advertisement


Best speakers for small-room, near-wall situation

Another vote for S/H Supernait 2... coupled with the Kudos X2's would give you a great system.
Exactly what I had till I moved house with a room twice the size of what I had previously
 
Surprised Dali Menuets haven’t been mentioned. Although I don’t have these exact speakers I just put Dali Zensor Pico’s in my second system and got quite a pleasant shock. For £150 these are amazing for the tiny tiny size. I’m using two small Cambridge minx x200 subs, but it really isn’t essential unless your room needs them. I’m considering the Menuets now......
 
Standmounts or small floorstanders, easy to drive, not too fussy with near wall placement (30-40cm from front wall), balanced, full sounding, musical and non fatiguing (not bright) w/ good non-boomy bass - what should I look at?

Any speakers that ended your quest for the perfect speaker in that type of scenario?

Budget under £1.5k used or new.

Hate to say it, but some '86 vintage Kans hard up against some thick supporting walls driven by a big exposure integrated in an old flat of mine in Whitechapel remains one of the best things I've ever heard. They sounded shite in my next place though and I have never since heard another pair sound anything like as good, or big, as these did.
 
I chose the Kan IIs because my space is small + don't have room to bring the speakers out much from the wall. I've been very happy with mine.
 
Duevel Planets seconded... there were a nice pair on the usual auction site last time I looked, if you can live with white speakers.

Ideally positioned with tweeters away from wall. Bottom ported, so can be close to the wall; remarkable bass for their modest size.

Mine (I eventually went up the Duevel range to the Venus) were used with a DSPeaker Anti-mode 2.0 room correction module/DAC in the system. It's a terrific combination for classical music; you might not feel the need of the DSPeaker if classical is not a main interest.
 
Another vote for S/H Supernait 2... coupled with the Kudos X2's would give you a great system.
Exactly what I had till I moved house with a room twice the size of what I had previously
This was my setup before I bought the Duevel Planets, and yes, it was pretty good...

...but the Planets were even more to my liking! They work really well in a small room, because they have a remarkable ability to make the room just disappear, a great asset for large-scale music.

My local dealer seems to agree. When he heard mine he promptly started stocking them.
 
I recently replaced a pair of Duevel Planets (too much bass for my small room) with Dali Menuet Se and they are producing the best sound I have had in the room since I last had the original Dali Menuets ten years ago. :rolleyes: I have REL t5i in waiting but have not yet hooked it up. Amplification was Sugden a21A with original Menuets and Audiolab 6000A now. Back of the speaker cabinets is about 20cm from the wall behind.
 
I recently replaced a pair of Duevel Planets (too much bass for my small room)...
That's where the DSPeaker comes in - you get to keep the sheer scale of which the Planets are capable, while treating any room resonances. Positioning becomes easy, too.

Many British listening rooms are less than ideal; addressing their shortcomings represents the logical upgrade path for most people and is a welcome option which wasn't available until relatively recently.
 
I've got some Dali Pico's too, the same size/form factor as the Menuets, they absolutely astonished me when set up close to the sidewall and toed in heavily, i've got some PMC three ways, Proac D15's and had Array 1400's when i purchased the Pico's, as daft as it sounds while they don't have the dynamics of the other speakers, they were captivating to listen to and very transparent and "alive" sounding, loud enough to fill a 13x20ft space, although best when listening at 8 feet or so. I used them with a rich sounding Sony amp that matched them perfectly. I did think about the Menuets and how much an improvement they would be with the better drivers etc.

I did try the Dali Zensor 1 (the next speaker size up from the Pico's) but they didn't have the magic of the smaller speaker, i think the Pico's worked so well because they speaker is so small, the cabinet sings as one with the drivers and because of the extreme side wall set up (the Proac D15 despite being a much bigger speaker don't work at all in the main room, but the Tiny Dali's do!).
An amazing little speaker IMO, i think they were only £130 new!
 
