Help choosing the right speakers

[Joe_cho]

Hi, I’m Joe. I need a bit of advice. I’m looking to change my current speaker which are monitor audio silver 300’s. I’m currently running them on a Cambridge cxa81. I want to get smaller stand mounted speakers as my sofa is only 2.3 meters away from them and I have always felt they don’t have the space to sing. They sound great but can get a tab boomy with volume. Would a pair of monitors audio gold 100’s work with my amp? Current speakers are 40cm from the rear wall and around 2 meters apart. Thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[DougK1]

What is the size of your room? Appears your Silver's have two rear bass ports, not ideal in a small room with limited space. MA Gold 100 are rear ported too. Four ways of addressing this:
1. Put the bungs in the ports - never a good fix as it seems to stifle the speakers
2. Pull them further out into the room
3. Look for front ported speakers
4. Look for sealed-box speakers without ports

 

[daytona600]

2.3m is near field, Ideal solution active nearfield monitors or Passive BBC LS3/5a

 

[Revolutions]

Focal Aria 906 could be a good shout? Front-ported so not fussy & I think the Aria range sound great. Discontinued & going cheap, too.

 

[Joe_cho]

so I am currently using one set of bungs and leave the bottom ports clear the 300’s sound great but at decent volumes they do boom a bit. I want deep bass and think I may need a subwoofer and stand mount combo to combat this. I also own a pair of b&w 606 s2 which work well in the space without bungs but the sound doesn’t compare to the 300’s hence the idea to get a pair of gold 100’s.
So my room is 6.6m by 3.3m… 2.3m from speakers to edge of the sofa. I only use half of that space for my set up.

Has anyone heard the gold 100’s on the back of a cxa81?

 

[Joe_cho]

Focal Aria 906 could be a good shout? Front-ported so not fussy & I think the Aria range sound great. Discontinued & going cheap, too.

Would I be down grading on sound quality though?

 

[DougK1]

View attachment 6012 so I am currently using one set of bungs and leave the bottom ports clear the 300’s sound great but at decent volumes they do boom a bit. I want deep bass and think I may need a subwoofer and stand mount combo to combat this. I also own a pair of b&w 606 s2 which work well in the space without bungs but the sound doesn’t compare to the 300’s hence the idea to get a pair of gold 100’s.
So my room is 6.6m by 3.3m… 2.3m from speakers to edge of the sofa. I only use half of that space for my set up.

Has anyone heard the gold 100’s on the back of a cxa81?

That's a nice room I reckon it's the vicinity of the MA's to the front wall which is causing your issues. Can you play with positioning - pull the MA's further out from the wall until bass-boom disappears and see if it a viable option? The couch is also hard against the back wall so that doesn't help matters either.

Bear in mind a pair of standmounts on stands will take up the same space as your current floorstanders so will you actually be gaining anything? The Gold 100's are rear ported as well so you will have the same bass-boom issues if they are sited as per the 300's. Sub integration can be easy or difficult.

What could work is front-ported floorstanders.

 

[DougK1]

Some front ported floorstander ideas: Triangle, Focal, PMC.

 

[Joe_cho]

That's a nice room I reckon it's the vicinity of the MA's to the front wall which is causing your issues. Can you play with positioning - pull the MA's further out from the wall until bass-boom disappears and see if it a viable option? The couch is also hard against the back wall so that doesn't help matters either.

Bear in mind a pair of standmounts on stands will take up the same space as your current floorstanders so will you actually be gaining anything? The Gold 100's are rear ported as well so you will have the same bass-boom issues if they are sited as per the 300's. Sub integration can be easy or difficult.

What could work is front-ported floorstanders.

That's a nice room I reckon it's the vicinity of the MA's to the front wall which is causing your issues. Can you play with positioning - pull the MA's further out from the wall until bass-boom disappears and see if it a viable option? The couch is also hard against the back wall so that doesn't help matters either.

Bear in mind a pair of standmounts on stands will take up the same space as your current floorstanders so will you actually be gaining anything? The Gold 100's are rear ported as well so you will have the same bass-boom issues if they are sited as per the 300's. Sub integration can be easy or difficult.

