Tiny Room (6' x 9') speaker advice


Dear fellow Audiogon members

I have been an avid Audiogon reader over the past 10 years and have learned a lot from the community and have come to trust the advice I read on here over most other platforms.

Did a lot of listening during lockdown and I decided that I really like vintage audio.  I recently purchased a vintage HH Scott, Type 200 tube amp with separate Tuner, which are currently being reconditioned. 

In addition, I have a Thorens TD-145, which has an upgraded 8" Jelco arm and Ortofon 2M blue cart (plan to upgrade tot he bronze in the very near future).

For speakers I have the KEF LS50s that are currently connected to a Music Hall 15.3 50W amp (which is being replaced with the HH Scott). 

I want to replace the KEFs with speakers that at least look vintage, i.e. does not need to be vintage just want a wooden box like the Klipsch Heresy IV, Harbeth 30.1, etc. that have a large deep sound stage/excellent imaging.

I have heard and really like the Klipsch Heresy IV and the Harbeth 30.1. The issue as per the title, is that my listening room is tiny. I actually had my system in several different locations in my home but being non-dedicated spaces it did not get nearly the use that it has in this small room.

I have searched the web, including all previous audigon posts, for the "best speakers" for small rooms and the definition of a small room is very subjective (i.e., I have read several posts where it was defined as 15' x 15' or smaller). The best I could come up with is speakers for near field listening, most of which are low sensitivity and not ideal for a 12W tube amp (that said the KEFs can easily reach levels that are well beyond comfortable using the Scott before I sent it to be reconditioned).

Right now my KEFs are approximately 4 ft apart, about a foot off the wall, and my head when sitting is about 6 feet away. They are current on isoacoustic stands on solid walnut shelfs that are bolted to the wall at ear level.

Now comes the question.

What speakers should I try to audition that fit the following criteria?

1. Wood vintage look.

2. Small enough for the room. Again I would go for the Heresy IV, which would fit, but I am sure are way to big for the space.

3. Open airy soundstage. I have a sound in my noodle that I keep searching for, which I can only describe as a Fender Strat played on a 65 Princeton Reverb. Again the Klipsch and Harbeth mentioned above came as close to what I imagine I am looking for as possible.

4. Finally, I would like to keep the price under $3K.

Thanks for your suggestions

Budd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

munneuro

For a room of this size, my biggest concern is going to be the distance between the speakers and the wall behind them. Any rear-ported speaker is going to be problematic. Of all the speakers mentioned above, Harbeth P3esr will be my top recommendation. It is a sealed design and can be placed as close as 6 inches from the wall. In fact, when I had them in my home office I found that the bass response actually improved as I got closer to the wall. It really shines in near field listening, which let's face is what you're really talking about here. Although I sold mine last year, it is one speaker I won't mind buying again. It might not impress at first, but it definitely grows on you over time.

Having said that, if you can keep the speakers at least 18 inches out from the wall, the Fritz Carrera BE's are phenomenal speakers for the price. These are without a doubt my favorite bookshelf speakers under $5k. I'm auditioning a Rogers 65-v2 SET amp, and the combo is outstanding. This speaker really shines with tube amplification and can thrive with even low powered amps.

I also owned KEF LS50 (non meta version) and in my opinion they're not a great match for tubes. They really need some SS kick in the gut to wake them up. Same for Harbeth 30.1 -- awesome speakers if you pair them with beefy solid state amps, but quite ordinary when driven by tube amplification.

The smaller Proacs are also nice but I feel they might be too 'in your face' in a smaller room. I always found them to be a bit too 'lively' for my taste, but you never know. A lot of people love Proacs, so maybe it's a preference thing.

Small ls3/5a would be great in near monitoring mode small room..... I had 16 ohm falcon ls3/5a with a leben cs300xs and it was pretty magical but got lost in bigger room I went to 30.1 then and now on tannoy arden 

@oldhvymec 

I’ve 4 pairs of the 0.2’s, 1 pair of the 0.1’s

using 2 pairs with SSW-212, people

can’t believe the sound back then and Now !

Cheers 

 

How about a pair of Proac Tablette 10 - choose your veneer finish and similar in size to BBC LS3/5.