Snell K MK-1 speakers (like the Audio Note K version) work very well close to rear wall etc around 20 cm away and represent good value plus around 90db sensitivity.

I have also enjoyed Neate Petite MK-3 and they were wonderful sounding as are the Rogers JR 149 speakers, but when you start with the LS3/5a variants the prices go up considerably.
 
I'm using a larger PMC and they're virtually touching the front wall, maybe something to do with the transmission line design?

With the little DB1's they need some space from the wall, given they are rear ported, but they sound good at a foot or so out.
 
I've got some Dali Pico's too, the same size/form factor as the Menuets, they absolutely astonished me when set up close to the sidewall and toed in heavily, i've got some PMC three ways, Proac D15's and had Array 1400's when i purchased the Pico's, as daft as it sounds while they don't have the dynamics of the other speakers, they were captivating to listen to and very transparent and "alive" sounding, loud enough to fill a 13x20ft space, although best when listening at 8 feet or so. I used them with a rich sounding Sony amp that matched them perfectly. I did think about the Menuets and how much an improvement they would be with the better drivers etc.

I did try the Dali Zensor 1 (the next speaker size up from the Pico's) but they didn't have the magic of the smaller speaker, i think the Pico's worked so well because they speaker is so small, the cabinet sings as one with the drivers and because of the extreme side wall set up (the Proac D15 despite being a much bigger speaker don't work at all in the main room, but the Tiny Dali's do!).
An amazing little speaker IMO, i think they were only £130 new!

Yes couldn't agree more, I was truly amazed by these these things as well and I'm tempted to get the Minuet Se's but don't actually like the finish. I notice the Menuets never seemed to be for sale at reduced price, so I'm guessing this means they are a good seller. I'm using a NAP200 to power the Picos and this combination is quite transparent as you say, just a bit on the coarse side if pushed. Hence idea of upgrading to Menuets as I'm assuming refinement will improve....
 
1. About 6-6.5 feet away.
2. That's hard, because my tastes are all over the place. Mostly it's rock and its subgenres (from 50s to current, incl. prog, art, folk, psych, hard, blues-rock, etc), classic 50s-60s jazz and blues, various singer-songwriters (think Nick Drake or Joni Mitchell), '80s-current new wave/alternative/indie rock/post-punk, some funk and reggae, instrumental classical (excl. opera), etc etc. I rarely if ever listen to opera, hip hop, modern mainstream pop, some extreme genres of metal (I do love some NWOBHM!), plus I'm not a huge electronic music head (I don't mind it but it's not a big chunk of my listening).
Shahinian Super Elves on Ikea angle stands would be a great shoe-in - although rear ported I find that they were quite accommodating of placement (assuming room is carpeted). Also Shahinian Larcs were mentioned upthread, if interested in them, PM me as I have a pair currently not being used - bought it for a system that's not going to transpire anytime soon.
 
I've just picked up this post being in a similar scenario- having to sit about 6ft from the speakers....What did you go for in the end. I'm leaning towards the ATC SCM7s with a C1 sub...
 
I've just picked up this post being in a similar scenario- having to sit about 6ft from the speakers....What did you go for in the end. I'm leaning towards the ATC SCM7s with a C1 sub...
I've put this on hold for a while, having been busy with other things - currently enjoying a simple nearfield desktop setup (using a gifted pair of KEF LSX). Again, thanks everybody for the suggestions and keep them coming, as I'll be making a move to separates eventually.
 
I did try the Dali Zensor 1 (the next speaker size up from the Pico's) but they didn't have the magic of the smaller speaker,
I compared the larger (and cheaper) Zensor 1 and Mentor Menuet at the dealers several years ago and bought the Menuet. The smaller Menuet not only sounds better and more refined but is capable of going louder without breaking up. The Zensor 1 was already showing some distortion when played at higher volumes whilst the Menuet stayed clean and composed.

Good to note that there are few people here who appreciate the Dali Menuet / newer latest SE.
 


advertisement


Back
Top