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Speakers for a small room

SteveG

pfm Member
I've decided to do a major re-shuffle of my systems and decided that I need a set of speakers which are a better match in my study, which is fairly small (e.g. something like 12ft x 8ft). I'm thinking decent quality standmounters, probably front ported - so what should I be looking at? ATC SCM7's, Neat Petite's, PMC Twenty 21's or DB1's, Proac Response 1, Sonus Faber Concertino's are the sort of things I'm watching on Ebay.

Anything else I should be considering? Up to £1K 2nd hand. Amplification is a Krell integrated which will drive pretty much anything.
 
Pair I’m selling are new and a bit over £1k. Better than anything I’ve heard close to that at commercial prices though
 
S/h harbeth p3esr will be superb . Spendor s3 , Dali zensor 3
I’m quite amazed at how good the Dalis are for the money, they do lack the refinement of the Harbeths but they can certainly party harder than them. My cousin has them as the main speaker in his AV system, quite enjoyable!
 
Totem Mite for under £500. Tiny and amazing.

ATC SCM7 are a difficult load.... you’d need some serious amplification.
 
I still love Linn Katans, I gave my last pair to my daughter for her bedroom setup but I keep loitering on eBay and toying with another pair to use in rotation with my Royd Sapphires. They certainly wouldn’t be out of their depth with the kit you listed earlier in the “why buy new” thread.
 
Duevel Planets make a small room sound bigger than it is; I find them very convincing on large-scale classical music in my small lounge. They are floorstanders, but have a small footprint and are easy to position. I doubt that I will ever change mine; omnis, once you get a feeling for what they are doing and like them, make all other speakers irrelevant.
 
Totem Mite for under £500. Tiny and amazing.

ATC SCM7 are a difficult load.... you’d need some serious amplification.

The amp is a Krell KAV-400xi with 200W per channel so I was assuming that'd be quite good with the ATC 7's.
 
Totem Arros will give you a big sound from a teeny floor stander. I run mine on a Nait 2, and they show how little needs to be spent to get a very involving sound. The Arros are omnidirectional, with a huge soundstage, and surprising bass for a 4'' driver. They only need to be out 6-8'' from the wall, so good in a smallish room.
Me like...
 
Those Totems look interesting but I'm slightly concerned about speakers with a recommended 80W maximum given the amp is 200W.
 
I have exactly the same conundrum as the OP as I've just moved into a new 11'x11' office at home and currently just have a pair of Fostex 0.4's, which are now showing how weedy they are.

I could spend a few grand, but after trying a pair that proved to have a minor fault, I'd be quite happy spending half that on a pair of Meridian M30 active speakers and a Dragonfly Red USB DAC.

Failing that, either the Harbeths, Spendor S3's or some Rogers JR149's were I to go for near-field passive monitors.
 
I still love Linn Katans, I gave my last pair to my daughter for her bedroom setup but I keep loitering on eBay and toying with another pair to use in rotation with my Royd Sapphires. They certainly wouldn’t be out of their depth with the kit you listed earlier in the “why buy new” thread.

Great Speakers, but not at their best when used near-field. Same goes for the Royds.
 
With plenty of power available now I'm very tempted to try a set of ATC SCM7's as I've been close to buying those a few times in the past, although probably didn't have the amplification to do them justice then.
 
The dealer I bought the Krell from has an ex demo set of the Totem Arro's and an ex-demo set of Pro-Ac Response D1's - I might see if they'll consider a home demo, maybe of the Proacs.
 
Great Speakers, but not at their best when used near-field. Same goes for the Royds.
True, but I don’t think an 8x12 room necessarily means nearfeild listening, depends where you put them and where you’re sat. Katans (and 7 litre Royd boxes) are perfectly happy close to the rear wall and can work well in a large variety of spaces. They do sound at their best when wound up a bit though (the Linns and the Royds).
 
I heard the SCM7 at a local dealer and I thought they sounded wonderful. The only criticism I have heard, is that they aren't great at low volume levels.
 
True, but I don’t think an 8x12 room necessarily means nearfeild listening, depends where you put them and where you’re sat. Katans (and 7 litre Royd boxes) are perfectly happy close to the rear wall and can work well in a large variety of spaces. They do sound at their best when wound up a bit though (the Linns and the Royds).

Ah, I saw the word study and assumed Steve would be largely desk bound, I could be wrong.
 


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