Speakers with "Room-filling sound"?

Paradigm Studio 100's. Around $2000 a pair. Goes louder that the ears can take, powered by sixty watts of Arcam solid-state amplification. Does not need a sub. Images well, but no match for planar or electrostatic designs.

 

The new BRYSTON T series uses an omni directional chassis in their new large bookshelves. If the reviews are correct they do offer a broader than usual sweet spot and still delievering true audiophile sound.

 

Use four smallish speakers. This will create a larger sweet spot. One speaker in each corner is a great thing for filling a room with great sound.

 

I have a 28 x 50 main room ( open floor plan) , half of the room has 9 foot ceilings and the half where the speakers are located are 16 foot vaulted with to 5 foot halls leaving both sides of the room in the middle of each side wall.
I have khorns in the corners, about3 foot over from each of those, I built my own version of altec model 19's, next to them are bozak symphony's, I have them hooked to a marantz model 2238 and before that, they had a kenwood model 7100 amp hooked to them.
I have found if you want to fill a big space with clear, crisp sound with no effort and have it sound like the musicians are in the room, go big and go altec horns, my version of the 19's have 8 cubic foot cabs two 4 inch vents and will put out a crazy amount of bass, if that's what you are into.
I have about 1300.00 dollars in the components of the 19's and about 350 in the cabs and they sound as good as those big khorns.
No matter where you are in the room or hall's you have great sound, no sitting in a sweet spot to enjoy music in this house, it is my castle and music is always playing here, no wife to deal with.
I only play one set at a time so it is not a combination of speakers filling the area, they will fill the whole 3600 square foot ranch house , but sound quality drops off in the back rooms.
Easy to get great sound at reasonable prices if you keep your eyes open for deals and jump on them quick when you see them come up.
I do have 2 pairs of 601 bose and a pair of JBL 4312A studio monitors, and they are nice but have to work to fill the space and don't come close to the in the room sound of the horned speakers.
The bozaks do not have horns and don't fill the room as full of music but still do a good job and are a pleasure to listen to.
I love music and I love speakers, maybe a little to much sometimes , although I am not as knowledgeable as most, I do know how to do my research and build things, I always say the more you can do the more you can have.
The klipsch khorns came along at the right time when the money was there and the deal was right or I could have never got a pair of those, then I learned real quick how much I loved great speakers and what you have to do to acquire them, unless money is no object, then you just go get whatever you desire, I guess.
I did not write this to brag about what I have ,just to give my two cents on filling a room with great sound, and just say you can get great speakers at great prices if you keep your eye out for the deals and in the case of a wife to deal with, make sure you have your speaker budget in cash, in your hand, and approval to spend it before hand.
Marriage is a tough road to travel and survive, good luck.

 

I had B&W 804 Nautilus with a Dynaco ST70.
Voices where coming out of the ceiling listening to a German produced CD "Africando".
A bit light in the bass compared to the best,but not only did they fill the room,they extended it beyond its walls.
Highly recommend anything B&W.

 

What you suggest, I view as excellent advice. People just do not have to spend stupid money to get excellent sound from a set of speakers.

There is always a nice selection of Legacy Altec and Klipsch products to be purchased used on eBay. All of these are commercially built to last practically forever. Maybe a recone here or new diaphragm there, or a new coat of paint. You will need to redo the paint more often than change out the components as speakers of this type are really made to last a lifetime, or more.

Your DIY model 19's are just as good if not better than the factory models. I could never quite justify the high prices on used 19's, after all, they are just components in very ordinary boxes. There is nothing special about the box. There are so many different boxes that are very easily built. Even if someone has little or no DIY carpenter skills, someone could have any local cabinet or millworking shop build the boxes and then buy some used components off of eBay or newer components from Great Plains. Screw the components into the boxes and you are good to go.

I owned a pair of factory Model 19's back in the 80's and while I thought they sounded good, I never viewed them as something exceptional sounding. They were not the top of Altec's home division, the A7-500W's were, and I think they sounded much better.

By going the DIY route, you can make your own variations of the 19's, with dual 15" bass drivers, moving up from the smaller horn to the 511B horn, going with aftermarket crossovers from Bob Crites or ALK Engineering.

There is a lot that you can do in the $2,000 to 2,500 price range and end up with something that is substantially better than the original factory units for far far less money!

Emminance Kappa Pro 16" bass speakers have a similar response curve as the Altec's but the will handle twice the power.

 

Are the Ohm Walsh's as wonderful as advertised?

 

Bwahahahah.

 

Try Shahinian speakers especially the Arcs.

 

Or I have heard bookshelf sized speakers that filled the whole room but they were positioned above my height which meant you would have to elevate them.