What could work is front-ported floorstanders.

Well that throws a spanner in the works, thank you for the advice 👍🏼. I will have to play around with positioning this weekend to see if it helps. I’m probably going to buy standmounts with the addition of a subwoofer later on after looking at my options. I will take a look at some front ported floorstanders to. ideally I want sub 40hz bass but think the addition of a sub with floorstanders may be to much with a narrow room.

 

[Joe_cho]

Some front ported floorstander ideas: Triangle, Focal, PMC.

The look of the speaker is important to me. Triangles a no for me. Focal don’t do real wood veneer unless your spending £****. Pmc is an option. Thanks DougK 👍🏼

 

[DougK1]

No worries Jo, keep your eye on the thread as I'm sure others will be along with advice too. Other members have far more experience than me and could spot something I've missed

 

[Clarkey_71]

Some front ported floorstander ideas: Triangle, Focal, PMC.

Maybe add some baby KEFs to that list?
Would the amp have enough for PMC entry level?

 

[DougK1]

Maybe add some baby KEFs to that list?
Would the amp have enough for PMC entry level?

KEF's rear ported? Not sure about the amp but I have run some entry level PMC with a similar wattage amp.

 

[DougK1]

The look of the speaker is important to me. Triangles a no for me. Focal don’t do real wood veneer unless your spending £****. Pmc is an option. Thanks DougK 👍🏼

Nothing is cheap in this game if you go for home-grown products. Chinese manufactured products will always be cheaper.

 

[Fandango Andy]

View attachment 6012 so I am currently using one set of bungs and leave the bottom ports clear the 300’s sound great but at decent volumes they do boom a bit. I want deep bass and think I may need a subwoofer and stand mount combo to combat this. I also own a pair of b&w 606 s2 which work well in the space without bungs but the sound doesn’t compare to the 300’s hence the idea to get a pair of gold 100’s.
So my room is 6.6m by 3.3m… 2.3m from speakers to edge of the sofa. I only use half of that space for my set up.

Has anyone heard the gold 100’s on the back of a cxa81?

That's a nice looking room, complements on your interior design. It is a horrible layout for your speaker positioning, but we have to make the best of what we have. Is there an option to bring the speakers forward by three to six inches? I think that would help. You are currently contending with the chimney breast, not just the back wall.

I would certainly try playing with the position before investing in new speakers.

If you do go for a pair of stand mounts, Triangle Borea BR03 will be a lot more forgiving, and very reasonably priced. Whatever you decide, always audition at home before buying if you can.

 

[Fandango Andy]

2.3m is near field, Ideal solution active nearfield monitors or Passive BBC LS3/5a

I nearly suggested LS3/5a but they are not going to give the bass required without a sub, and are notoriously difficult to pair with a sub. The best option would be Harbeth Nelson, but that combined with LS3/5a or P3ESR is going to come in at £5,000 to £6,000. While no budget has been mentioned this seems a lot higher than the options being discussed.

 

[plastic penguin]

Hi, I’m Joe. I need a bit of advice. I’m looking to change my current speaker which are monitor audio silver 300’s. I’m currently running them on a Cambridge cxa81. I want to get smaller stand mounted speakers as my sofa is only 2.3 meters away from them and I have always felt they don’t have the space to sing. They sound great but can get a tab boomy with volume. Would a pair of monitors audio gold 100’s work with my amp? Current speakers are 40cm from the rear wall and around 2 meters apart. Thank you in advance for any advice.

Totem Arros.

 

[DougK1]

That's a nice looking room, complements on your interior design. It is a horrible layout for your speaker positioning, but we have to make the best of what we have. Is there an option to bring the speakers forward by three to six inches? I think that would help. You are currently contending with the chimney breast, not just the back wall.

I would certainly try playing with the position before investing in new speakers.

If you do go for a pair of stand mounts, Triangle Borea BR03 will be a lot more forgiving, and very reasonably priced. Whatever you decide, always audition at home before buying if you can.

