What speakers for a 10 x10 room?

My room is 7.5x10x8 and an interesting challenge as well. I started with ACS bass traps, Echo Busters, and Room Tunes. These properly applied helped. Next I tried a Rane one-third octave EQ. Since I own a real-time analyzer I could do the measurements and make the corrections. This helped the frequency response, but had the inherent phase problems. Then I tried a Roland digital EQ (24 bit AD/DA with 32 bit processing). This was much better but the additional AD/DA was evident with good speakers. Finally, I purchased a Tact RCS 2.0 and for me the problem was solved. (www.tactaudio.com) Good luck!

Ehider, that is a great deal. I was not aware of the scanspeak available at that price in a retail speaker. If the crossover does justice it is something to look at. I have used the 7inch 8546/8646 lots and the 8530(the 5inch) quite a lot and it is a deal at that price. I think the 5" driver alone is about $175 each if you buy them at typical DIY outfit! Don't know how they do it. SS makes a great driver.

Also, a 10 by 10 room is trouble. It reinforces the same standing wave in all directions and needs some work. As important as the speaker you choose maybe.

Thanks for the info Ehider and Cheers,

i remain

The best I've heard in a small room are the Piega p-8 ltd or for a monitor the p-2 limited.These are designed exclusively for this type of application.Search these out they will work better than anything mentioned here.

In a square or cubic room, a conventional monopole speaker will have severe low-frequency standing-wave problems. However, a dipole speaker will not, because the figure-8 bass radiation pattern will only significantly excite room modes in one dimension.

On the other hand, in a small room few dipole speakers work well because the backwave needs plenty of room behind it to avoid coloration in the midrange and treble. However, not all dipole speakers operate as a dipole all the way up. The Original Quads, the "57's", have a damping pad behind the tweeter panel that absorbs much of their backwave, allowing them to be positioned back closer to the wall than most dipole speakers.

The Gradient Revolution has dipole bass loading, and carefully controlled cardioid radiation in the midrange and treble. The result is an extremely relaxing and natural-sounding presentation that is pretty much independent of the room's acoustics. Disclaimer - I'm a Gradient dealer.

If you're willing to treat the backwave, you might be able to get away with using Maggies in your room. I have a friend who, on my recommendation, tried the little MMG's in an 11 by 11 by 11 (cubic!) room. The result was very satisfying, but the backwave is partially absorbed by draperies.

Best of luck to you in your quest!

Lots of posts on this particular topic - one of which was posted by me a few months back!

I, too owned the Aerial Model 5s and purchased them specifically for my small room (11X12). They really were terrific placed on the factory (24") stands.

I also tried Magnepan MMGs with GREAT effect. They integrated very well into the room and only needed to be placed about 2 feet from the front wall for optimal results. I was so smitten, in fact, that I decided to promptly sell them and upgrade to 1.6s.

The 1.6s are not nearly as easy to integrate due to their larger size and deeper bass response, however, they're not as difficult as one might think. They're a little less than 3 feet away from the front wall and about 6 1/2 feet apart. I sit about 7 feet away from them. Associated gear is:

ARC CD-2 - used as a tranport
MSB Link DAC III with ModWright mods, upsampling and P1000 power supply
CJ PV11
ARC D-115MK2

I'm VERY pleased with the overall sound. There are a lot of misnomers about dipole/stator speakers being difficult to place, need a lot of room to breathe, etc. I'm finding that it's not any more true than any other speaker. For example, many (most) small speakers (not your Aerials, though) are ported to the rear. This can make placement in such a small room extremely difficult if not impossible.

Anyway, that's my story...

Best of luck to you. There are a LOT of knowledgable folks on this site. The good news here is that I'm sure you'll find something that's going to work for you.

-Dan