Versatile, non-fatiguing speakers for a small room under $1500 used or new: advice needed!


Hi, first post here! And not a very original one, my apologies!:)

So after years of listening to music through miscellaneous mid-fi solutions, I am finally thinking about dipping my toes in hi-fi audio and putting together a dedicated stereo setup. Currently I am looking at speakers, and my head is already aching from the abundance of options, so I am looking for suggestions from you guys, primarily from those of you who have had first-hand experience building a stereo in a small room like mine and achieved results they are happy with.

My room is pretty small (approx. 13’ x 10’), and I will be placing my speakers along the long wall. My listening position will be 6 feet away, give or take; plus the speakers will have to sit fairly close to the front wall. 15 inches from the back of the speaker would be nice, but if needed, I definitely I could move them out farther into the room (up to 20 inches from the back of the speaker), for listening sessions and then move them back again. There are several rows of shelves , filled with CDs and stuff, in the middle of the back wall above my head (not wall-to-wall though) - would that work as dispersion? I’m thinking of applying some room treatment behind the speakers, and on the right-hand side wall as well (if needed) - on the left hand side is a window covered with thick curtains.

Budget: under $1500 used or new.
I listen to all kinds of music, primarily rock of all eras and subgenres (blues/folk/prog/hard/art/psych/indie, etc), jazz, blues, classical, acoustic, singer-songwriters, female vocal, 80s new wave/post punk, some heavy metal. So the speakers need to be as versatile as possible. As someone who likes rock music, the bass is important, but I live in an apartment (neighbors!), so I have to find the right balance there as I don’t want to overload the room - the bass has to be there but under control and not boomy. I want as big a sound as possible in my small room without overpowering it. In general, I’m looking for engaging, non-fatiguing, dynamic sound with good midrange and tone, with enough punch to rock out when needed, nuance to play softer, more sparse types of music, and resolution so the details in fast complex passages don’t get lost or smeared. Not a fan of excessive brightness, sibilance, or harshness in the upper midrange.

I’m primarily looking at standmounts, but maybe certain smaller floorstanders would be fine? I’ve seen opinions claiming floorstanders are the way to go, regardless of the size of the room. What do you think would be preferable in my situation - apartment with neighbors, 13’x10’ room, long wall positioning, distance to speakers about 6 feet, maybe less?

Thanks!
mermaid_smiles
One speaker comes to mind...the Wharfedale Lintons. For $1500 you get the speakers with the stands! Non fatiguing and beautiful to look at with top notch build and real wood veneers. Pretty hard to beat that at this price. Look at all those positive reviews, they are everywhere! 
One thing people say about the lintons is that they need to be pretty far from the front wall so I don’t think they’d work in this application. I really want them to work for me but I don’t think they will either. 
@mermaid_smiles

The Harbeths are really high on my list - I like a lot of what I hear about them. They do seem rather picky in terms of amplification (so darn inefficient!), so any advice on what to power them with would go a long way.


Actually, no Harbeths are not super inefficient nor are they hard to drive. There is much discussion about what amplification to use with them because so many amps can work well with them, Only issue is a $1500 budget won’t get you into Harbeths and proper stands unless you go with a pretty old pair... which still sound very nice... amplification matching has not changed as all the main Harbeth models have been modernized over time but the updates are minor...

The mini monitor P3 is a few db less efficient than the bigger ones but your room is small, a decent 50-60-75 wpc amp will do just fine.
I bought a two-year old P3esr (non-anniversary) for $1300 a couple of years ago, so I think $1500 budget is doable. I agree that they are not that difficult to drive, but they are a good investment in the sense that they scale with better equipment, at least that has been my experience thus far. If I was the OP, my plan of action might look something like this ...
1. Get a used pair of P3esr’s, and used pair of stands
2. Later on, spend another $1500 on used integrated amp -- my experience has been that they work equally well with tubes and SS, unless you’re into heavy metal or rap, in which case these are the wrong speakers to begin with.
3. Add a subwoofer -- for the OP’s room size, something like a REL T Zero will do just fine.

You don’t have to buy everything upfront. Get the speakers first, and then expand as time goes on. These speakers will continue to scale with better equipment.