Room size & choosing speakers

Thank-you for all of your feedback. It is helping me to sort through the choices. I went back to the dealer and listened again to the 803D & the 805D (with Rel 328 sub) in a room almost as small as mine, and I have given up on the 803D & 802D- too much speaker. I still like the 805D & the sub added punch, but at times I could locate the sub and it distracted from the fullness of the sound. I imagine that this has to do with placement and adjusting the sub carefully to fit the room.

I also listened today to Sonus Farber Olympica I (didn't like them at all) & then the Wilson Duette & it seems in a different class than the other monitor speakers I have heard. I can get a floor model of the original duette for about 1/2 the price of the new duette 2 (which I haven't heard yet). I only got to listen for about 45 minutes - wow. They seem worth going out of the way for.

The 805D/mac combination had one way that is was warmer, but in every other way the Wilson Duette (with an arye integrated amp) was far superior. I am interested if anybody has experience with them and if worth the money to get the duette 2's.

Thank-you,

Try listening to the Monitor Audio Pl-100 and the PLW-15. I Always have the best results with sub's wenn they are closed and only have one speakerunit in front. With downfiring the stealth integration I have is not possible. I use the Pl-200, which can be places 10cm from the wall. Is a speaker with one of the fastest responses in there price range.This makes them a lot quicker and easier in smaller rooms. Just listen to it and try it. Take as much time as you can en listen to different speakers. You will find the one that fits best to your personal taste.

I was in your same situation, and ended up going with the B&W PM1 - I work from home, and my home office is exactly 10x12, and with furniture and such in the room I end up sitting no more than 6 feet from the speakers and the speakers are maybe 7 feet apart. It doesn't take much to fill a room this size with sound.

I do have a B&W sub in the room, but I only use it when listening to rock at higher volume levels. With just about everything else - jazz, classical, female vocals, acoustic guitar, etc. I turn off the sub and let the PM1 do all the work. There are plenty of times that I catch myself thinking, there's no way the PM1 should be putting out that much bass from a speaker that size, but they pull it off. I did consider smaller towers, but the PM1 are so nice to look at and sound much bigger than they are, and again...doesn't take much to fill a room this small with sound!

Lots of good suggestions from everyone else so far, just listen to as many as you can, and take them home if the dealer will let you. I learned that system synergy and room layout make all the difference. For my living room system, I went from B&W 704 (liked them, didn't love them), to B&W 805 (liked them more), tried some Quads, then B&W 805 Signatures (loved them, wish I never sold them, will own them again even if I just sit and stare at them), then Sonus Faber Concerto & Grand Piano (hated them with rock music, great for everything else), and finally, of all brands, I ended up with Mirage OM-9. In my specific living room, with my gear, and my source material, the OM-9 sounds best. On paper, they'd probably be everyone's last choice (and they weren't even on my list when I started), but it's all about total system & room synergy, and nobody here can help you with that you just have to try a bunch out and see if they give you goosebumps. Enjoy it - the journey is tons of fun.

The Wilson Duette would be an excellent choice in that they are designed for flexible room placement. They also don't need a subwoofer for music. They will work best with high powered solid state. I'd recommend integrateds from Rowland, Hegel, McIntosh or even Pathos, but there are many others that will work. Good luck.

Mksr, the Duettes are indeed much better than the 805Ds. Also, as Onhw61 has mentioned, for music you would not need a sub in your room with them. Though, I do not know how much bass they put out when they play music at lower volumes (when cracked up they put out enough bass for most people).

If you can stretch it, my advise would be to get the Wilson instead of the B&W 805Ds. Not only you have heard how much better they are than the 805s (which will hunt you for a long time if you would buy the 805s), but I assume that half the price of the Duettes 2 is not that much more that the price you would pay for the 805Ds plus a decent sub. However, as before, I advise you to try them in your room to make sure they will not overwhelm it with bass. Since Wilson dealers are required by Wilson to set up every pair of Wilson they sell in their client's room (at least that is the case here in Europe) maybe you can reach an understanding with your dealer, i.e. that you will buy the speakers if, when set up by him, they do not overwhelm your room.