5.1 Speakers for a small living room

Hems

Well-known member
Nov 21, 2007
108
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18,595
I originally considered buying either the Jamo A102HCS or KEF1005.2s for a small living room but now I am getting tempted to buy the KEF KHT3005SE's. My indecisiveness is holding up my purchase of a system. Can anyone give me any advice? I do have the budget to buy the more expensive speakers and I'm looking to pair either of these with the Onkyo 606 whenever that comes out.
 
How small is small? If you have the budget, then my initial response would be 'buy the 3005s', but an idea of the room size would be handy...
 
[quote user="Andrew Everard"]
How small is small? If you have the budget, then my initial response would be 'buy the 3005s', but an idea of the room size would be handy...
[/quote]

Hi Andrew. It's approx 11ft x14ft. Also, I would be using them for gaming, movies and music.
 
I'm currently using the 1005's just moved them into a 12*13 ft room from an approx 12*16 ft one and they sound great. i have to run the set up again on the receiver but i dont think you'd be disappointed if you went with them
 
[quote user="Hems"]Hi Andrew. It's approx 11ft x14ft.

Also, I would be using them for gaming, movies and music.[/quote]

Well, it's not too small to use the 3005s, but you could get away with one of the smaller KEF packages, too. I'd have a listen to the 2005 and 3005s - I think you'll find the bigger ones worthwhile
 
[quote user="Andrew Everard"]
[quote user="Hems"]Hi Andrew. It's approx 11ft x14ft. Also, I would be using them for gaming, movies and music.[/quote]

Well, it's not too small to use the 3005s, but you could get away with one of the smaller KEF packages, too. I'd have a listen to the 2005 and 3005s - I think you'll find the bigger ones worthwhile
[/quote]

I went into SuperFi today and they suggested mixing and matching the speakers such as B&W 685s at the front with an appropriate centre, rears and sub. They suggested the B&W M1s. Does anyone have any thoughts?
 
Well, provided you use the matching centre - the HTM62, IIRC - and the ASW608 sub, you won't go far wrong with such a set-up
 
[quote user="Andrew Everard"]
Well, provided you use the matching centre - the HTM62, IIRC - and the ASW608 sub, you won't go far wrong with such a set-up

[/quote]

Sorry Andrew, I meant having the 685 left and right and the M1's for the centre and rears and then an appropriate sub. Would that work. I have a total budget of 1000
 
Well, I have the 685s as my fronts, HTM62 as centre and M1s as my rears. At RRP from Superfi, that works out at £880 (though without a sub, stands or cables...). If you can do a deal though, I can tell you, it sounds fantastic to me! The centre is one of the most important speakers really, so I wouldn't skimp on it. The other thing you could do though is compromise for now, get the M1 as the centre, then save up the extra £250 for the HTM62 (or even £400 for HTM61 if you're feeling flush) and use the extra M1 to make up a 6.1 system...

Oh, it goes without saying that you should listen to all of this before you buy to make sure you like it!
 
Would that blow the mission m cube or q acoustics 1010i out of the water(obviously these systems are a bit cheaper) im having a tough time finding a surround set up im looking for a really good cinema sound.
 
I haven't heard either of them, but I can say with quite a lot of confidence that it would. Is there a Sevenoaks Sound & Vision near you - most of them stock B&W so you can go and have a listen. Got mine from the Epsom store (which is mentioned a few times in the forums as it's very good!).
 
[quote user="professorhat"]
Well, I have the 685s as my fronts, HTM62 as centre and M1s as my rears. At RRP from Superfi, that works out at £880 (though without a sub, stands or cables...). If you can do a deal though, I can tell you, it sounds fantastic to me! The centre is one of the most important speakers really, so I wouldn't skimp on it. The other thing you could do though is compromise for now, get the M1 as the centre, then save up the extra £250 for the HTM62 (or even £400 for HTM61 if you're feeling flush) and use the extra M1 to make up a 6.1 system...

Oh, it goes without saying that you should listen to all of this before you buy to make sure you like it!
[/quote]

What sub would you recomend for a budget of £250? (that's if I use an M1 as a centre) Also, out of curiosity which are the better speakers, the KEF3005SE's or the B&W M1's?
 
I really wouldn't use the M1 as a centre with the 685s - the tonal balance will be all over the place. If you're going 685s, the HTM62 is the centre to go for, and you can use M1s for the rears.

Such a set-up will work better than all but the very best 'style' speaker packages.
 
Mmm, Andrew's right really, I think we're compromising so much to get the B&Ws in, it's not going to sound good until you've got everything in place (as £250 isn't really going to get you a brilliant sub to complement the rest of the setup). My advice would be either:

(a) If you really want to get the B&W setup, go for a 2.1 system for the moment i.e. spend your current budget on B&W 685s and a decent set of stands + a decent sub and then get the rest of the system when you've got the money; or

(b) Continue to save up until you can afford the whole shebang; or

(c) Go for a cheaper solution which will work better as a system (such as the KEF 3005SEs which will still provide an excellent sound).
 
[quote user="professorhat"]
Mmm, Andrew's right really, I think we're compromising so much to get the B&Ws in, it's not going to sound good until you've got everything in place (as £250 isn't really going to get you a brilliant sub to complement the rest of the setup). My advice would be either:

(a) If you really want to get the B&W setup, go for a 2.1 system for the moment i.e. spend your current budget on B&W 685s and a decent set of stands + a decent sub and then get the rest of the system when you've got the money; or

(b) Continue to save up until you can afford the whole shebang; or

(c) Go for a cheaper solution which will work better as a system (such as the KEF 3005SEs which will still provide an excellent sound).
[/quote]

Thanks for the advice- much appreciated.

I guess i'll go for the 3005SE's then look to buy some bookshelves at some point in the future. Does anyone know of any good deals on the SE's? They're approx £1000 everywhere i've been.
 
Hi. My room is about the same size and i have the Kef 3005 i really like them. I recently added Kef IQ7 at the front as i wanted to listen to more cd and that works well on the Onkyo 875 in biamp mode. I auditioned the B+W but for me the Kef's just won out, mainly for the sub. I also tried 7.1 in the same room in the past but found little gain if any. (That was with Mission speakers)
 

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