoustics line of speakers or Rick Reimer's?

Keep the sugestions coming....
hiflyer, if newforms weren't around, i'd get the diapasons. 'rino of prosound got a pair, & even *he* sez the newforms are better than the diapasons... ;~) but i dunno how they'd do in the nearfield. if ya want floor-standers, i tink the proac 1.5's are wery nice, & i tink they'd do well in the nearfield - they're essentially a floorstanding wersion of the 1sc... mite even get away w/proac 2.5's in the nearfield, as these are also 2-way speakers, also excellent sound.

doug s.

The Harbeth Compact 7ES and slightly smaller but more expensive Monitor 30 are world-class mid-field monitors (stand mounts) with the clearest least colored midrange around. Ive heard a lot of speakers, including many mentioned above, and wouldn't buy anything else.

But, speaker preferences vary and there are hundreds of different high quality speakers out there. Spend some time and enjoy the search.
Hi Paulwp,

I have heard great things about Harbeth speakers. I have sent an e-mail to Harbeth inquiring about dealers in Florida.Is there a preference of tube or solid stste for these speakers? Also, I could not find the size of these speakers on their website. Could you help? What stands are you using for them?
Hiflyer, the HL Compact 7ES is a rather large box, 520mm h, 273 w and 315 d. That's about 20 inches high by 11 wide by almost 13 deep. The Monitor 30 is a bit smaller, 460-277-285, about 17-11-11.5. To find the dimensions of their speakers you need to download the brochures from their "data archive."

I use a 16 inch Target metal stand, the height dictated by the height of my sofa. Tweeters at ear level. Harbeth and Professor Greene of TAS, who has reviewed the Compact 7 and Monitor 40 (very large), do not believe that stands have any function other than to get the tweeter up to the correct height.

W/re amplifiers, again Harbeth and Dr. Greene both recommend high current solid state amps. I use a 150 watt Muse 160 mosfet. Some people do use tubes, and I am sure that a high powered tube or hybrid would be just fine. Those little 3 to 8 watt SET's wouldn't do. I have tried my speakers with different solid state amps down to 20 watts, and they always sound good, but they do much better with a lot of power.

I don't know what kind of power you need with the Monitor 30. My similar sized HL-K6's (now discontinued) need a lot of current, more than the C7's.
ok, now ya got choices fer the right speaker, how 'bout the left one? ;~)

doug s.

I was waiting for that Doug. But he hasn't given us enough info. Depends on the attitude of his head in its listening position, left side furnishings versus right side, and, of course, whether his components are on the left or right.
You guys are a hoot:) Thanks for all the great information. I have contacted Harbeth and hopefully will find a way to listen to them. I will have a chance to listen to Audio Physic,JM Lab and Sehring this weekend. What a life!!!
jm lab make some nice speakers, but there seems to be a love-hate feeling about their inwerted-dome metal tweets. personally, i enjoy mine in my meret re monitors...

enjoy the hunt! :>)

doug s.

ps - i really tink it wood be worthwhile to also check out the diapason adamantes...