Floorstanders for small rooms? Budget $1200 used

Meadowlark Swifts would work well in that room, and they can usually be had in the $700-$800 range used.

Soliloquy 5.3's will fall right in with your budget. They sound great. Built like a piece of high-end furniture. I was using mine in a 10X12 room and did not have a problem with bass loading (though bass is quite authorative). I don't have experience with the newer 'i' version with updated drivers. The previous version required a loooong break-in before it came into its own. Outstanding value for the money.

Marco

Marco - How do the 5.3's compare to your Klipsch Heresy's. I'm also considering a set of floorstanders in this price range. My present equipment is: Ah! Njoe Tjoeb CD player w/upsampler, Eastern Electric Minimax Preamp, Quicksilver MiniMite amps, and modded Heresy 1's.

I auditioned a two-way by DeVore Fidelity and was VERY impressed - although a bit more cash. $2850 new. I've seen them on the Gon for ~$1700.

Mike

Mike- I used to have MiniMite amps (great little amps) - they had wonderful synergy with the Heresy's I had which I had modified with better wires, MDF back, more thorough sealing all around, and some simple resonance sheets on the interior. Only once did I bring the Heresys home to compare them directly to the 5.3's. In the small room I was using there. With several different amps (including the Mini-Mites) I preferred the 5.3's for their fuller range (they reach down significanly lower than the Heresys do to my ears). Both sounded good on their own, but when A/B'ing the two I'd consistently prefer the fuller range (quite smooth as well) of the 5.3's. Used, the 5.3's are usually a bit more than twice the price of a good pair of Heresys (around $800-900 which is an outright bargain IMO). If the price were not an obstacle I'd go for the 5.3's if considering the two. I don't know anything about the DeVores so cannot comment there. Beware of shipping though: As good as Soliloquy's packing is, I would still make sure they get double-boxed...UPS and FedexGround would have a field day with them. Expensive to ship as they are about 80lbs each. Walter Liederman (UnderwoodWally) is still selling B stock 5.3i's for about $1300 (highly recommended seller) which come freight straight from Soliloquy strapped to a pallete (no worries there). Unfortunately I have limited experience with the 'i' version. I do know they changed the drivers, modified the crossover, and went from a hard-corner on the cabinets to a more rounded corner. Of course they say all should be an improvement over the original. A friend of mine purchased some 5.3's that had all the 'i' components installed in them. They sound great to me, though I only heard them early-on when they were not broken in and the bass had not filled out yet. Still, they sounded great, and I do know he remains very pleased with them. He pairs them off with Jolida 502B or a Unico Unison (both nice combinations with the Unico having a bit more detail and the 502B sounding a bit warmer and 3 dimensional).

Marco

I would go with the Meadowlark Kestral 2s over the Soliloquy 5.3s. I have had both and the Kestrals have a far more detailed mid-band which works really well with jazz and classical music. I detected some coloration in the mid-band with the Soliloquy 5.3s and thus they were not as detailed and articulate. They do however have substantially more bass weight than the K2s. All in all, I prefered the K2s.