Speaker Options & Positioning for a Compromised Room

[Hawkwind16]

Regulars may be familiar with my online research here but I seem to be going round in circles, and I'm tempted just to stick to my existing Focal Aria 905 speakers (main system below)

My room is a kitchen diner about 3m x 4m. Current layout is not ideal. Speakers are 175 cm apart against the shortest wall. Rh speaker is on a 60 cm stand, 75 cm from rh wall and 24 cm from rear wall. Lh speaker is on top of my hi fi cabinet rack (not ideal for vibrations etc) 24cm from rear wall and 25 cm from lh wall ! Directly in front of the speakers and between them is a table and chairs, and the listening area is just in from of that about 2-3m from the speakers..

Sound is good, good bass, good detail but obviously stereo imaging suffers I expect from my layout. I'm looking to uprgade to do more justice to the Roksan Caspian's.

Current speaker options are;-

1.Focal Aria 906 - The obvious choice as I like the 905's, but they may be too much in the smallish room. Front ported so ok close to the wall, as for the 905's.

2. Kef LS50 - I demo'd these the other day against other expensive stuff and liked them a lot. I like their small size too. But i've heard they need proper stands and enough space, 50 cm from back wall, 2m apart and 1m from side wall so i don't think they will work well.

3. ATC SCM 11 - I haven't heard these but i expect them to be neutral sounding and improve on the LS50. I thought the closed box design would work well. But their brochure recommends 2m from the rear wall 'as a starting point' !

Any other small speaker recommendations that are unfussy about positioning and lack of space ?

I'll try and make this my last thread on this subject !

Thanks

 

[CnoEvil]

I think you've listed competent speakers.

I own LS50s....they do work best on decent, filled stands..but have a part bung that can help with placing closer to a wall. I don't like the Focals and haven't heard the curved ATCs...though what I like, should have no bearing on what you choose.

I also think you should consider isolation under the Speaker placed on the cabinet (like Speakerdudes from Auralex, or something from Isoacoustic).

 

[insider9]

Add Arcaydis EB2s or if you can find EB Acustics EB2s (that's what they used to be called). I could also suggest looking at a pair of Roksan K2 TR5 that would work in a setup like this and be ideal for your Roksan amps. I wouldn't call them unfussy but fine for room size. Both offering something different though.

 

[McRibbons]

I have a room that is 4m x 3m, and my LS50s are 25cm from the back wall with the outer bung fitted, 2metres apart and 50cm from side walls. They sound far better in that position than when they were 60cm out from the back wall without the outer bung. They sound great, much more satisfying than the PMC 20/21 that I had before them.

 

[Electro]

This may raise a few eyebrows but I would recommend the PMC DB1 Gold speakers placed on wall using the dedicated PMC wall brackets / fixings allowing the speakers to be adjusted for angle and direction to obtain the best sound balance.

https://pmc-speakers.com/products/consumer/gold-series/db1-gold

https://pmc-speakers.com/products/consumer/hifi-accessories/db1-gold-wall-bracket

I have a friend who has the DB1i's ( almost identicle speaker ) mounted this way and it sounds fantastic with superb imaging and tight clean deep bass with zero bass boom issues.

 

[davedotco]

This may raise a few eyebrows but I would recommend the PMC DB1 Gold speakers placed on wall using the dedicated PMC wall brackets / fixings allowing the speakers to be adjusted for angle and direction to obtain the best sound balance.

https://pmc-speakers.com/products/consumer/gold-series/db1-gold

https://pmc-speakers.com/products/consumer/hifi-accessories/db1-gold-wall-bracket

I have a friend who has the DB1i's ( almost identicle speaker ) mounted this way and it sounds fantastic with superb imaging and tight clean deep bass with zero bass boom issues.

I was going to suggest Neat Iotas in a similar setup but if the DB1s work as described then this would be an excellent solution.

Speaker positioning is paramount if you want the setup to work well and to me, it seems to be commonsense to use speakers that work well close to the wall if that is where they will be placed.

So, if you are ok fitting wall brackets, that would be the way forward in my view.

 

[rainsoothe]

Hi. I would look at the new-ish Spendor A1 as well. Especially since it works well with close to wall positioning.