2. speakers
  3. 161658-98013

What is the best audiophile speaker for a tiny square room?

I currently have Soundlabs M545 electrostatic speakers in my 9 x 11ft room. They are great speakers particularly for this small room because they are more directional than box speakers and therefore decrease sidewall reflections. However, like other electrostatics, they are hard to drive and require big amps (>200W), which tend to generate a lot of heat. Class Ds don't go well with ES speakers. Are there great easy to drive speakers that would work well in this room without compromising SQ?
128x128chungjh
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,510 posts
 
PS Audio ICE Power S300 with Acoustat.
A Superphon DM 220 welded the woofers so I replaced them with 4 ohm Dayton's.
Better than stock. Sometimes I'll try to turn the subs down and realize I forgot to power them up.
Last amp was a Superphon 400S that I traded to Paul for the S300 and The Music Room promptly sold.

mesch
3,418 posts
 
I have heard those Tannoy Audograph minis. Sound and look wonderful. Were driven by a 10wpc Luxman tube amplifier.  Would make for a truly class system in a small room. 
turnbowm
353 posts
 
Also have a small listening space and a pair of Kef LS50s with a Rel T/5i sub makes for a nice listening experience. The LS50 coincident/coaxial driver design excels in near-field listening situations.
verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio
1,469 posts
 
AVM and Rogue both produce tube/hybrid Class Ds.  I have a customer who just added and AVM A5.2 to his system to drive a pair of Martin Logan 13As and he saw a significant improvemtn in performance. 

The Rogue DragoN will have plenty of power for you.  You might want to roll in NOS tubes to the input stage.  

I am an AVM dealer, I have no affiliation with Rogue other than I personally own a Rogue Hydra which is a 100w class D hybird.  
cal3713's avatar
cal3713
1,421 posts
 
Easy to drive full range single drivers maybe? Would be a big change of pace and allow you to explore almost any amplifier while retaining coherency and keeping you in a crossoverless paradigm. Rave reviews all around for these: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/cube-audio-nenuphar-single-driver-speaker-10-inch-tqwt-enclos...
More to discover