New floorstanders in small room

[xnn3882]

I'm looking for a pair of floorstanders in my small room. The speakers will be close to backwall , 20-30 cm space between speaker and wall. Rear-ported speakers just doesnt work good here. A bookshelf doesnt deliever enough bass, and I don't like using subwoofer.

A compact floorstander which are frontported or bottomported works great in my room.

My amp is very capable I would say, it's the AMR AM-777 hybrid rated 60wpc. This is hight quality, and plays much louder and better then any amp I have had (with much more power).

Here's some speakers I'm looking at. I'm hoping you could describe the sound of these speakers. I don't want a too bright speaker, but some airy treble a warm middle and punchy bass with good depth. I play some bassheavy music like techno and rap.

- Kef Q700. Not great reviews here, however coments say this is a much better speaker. I think it would work nice since it's not ported. How does this one sound? The store selling this have a 45 day return policy so I could buy and try.

- Audio Physics Classic 20. I have been interested in this for a long time. Bottom ported. Looks really nice. I contacted the dealer which recomended this for me, however I asked to loan it, and they did not reply. I don't think I will buy it unless I can loan it or return it. It's a little expensive but I am willing to pay for dreamsound.

- PMC Twenty 23. Expensive. I'm not sure this will be the right choice for me. May be too basslight for my taste? However I am able to loan a demopair of this spakers. Twenty 24 will be too deep and will not fit in my room.

- Triangle Color floorstander. Looks great and are frontported. From what I read it will be on the bright side. However this might fit good with my amp? My concern is that it will not go deep enough in the bass. 45 days rerurnpolicy.

- Triangle Altea. Frontported. Don't like the looks. The way they desribe the sound I think this would maybe be a better choice than color. My concern is that they are basslight and don't go deep enough. 45 days return.

I'm also looking at Tannoys but it seems that they only have rearported speakers now.

Any sugeestions? What is the best speaker of this for me?

Thanks for any replies!

 

[brandmartyr]

Rega RS3?

Cheers

m

 

[Al ears]

Spendor D7's too expensive??

 

[kingsap]

proac d18?

 

[Macspur]

proac d18?

Plus 1.

Failing that, the Audio Physics from your list.

Mac

 

[stevebrock]

Rega RS3?

Cheers

m

+1

work well in small rooms and not fussy with placement!

 

[xnn3882]

Thanks for your replies.

I forgot to mention, where I live there are not many hi-fi stores, so I will not be able to audition any speaker before I buy. So atleast I want to get a 30-45 day return, or loan the speakers before I commited to buy them.

Spendor D7 I've also been looking at. But I have not been able to loan it. It's the same dealer who sold me the AMR amp, and they say Spendor and AMR is very good match. I told him I'm interested in the Spendors D7 and loaning it. However this may take awhile.

How does Rega sound?

The Proacs D18 looks beautiful. Can it be placed close to walls?

 

[DocG]

Do you have a Neat dealer within reach? The Motive 2 might be worth a listen. See What Hifi review here.

 

[altruistic.lemon]

Definitely Neat.

 

[plastic penguin]

Totem Arros sound ideal for a hybrid amp. They are rear ported but they are the most flexible speakers I've come across in terms of placement. They have staggering soundstage and imaging for such a small floorstander.

http://totemacoustic.com/en/hi-fi/columns/arro/specifications/

 

[Al ears]

Like many speakers the D18's perform better in a bit of free-space. However, I have heard them used close to rear walls and they still sounded excellent. They are about 27cm deep so not too much sticking out into the room.

I would certainly recommend an audition if you can as they should work well with your kit.

+1 for plastic penguins Totem Arro's, although you will be lucky to get them on a 'try before buying' deal.

They can be found second hand for a good price. If you do not like them they should be fairly easy to move on as they do have a very good reputation.

 

[DocG]

So you need floorstanders cos they do bass. What about some standmounted alternatives that dig a little deeper than usual? With 'classic' ported speakers, that'll be difficult, but you have other options:

- passive bass radiators, e.g. the Golden Ear Aon 3

- isobaric drivers, e.g. the Neat (yes, Neat again!) Momentum 3i [Totem Mani IIs are over budget]

- more exotic: a Helmholz resonator, talking about the Guru QM10two. I recently had a (very brief) listen myself, and I'm definitely going back for a proper audition; they're incredible (well, literally incredible, as in "no really, where is the subwoofer?").

Looking at your shortlist, most of these should be within budget. Let the hunt begin! :cheers:

 

[CnoEvil]

Audio Note AZ-2 are designed to be near the wall......so maybe a possibility.

If you go up the range, the standmounts provide plenty of bass if positioned near corners, as they are designed to use the room to re-enforce the bass.

 

[stevebrock]

The OP has not told is how small his room is!

