@rooze ,
My understanding (based on the works of Earl Geddes and David Griesinger) is that the radiation pattern can widen at the low end, as with a "hybrid horn" speaker such as the Cornwall.
As far as which such speakers I have actual experience with in small rooms, that is limited to my own designs, all of which are "hybrid horn" systems, and all of which are designed with a high priority on room interaction.
I can get more specific if you’d like, but in that case maybe we ought to go to private messaging, so that I’m not being overly self-promotional on this forum.
Duke
dealer/manufacturer
|
your dealer is wrong, we have both the legacys and t he personas in a similar sized room
our demo room is 18 long 14 wide with 10 hoot ceilings and both speakers sound great in this room.
congrats on the josephs
Dave and Troy
Audio intellect nj
legacy and persona dealers
we
|
- I have B&W 804 D3s with a big Naim/ Linn system and am very happy with them. However, my room is a little bigger in every direction and is still only just big enough. In my system and room I get strong but tight bass, but good and wide stereo requires them to be 2 feet from any walls. If you really can’t do this, you may well have to look elsewhere.
- The bass on the PMC was more obvious than that of the B&Ws if anything when tested, if less well controlled, but imaging and air on (for example) female vocals wasn’t great, and they were much better with some bits of music than others.
- The fact that what I heard from the PMCs is not what you hear probably highlights that these things are very room/ system/ ears- dependent. Whatever else you do, I’d strongly encourage you to hear 3 or 4 options in your home before spending that sort of money.
- I think many of the speakers on your list need even more space around them than my B&Ws, particularly if you get enthusiastic with volume. That would also apply to (say) the excellent Spendor D9.2 and just about anything with a rear-firing port.
Others can cover this better than I, as I don’t know all the speakers on your list, but I have yet to hear (say) KEF or Vivid speakers that did not need a lot of space to be at their best.
- The bass issue will probably mean you end up with floorstanders, but it is worth hearing what good stand-mounts can do. I’d try B&W 805 D4 and/ or Focal Sopra Number 1s. You can add well-integrated and high quality subs if needed.
- At shops, the B&W 804s didn’t win my auditions – that was at my house. The winner in most rooms was significantly cheaper, a lot smaller and a lot happier within 12-18 inches of walls – the Neat Xplorer. If you have not heard these remarkable speakers, I would vigorously encourage you to do so (and not to judge the sound with your eyes, if you see what I mean).
- Of course, that last bit highlights again how room-dependent these things are, and in the case of the B&Ws (and others on your list) how sensitive they are to position & toe-in. A 20-minute session or all day in a dealer’s showroom will not be enough for most of us listeners to be at all confident of getting the right answer.
- If getting enough control and power in bass is proving a huge problem, and you have no wriggle-room on positioning, Klipsch may offer the best solution available.
- Finally, you can save a vast amount of money by buying speakers of this quality second-hand or ex-dem. Some would feel bad about having a dealer demo at your house, and then buying second-hand at a 40% discount off eBay. If you are one of them, that doesn’t stop you picking a speaker now, with help from 1, 2 or even 3 dealers – and then deciding to wait until someone has an ex-dem pair. At least, that’s what you can say now…
|