 

Heard a pair of these yesterday driven by Naim gear. Great sound, with a very good in-room presence. Whatever theory they operate under, it works. (I'll admit at first, before listening, I thought "Oh no - someone's taken the Bose medicine, over there in Sweden ..." Happily, appearances are deceiving.)

 

I really like these types of speakers, have had similar speakers for many years, different models, and still have. I can assure You they have nothing in common with Bose, these Ortho Acoustic speaker began their development by Stig Carlsson in the beginning 0f the 50s.

 

Bass light?
They have a flat response to below 35 hz.
They actually have too much bass in one of my rooms.
They are excellent speakers but deserving of very good amplification.Tube amps suit them best.
Sure you did not have them wired out of phase.
If you think they are bass light then either you love boom boxes or there is something seriously wrong with your room or system.
An accurate review here-with measurementshttp://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB4QFjAAahUKEwjKqbXMq9jGAhWKlYAKHTu-CDw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.avhub.com.au%2Fproduct-reviews%2Fhi-fi%2Fjbl-studio-590-loudspeakers-review-and-test-395529&ei=Os6jVcqkI4qrggS7_KLgAw&usg=AFQjCNE4IXdR6_7xzGz26HCskySldwM5pA&bvm=bv.97653015,d.eXY-

 

The Bass that me and most other musician types are striving for are not impact flow your pants up make me sick bass. As you know music can often go down to 11hz and even when fundamental tones are not down their it makes a difference when a sub can create those tones. Walking bass notes are equal in level, the whole lower register just sounds so colorful and even and right and cannot be explained it has to be heard. Once its heard the subs role will be better understood.
Some ultra buck and or well designed speakers can almost play the last octave but its not a priority for most listeners. Theirs a lot of info down their.
Full range speakers with a quality low low bass sub is incredible. John M.

 

My heart sank afterwards, when I Googled and found out what they go for new ($7k, nearly!!) (Nonetheless ... If I win the lottery ...)

I think they'd work better in my loft than the bigger Harbeths and DeVores I've been fantasising about, and eliminating the need for much room treatment.

 

OP, dont under estimate how much the room itself plays into this. Absolutely as much as whatever speakers you choose. So often neglected. Do so at your own peril .

 

I had some good news just now - my local audio boutique will be carrying the Larsen line!! I may be able to trade up for the Model 4s; have you perchance heard those?

 

No sorry I haven´t, but what I know they are very well regarded for the price. You must always of course listen in Your own room.

 

Definitive...

 

Heard Larsen Model 4's today at my local boutique; ordered a pair after listening for about ten minutes ...! (They were being driven by Naim CD player and SuperNait amp.)

Apart from the great in-room presence and dispersion, I was struck by how organic and "right" instruments and vocals sounded*. The only other speakers that might equal or better them might be DeVore or Harbeth, maybe.



*As is my usual practice, one of the discs I use to demo is Nick Drake's Pink Moon. Acoustic guitar and voice ... I can tell within seconds whether a speaker has the timbral goods. Jazz is another test ... most anything on Blue Note, mid-Fifties to mid-Sixties for me. And of course, Led Zeppelin II to see if the things are robust.

 

Don't just buy anything - audition Golden Ear, Magnepan, Quad ESL series and Martin Logan - be sure to pair with appropriate equipment. Ask a skilled dealer for advice.

 

The only caveat, the large panel speakers need a large room to place them properly, plus lots of needed power. Most importantly, the "sweet spot" is small, but incredibly wonderful. The large panel speakers are not exactly the best answer to room filling sound, as the off axis response isn't good, not really "room filling" sound. Not to be misunderstood, I love electrostatics, and have enjoyed entertaining my non-audiophile friends and guests with them. (just sit down right here and fasten your seat belt, I'd say)

 

Omnis (or quasi-omnis, like Sonab, Shahinian, Larsen etc.) = room filling sound.

Planars/electrostats (Magnaplanars, Quads etc.) = "sweet spot" speakers which, although they can sound wonderful for the person in the narrow "window" in which they operate. (I used to own SMGb's.) To everyone else in the space, they may sound like a blanket has been thrown over them.

Edit: sorry, just read the FRiNgE's post.

I have to say (lest it seem I'm bashing planars!) that I loved the huge, painterly stereo image my Maggie's produced ... but in the end traded them in for speakers that allowed me to walk around my space, enjoying the music.

 

I have floor standing Briston Middle T. Indeed they are not finicky at all with finding a sweet spot. Another strong side they are great in low volumes.

 

Would the Salk Songtower or
Ascend Sierra towers work ??