Floorstanders for a large room?

[Cosmos]

Hello,

I was hoping to pick your collective brains, I'm a bit of a hifi dunce!

ive moved out of a flat into a house with a big living room (12m x 4.6m x 4.3m, length, width, height) and I am trying to figure out what speakers to buy. I am going to pay a visit to my local hifi shop but I would like an idea of what to look for first. Also, I'd rather buy second hand speakers.

I can pick an amp ok ( potentially sonos connect plus amp - I have sonos for the rest of the house ( well most of it) I just need to make sure it is the right power for whatever speakers I end up with). And the rest is doable based on reviews and forum info but the speakers have me flummoxed.

Basically they need to look presentable ( wood is going to look best in the room I think or else minimalisty looking), and they need to sound good for a variety of music. I'm not an expert at all but I don't like things sounding too smooth. I don't want it connected to my tv, but I will be playing CDs, vinyl, digital files and streaming ( if I can figure that out). They don't need to fill the whole room, but half would be good if that is possible.

Budget wise - the cheaper the better!. I'd like them under £1000 but if they were under £500 I'd be happier! I've had a look at the best buys on here but I don't have a feel of how they would be in a big room. I don't really want to go down the road of getting speakers put up all round the room - it will blow the budget.

Any tips on what I should be looking out for or do I really need to save my pennies?

thanks,

rebecca

 

[plastic penguin]

Hi Rebecca and welcome to the forum...

Unless we know what amp you'll end up it'll be hard to recommend.

What music do you gravitate to? How are your room acoustics?

Have you thought about actives + a sub?

I could point you in the direction of Monitor Audio Silver range, Focal, PMCs (s/hand), Mordaunt Short, Wharfedale... but it all depends on my above questions. They all have their own sonic signature.

 

[Esra]

Hi Rebecca,have a look at Yamaha NS777 floorstand speakers.They are gloss black and look much more expensive in real as they are,imo. very presentable in a big room like yours.They are really huge and are pretty good allrounders and imo. a bargain at their price and provide a sound quality and flavor similar to Monitor Audio BX2,maybe you heard them once.They don´t require a monster amp,an amp good for BX2 will be also good enough for the NS777.

 

[MeanandGreen]

I would divide your budget between speakers and a sub for a room that size. I have a large room (although not as large as yours) and I found the sound very lacking without some help from a sub. Spend the most on the speakers and about 30% on the sub in my opinion.

Of course your choice of amplifier matters and your room layout and acoustics. How close will you be to the speakers when sitting down? Do you have hard floors/carpets, how much soft furnishings, any alcoves and such like?

 

[Cosmos]

Hi all, thanks for the replies.

The floor is wood. Will have a few rugs down but prob still mostly wood.

i don't know about acoustics other than to say it isn't echoey. It does have big windows though on 3 of the 4 walls.

i'd imagine seating could be 2.5m from speakers either infront, behind or to either side. I have 2 sofas in an l shape and was planning to stick hifi stuff in the corner between them with speakers a bit further away in either direction.

Music wise I gravitate towards the rockier side of the spectrum. Folk, blues, soul and dance also played quite a lot Alabama shakes would be pretty representative. I love the xx but can't think of anything else I listen to much that would be like that, also it's quite depressing so needs to be rationed...Never listen to thrash metal, very rarely anything classical or jazz.

amp wise I don't have many opinions, I was going for the sonos one as it made life easier. But I can get the connect thing and use a different amp, so open to suggestions.

i will look up what's been suggested so far! A sub sounds like an idea. Hadn't considered one as they remind me of teenage boyfriends and vauxhall novas. Will need to go and look at some from this millennium....

 

[Vladimir]

If the amp of choice will be a sonos connect, for that room an active subwoofer is a must.

 

[Cosmos]

Hello,

2 sofas as I just mentioned below, a few rugs. Eventually there will be more stuff, but not soft furnishings.