Oops, I missed the chimney breast - tired eyes

 

[Tinman1952]

My 2 cents...keep the excellent 300s, put ALL the bungs in and buy a small sub....say a REL T Zero.....👍

 

[twinkletoes]

In my experience less is sometimes more. There are plenty of standmount that sound better than the monitors.

Sure they take up the same amount of space but the cabinet volume is smaller which will lead to less bloom and actually might increase bass weight and presence because it’s not being clouded. Basically it will solve your problem over night

Your room is still very much considered a small space so it’s easy to over power it.

Sorry didn’t see a budget

Speakers like atc smc19s might be good fit and allow you control and tailor the sound a lot more and then allow you to augment with a subwoofer a lot easier.

Or you could try Revel, there standmounts sound massive, I had a pair of preformer m106s and sounded phenomenal and didn’t need much power to make them sing. Great at low level listening never found I needed a sub with these as theyysuch full sounding speaker. Can’t really explain unless you hear them.

Buchart audio (probably butchered than name) have some very good and well regard designs and they give 30day free in home trial well they used to, so might worth a look.

 

[DougK1]

In my experience less is sometimes more. There are plenty of standmount that sound better than the monitors.

Sure they take up the same amount of space but the cabinet volume is smaller which will lead to less bloom and actually might increase bass weight and presence because it’s not being clouded. Basically it will solve your problem over night

Your room is still very much considered a small space so it’s easy to over power it.

Sorry didn’t see a budget

Speakers like atc smc19s might be good fit and allow you control and tailor the sound a lot more and then allow you to augment with a subwoofer a lot easier.

Or you could try Revel, there standmounts sound massive, I had a pair of preformer m106s and sounded phenomenal and didn’t need much power to make them sing. Great at low level listening never found I needed a sub with these as theyysuch full sounding speaker. Can’t really explain unless you hear them.

Buchart audio (probably butchered than name) have some very good and well regard designs and they give 30day free in home trial well they used to, so might worth a look.

Exactly why I've now got baby Harbeth's. I've had large and small standmounts plus floorstanders but have ended up with basically a monitor-sized speaker, which has totally eradicated bass boom. They are also reasonably resilient to placement issues which would be unthinkable for a rear-ported speaker. And they sound great!

Rear-ported speakers are great if you can give them enough breathing space. Unfortunately average British housing stock = small rooms and if you want to play loud+deep bass with a rear-ported speaker then available space is at a premium, especially as the current trend is for slim but deep cabinets.

 

[Al ears]

Exactly why I've now got baby Harbeth's. I've had large and small standmounts plus floorstanders but have ended up with basically a monitor-sized speaker, which has totally eradicated bass boom. They are also reasonably resilient to placement issues which would be unthinkable for a rear-ported speaker. And they sound great!

Rear-ported speakers are great if you can give them enough breathing space. Unfortunately average British housing stock = small rooms and if you want to play loud+deep bass with a rear-ported speaker then available space is at a premium, especially as the current trend is for slim but deep cabinets.

Exactly why I still own my EB Acoustics EB2 standmounts

 

[skinnypuppy71]

If you're Cambridge Amp is capable enough...and doesn't lean to the brighter side of neutral, then I'd recommend the original pmc twenty 21's with a little rel t-zero mkii or iii....I used to have my Twenty 21's firing across the short length of my room at around 13-20 cm's from the wall....they work a treat and are absolute excellent speakers, especially at what you can pick them up for on the used market.
Also, once you hear what a quality standmount and small subwoofer can deliver.....you'll wonder why you ever bothered with the floorstanders......the detail and nimbleness of that combination will leave your MA's a distant memory.🤣

 

[newlash09]

View attachment 6012 so I am currently using one set of bungs and leave the bottom ports clear the 300’s sound great but at decent volumes they do boom a bit. I want deep bass and think I may need a subwoofer and stand mount combo to combat this. I also own a pair of b&w 606 s2 which work well in the space without bungs but the sound doesn’t compare to the 300’s hence the idea to get a pair of gold 100’s.
So my room is 6.6m by 3.3m… 2.3m from speakers to edge of the sofa. I only use half of that space for my set up.