 

[DocG]

Audio Note AZ-2 are designed to be near the wall......so maybe a possibility.

If you go up the range, the standmounts provide plenty of bass if positioned near corners, as they are designed to use the room to re-enforce the bass.

Goes for the Gurus too (from their website):

Placement: against a wall (or rather 0-2” from it) toed in, and 60 cm (2’) above the floor

Takes them down to 30 Hz (thirty Hertz! :jawdrop

 

[CnoEvil]

Takes them down to 30 Hz (thirty Hertz! :jawdrop:

It's amazing really.

The AN AN-Js get to 25 Hz @ -6 dB http://www.audioflair.co.uk/products-page-2/loud-speakers/audio-note-an-j-simple-details-for-pure-music/

 

[DocG]

Takes them down to 30 Hz (thirty Hertz! :jawdrop:

It's amazing really.

The AN AN-Js get to 25 Hz @ -6 dB

I really want to hear the AN-J too... But I still couldn't spot a dealer in less than 200 km yet...

 

[MakkaPakka]

A bookshelf doesnt deliever enough bass,

If ithat were true then they would have been obsolete decades ago.

 

[xnn3882]

Thanks for replies. I do not want bookshelf, I want a floorstander. I have an old pair of Klipsch F1 floorstanders. They have a 6,5" woofer and a huge port in front. With the AMR it sounds like there are subwoofers in every corner of the room. The bass is simply amazing with this combo. Offcourse the Klipsch are very cheap, not musical enough and it's like you remove many curtains from the music when u change to a better more expensive speaker.

I got an interesting offer from the dealer who sold me the amp. They have a pair of used Spendors S8e. If I buy this speaker now I can within 1 year upgrade to Spendor D7, and get all money back, He told me he tested the speakers on the same amp as I have, with very good result.

They are pretty big? Around same size as my old Klipsch. I read mixed reveiws and opinions about this speaker. I have never heard Spendors spekers. I will not have any return option if I buy these. How does the spendors sound? Is this a good offer, or am I better of trying one of the other speakers I have listed?

Remember I listning to much rap hip-hop and modern music, which not always have the best sound quality. So I do not want a super analytic speaker that wll reveal everythng that is wrong with the recording.

A speaker with an airy treble, warm midrange, punhy midbass and that goes very deep.

 

[plastic penguin]

Thanks for replies. I do not want bookshelf, I want a floorstander. I have an old pair of Klipsch F1 floorstanders. They have a 6,5" woofer and a huge port in front. With the AMR it sounds like there are subwoofers in every corner of the room. The bass is simply amazing with this combo. Offcourse the Klipsch are very cheap, not musical enough and it's like you remove many curtains from the music when u change to a better more expensive speaker.

I got an interesting offer from the dealer who sold me the amp. They have a pair of used Spendors S8e. If I buy this speaker now I can within 1 year upgrade to Spendor D7, and get all money back, He told me he tested the speakers on the same amp as I have, with very good result.

They are pretty big? Around same size as my old Klipsch. I read mixed reveiws and opinions about this speaker. I have never heard Spendors spekers. I will not have any return option if I buy these. How does the spendors sound? Is this a good offer, or am I better of trying one of the other speakers I have listed?

Remember I listning to much rap hip-hop and modern music, which not always have the best sound quality. So I do not want a super analytic speaker that wll reveal everythng that is wrong with the recording.

A speaker with an airy treble, warm midrange, punhy midbass and that goes very deep.

This is why I suggested Totems: They pretty much tick all your boxes.

 

[xnn3882]

The totems will be hard to find here.

I got an offer on a pair of used Kudos C2, half price. The dealer will let me return them in one week, if I am not pleased with them. They are bottomported, and the dealer meant they would fit much better than any rearported speaker.

I did actually notice some reviews says they need more space from walls, but I gonna try them anyway. As I will get to return them, I wont loose much if they not work.

I actually have a pair of Spendors on homeloan now from the classic series. They sound really great, but are pricey. But I like the sound. I guess the Kudos are not so different when it comes to sound? Both should be neutral where nothing stics out. I had some problems with hard treble in my room, but not with the spendors. They just sounds perfect.

 

[Bigsounds]

Speaking of Kudos, my M8 has a pair of the Kudos X2? tiny little things that produce this massive sound, I couldn't believe the sound was coming from such a small driver, you should have seen the grin on my m8's face.

 

[xnn3882]

It says in the reviews that the X2 lacks bass and authority. I choose the bigger C2 hopefully it will fil my room with bass like my old klipsch speakers.

 

[stevebrock]

Neat Motive 2 or Rega RS3

Both should be easy to position in a small room

 

[altruistic.lemon]

Second the Neats - the Neat elite is also worth considering. Great speaker.