No alcoves but deep windowsills approx 2.5 m x 0.5 m. There are 4 of them basically the height of the room. The ceiling is an arch type shape and there is a ledge 3 m up all the way round the room. It's about 30 cm deep I.e. The room is smaller at the bottom than the top. Good avarice on the sub I think, thanks!

 

[Esra]

Instead of sonos amp you should aim on something like a yamaha rn500 for floorstands.Monitor Audio do have a great finish,a Bx 5 could also do the job,which is available with wood veneer.Priced around 750 with the Yam .amp as a package often.

 

[davedotco]

That is a big room to fill with a tight budget, most conventional hi-fi solutions at this price level will be lost in this space. So what to use.........?

If you use a Sonos Connect this will have all the pre-amp/control functions you need, so all you need is power, plenty of it. So get a Behringer A500 power amplifier, 120+ wpc, phono inputs, binding posts for the speakers and level controls so you can set maximum loudness. Sure it is ugly but you can hide it away, you only need to access the on/off switch and, if you look around, it can be had for £130-140.

Main speakers, Q Acoustics 2050i, medium size floorstanders that are sensitive at 92dB/watt and when well placed, capable of filling a decent size room, you may not even need a subwoofer. Choice of finishes, all under £500.

So within budget and capable of filling a big space, a few pounds for cables and you're done.

 

[Cosmos]

Ok, that sounds like a plan. Going to have to go on a bit of a trek to find somewhere to listen to the kit mentioned above - I'm in the middle of nowhere and they aren't stocked locally ( will check what they have as well now I have a better idea what I need) But at least that sounds like a good starting point.

i will try a set up without a sub initially, then I can add one in later once I've figured out what I'm doing.

thanks everyone.

 

[Vladimir]

The Sonos Connect has 2x50W RMS Class D. If a sub takes over at 80Hz or 100Hz, most of the power requirements will be solved by the active sub. The remaining frequency range up to 20kHz should not be a problem for the little Sonos when coupled with 8 ohm floorstanders of reasonable efficiency (88dB at least).

In theory, at least.

 

[davedotco]

The Sonos Connect has 2x50W RMS Class D. If a sub takes over at 80Hz or 100Hz, most of the power requirements will be solved by the active sub. The remaining frequency range up to 20kHz should not be a problem for the little Sonos when coupled with 8 ohm floorstanders of reasonable efficiency (88dB at least).

In theory, at least.

I would not agree.

I think an awful lot of bass power on music is going to be in the couple of octaves above 80hz. I would add a sub only if necessary and look for more power than 50 watts for the main speakers. If the budget allows, I would go for a Crown XLS1500 at a little over £300. (but then I would, though the A500 should be fine)

 

[Vladimir]

The Sonos Connect has 2x50W RMS Class D. If a sub takes over at 80Hz or 100Hz, most of the power requirements will be solved by the active sub. The remaining frequency range up to 20kHz should not be a problem for the little Sonos when coupled with 8 ohm floorstanders of reasonable efficiency (88dB at least).

In theory, at least.

I would not agree.

I think an awful lot of bass power on music is going to be in the couple of octaves above 80hz. I would add a sub only if necessary and look for more power than 50 watts for the main speakers. If the budget allows, I would go for a Crown XLS1500 at a little over £300. (but then I would, though the A500 should be fine)

The Behringer A500 is 125Wpc in 8ohms/1kHz @ 1% THD with a linear PSU and convex cooling (no fan).

The Crown XLS1500, although flimsy and with switch mode PSU, 300Wpc 8ohms/1khz @ 0.5% THD. 1500Wpc bridged at 4 ohms. No heatsinks therefore fan is constantly on.

The Behringer is not that great and the Crown uses a fan. Neither is ideal but I too prefer brute force solution for big rooms. I like your style young man. *biggrin*

 

[Esra]

If you are after cheap,clean power nothing beats hypex ncore modules.Supposed to be one of my winter projects,unfortunately they are out of stock right now.