Has anyone heard the gold 100’s on the back of a cxa81?

That is a lovely looking room and system. I've struggled with various big speakers in a small room for more than a decade. And I've tried different things to tame the bass, and many of which as mentioned below, have worked for me :

1. Please try to analyze if you have a boom on certain tracks or at certain volume levels. This is really tricky to make out and needs a lot of listening and experimentation. In my case, I found that I had a boom when the bass went low, and higher volumes only made it worse. I accidentally tried an Audioquest Niagara 1200 to power my sources, and this removed the boom to a very large extent. I suspect that in my case, I had a 50hz hum on the power lines, which was probably causing that 50hz boom which has now been completely removed.

2. Adding isolation footers to speakers - I've experimented with both the Isoacoustics Gaia's as well as townshend speaker podiums. And found that both reduced the bass boom to a certain extent. I would strongly recommend trying the Isoacoustics Gaia III's under the monitor audio's.

3. Adding 6 inch deep "bass traps" of 4x2 feet on the wall behind the speakers. You just need to try with 2 traps. Each placed behind the speakers on the wall. These can be got from Gik or be made DIY. But Gik have the option of getting the panel made with printed art on top, which makes them look like pieces of art placed behind the speakers. Below would work great in your room. You have 3 options in that range, and I would suggest going with the "full range" option, which doesnt come with a range limiting baffle plate mounted on top.

Monster Bass Trap with FlexRange Technology - 7.3" thick

The patented Monster Bass Trap with FlexRange Technology is our most effective panel measuring 7.5” thick, it absorbs maximum low end without over absorbing the high end.

www.gikacoustics.com

Iam aware that point 1 - power conditioning sounds ridiculous, but Iam just penning my own experiences. But I would strongly recommend trying just two GIK bass traps to start with and then add the Isoacoustics gaia footers to gain further. If both the above fail, then you can consider alternate speaker options, as Iam not a fan of using port bungs as I find they make the mid range sound congested and not free flowing anymore. All the best

 

[Al ears]

That is a lovely looking room and system. I've struggled with various big speakers in a small room for more than a decade. And I've tried different things to tame the bass, and many of which as mentioned below, have worked for me :

1. Please try to analyze if you have a boom on certain tracks or at certain volume levels. This is really tricky to make out and needs a lot of listening and experimentation. In my case, I found that I had a boom when the bass went low, and higher volumes only made it worse. I accidentally tried an Audioquest Niagara 1200 to power my sources, and this removed the boom to a very large extent. I suspect that in my case, I had a 50hz hum on the power lines, which was probably causing that 50hz boom which has now been completely removed.

2. Adding isolation footers to speakers - I've experimented with both the Isoacoustics Gaia's as well as townshend speaker podiums. And found that both reduced the bass boom to a certain extent. I would strongly recommend trying the Isoacoustics Gaia III's under the monitor audio's.

3. Adding 6 inch deep "bass traps" of 4x2 feet on the wall behind the speakers. You just need to try with 2 traps. Each placed behind the speakers on the wall. These can be got from Gik or be made DIY. But Gik have the option of getting the panel made with printed art on top, which makes them look like pieces of art placed behind the speakers. Below would work great in your room. You have 3 options in that range, and I would suggest going with the "full range" option, which doesnt come with a range limiting baffle plate mounted on top.

Monster Bass Trap with FlexRange Technology - 7.3" thick

The patented Monster Bass Trap with FlexRange Technology is our most effective panel measuring 7.5” thick, it absorbs maximum low end without over absorbing the high end.

www.gikacoustics.com

Iam aware that point 1 - power conditioning sounds ridiculous, but Iam just penning my own experiences. But I would strongly recommend trying just two GIK bass traps to start with and then add the Isoacoustics gaia footers to gain further. If both the above fail, then you can consider alternate speaker options, as Iam not a fan of using port bungs as I find they make the mid range sound congested and not free flowing anymore. All the best

Oh dear, the idea that the OPs question appears to be lost on you.
Without even a suggestion we are into room correction procedure...
Ho huml!