speaker recommendation

I just bought a linn classik receiver for my small private office and I'd like to get a new pair of speakers. Space is a challenge since it is L shaped 10x10x4x6x4 with a window as one of the long walls:

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____bookshelves__________
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!                       !h
!  			!e
!w                      !l
!i                      !f
!n              ________!
!d             !
!o             !
!w             !
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door

{Image edited by AA}


I sit in front of an a L shaped built in desk with bookshelves going to ceiling. My computer terminal is in the left corner.
I would like recommendations on both speaker brands & placement.

Thanks!

Jay

Edited: sorry I can't seem to get the diagram to work, but dimensions should give you an idea

 

IMO - I am not an expert on all the new high end small speakers.

I like the speakers in front on the right and left at ear level.
If you can put the speakers on the bookshelf on either side of the computer it will probably be the best location IMO.
Awesome Receiver you have.

For the lower price range - used ADS speakers sound very good for the small size ~6"x8". We used them in the bookcase at my Moms house with a Kyoceria receiver.
Those new ball speakers that come in colors at high end stereo shops sound very good also and would have some style for the office. Add a mini sub out of site to compliment the sound. They have wire type of stands if needed that put them away from the wall. about $250 each I think.
Of course if you have room the LS3/5A would sound pretty good too.
A pair of Sennheisser HD600 may come in handy also.

 

I've heard Jay, and perhaps someone here can confirm, that Totems are really really nice bookshelfs. Not inexpensive though either IIRC.

 

Trying to steer me towards Canadian, eh?

I just looked them up and Totem now has a reasonably priced mini monitor, the Mite. Since this system is not intended for serious listening, just bopping along while I'm doing paperwork, I would like to stay well under $1k for the speakers. Unfortunately, can't use stands and will be sitting pretty much between the speakers, on bookshelves above my head. From reading the archives here and elsewhere , my short list is now:

Totem Mites
Linn Kans
JM Reynaud Twins
Spendor S3/5

Any opinions on these or others?

Jay

PS- Thanks to AA for cleaning up the diagram

 

I thought Steve has the original Rogers on which the Spendors are based, but twice as expensive (twice as good?). From reading reviews of the spendors, it seems they are lacking in bass, but I guess anything that small probably is. My local high end audio store has their annual sale end of August, so maybe I'll go listen to what they have, although I know it will sound different in my office.

 

I have these in their Mk III incarnation, and they are lovely speakers. But I have them on Sound Anchor stands well clear of the side walls and out a few feet. They are probably not going to give of their best tucked away.

Regards,
Geoff

 

Steve has Sterling with Original Rogers components.
http://www.ls35a.com/

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19705&highlight=ls3/5a

 

FWIW, I've been researching roughly the same stuff, and it appears that the Linn Kans are designed to go against the wall. I'm leaning that way myself.

 

The original Linn Kans were designed to go against the wall, but they are truly wretched sounding speakers.

You may want to hunt out some second hand Rogers LS2a or LS4a speakers.

 

Whoa, thanks for the warning! Just for the record, what's their primary problem?

 

I certainly listened to the Kans a bit when they were around in the early '80s. I never had them in my system at home for a trial, but I owned a pair of Linn SARAs for a while, and there were some minor similarities in the top end between these two speakers. I have a feeling they may have used the same tweeter - don't know that for sure. I'm thinking KEF T-27?

I heard the Kans against the SARAs at the local Linn dealer, and that was no contest. The Isobarik bass system in the SARAs delivered pretty good bass - not particularly deep, but fast and very lively. But the top end was pretty cruel. The Kans didn't have the bottom end weight of the SARAs, but sounded just as fierce at the top.

I replaced the SARAs with Celestion SL6 speakers, a much better treble - sweet, open and you could listen to it all day. Bass not as good as the SARAs.

If you are looking at used speakers, used Celestion SL6 would be better than the Kans. Though these speakers also like a pretty good system in front of them. I would think that the Linn Classic would be fine.

The two problems with the Kans are that they have an aggressive top end and virtually no bass. They did sound OK hanging off a good Linn Sondek-Ittok-Supex 900 + Naim combination, where I think the strengths of the other components played right into the Kans strong suit (PRaT) and the softish top end of the Supex + Naim phono settled things down a bit. But jeez, they are really light in the bass. You can load them up by getting them close to the wall, but then you lose something of the only thing they did well - imaging.

I'd say that a modern speaker like the JMR Twin is miles ahead of the Linn Kan.

Regards,
Geoff

 

My two cents: Give the Spendors a listen! Jeff

 

The original Linn Kan story:

Take a job lot of speaker cabinets designed for the LS3/5a but turn them 90degrees. Use the same drive units.

Remove the crossover components that make the KEF drive units in the LS3/5a have a flat response.

Result: a small speaker with a rising frequency response throughout the midrange and an upper woofer resonance that goes off in the upper midrange. The speaker then sounds thin and squawky, not at all like tonal reality.

Company spin on product:
a). use speaker hard up against wall (an attempt to use the wall boundary bass loading to try and equalise the response). This still leaves them sounding thin and squawky.

b). declare that people who objected to the horrible sound were just llistening to hi-fi attributes, rather than the musical information that came through the Kans.

The result: a best-selling speaker in Britain.

 

Without question or hesitation, buy the Reynaud Twins. You can't go wrong. From top to bottom, they are a wonderful speaker.

 

While I still don't understand the silence that occurs whenever someone says they think Boston Acoustics are good speakers, I'm still going to reccomend them (I own some myself)! I'll readily admit that Bostons don't have that audiophile-approved "polite" sonic signature, but to me they recreate music in a more live fashion, warts & all.

These are all bookshelf-sized:

Micro100x ($650/pair)

VR-M60 ($1K/pair)

And one from Vienna Acoustics that sounds much larger than it looks:
Haydn ($995/pair) These are beautifully put together too.

[T]

 

Michael,

I appreciate the input. I am very sensitive to bright treble, so appreciate your two cents. Are the Tukans any better?

Thanks!
Jay

 

Hell yes! (In that they couldn't be worse! Haven't listened closely to any current Linn speaker bar the Ninka)