Speakers + amp upgrade for small room

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Itamar.K, Jun 10, 2021.

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  1. Itamar.K

    Itamar.K Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Israel
    Hi,

    I moved half of my system to my study/workplace and now I need speakers and an amplifier.
    I will keep a laptop, PS Audio NuWave DSD and a Yamaha AS700 till I get new amp.

    The room is small (3.5x4m), I might move this year to other apartment but with small room either.

    There are few candidates:
    KEF LS50 Meta + small sub (KC62/SVS MICRO)
    KEF R5
    JBL L82
    ELAC Vela 403/407 (or even USED FS 247.3)

    I'm going to audition all of them next week in the same store!
    The amplifier I'm thinking of is the Yamaha A-S1200.
    I accept all speakers have similar capabilities except obvious things like the R5, FS 407 and L82 should have bigger sound stage compares the others.

    My question is - How can I be sure that the R5/FS407/L82 are not too big to my room?
    I'm not familiar with the seller but someone tried to sell me once FOCAL ARIA 948 to my old small room and I have hard time trusting on sellers I don't know for long.

    Any other great sounding/looking loudspeaker I miss in that range?

    Thanks for any comment.
     
  2. Stryker10

    Stryker10 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Hamilton Ontario
    Totem Arro great little speakers with awesome soundstage
     
    Itamar.K likes this.
  3. RemyM

    RemyM Forum Resident

    Harbeth P3ESR or other BBC LS35A like speakers.
     
    33na3rd, hoytis, Art K and 2 others like this.
  4. Itamar.K

    Itamar.K Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Israel
    Can't find Totem speakers locally.
    Forgot about the P3ESR...I will got to audition those.

    What about the L82? How can I be sure it work well in my room?
    Thanks
     
    RemyM likes this.
  5. RemyM

    RemyM Forum Resident

    Only one way to find out. But i have Spendor BC1's in a similar room (4.5x4.0). They work fine. Probably need to make sure you can place them a bit from your walls.
     
  6. aunitedlemon

    aunitedlemon Unity is in the pith.

    Location:
    Oregon
    +1 for the L82's. I have mine in a less-than-optimal position and they sound great. Loads of detail, precision, balance, and boogie!
     
    Itamar.K likes this.
  7. aunitedlemon

    aunitedlemon Unity is in the pith.

    Location:
    Oregon
    I also agree w/ your choice to get a Yamaha A-S1200. I have the 3200 feeding my L82's and the combination makes me a very happy listener.
     
    Rick58 likes this.
  8. head_unit

    head_unit Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA USA
    What do you mean by this? Do you mean physically? Or are you referring to that old urban legend about big speakers having too much bass for small rooms? That's not necessarily an urban legend but let me say as a loudspeaker design engineer it is NOT necessarily true. It depends on the speaker tuning and the room and the positioning within. Since the latter are not controllable, hence we get room correction like Dirac or Audyssey or stuff built into subwoofers.

    As for the system, I'm not clear what you are doing. You're moving some of your equipment into a new room it seems-but why do you need an amp if you have what should be a pretty nice amp? Just hope to upgrade? Or that 700 is being kept in a different room until you get a new amp?

    Yamaha has that nice variable loudness. Their AVRs have YPAO room correction and *maybe* you can highpass satellite speakers. Generally, small speakers should have the bass cut out so they don't distort, but 2-channel equipment stupidly fails to provide for this most of the time, even when there is a "subwoofer" jack. The s1200 has pre-in jacks so you could attach a crossover for this purpose...but at that price I'd be at least considering a Parasound that has nicely integrated bass management.
    - 4 ohm power is what's important, never mind if the speakers are 8 ohms, speakers are NOT resistors.
    - Speakers will make far more difference to the sound, I'd personally spend more on the speakers and sub and less on the amp
    - A subwoofer *can* give more flexibility to get smooth bass response than tower speakers, but it takes more fiddling around. Conversely, just plopping tower speakers in the room with no room correction software is unlikely to yield flat response.
     
  9. TheIncredibleHoke

    TheIncredibleHoke Dachshund Dog Dad

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    I’m in a pretty small room, with mid to near field listening. I’ve finally settled on the Harbeth P3ESR after trying a couple of other speakers for extended stays in my space. I’m pretty much done now until I move into a bigger space. These tiny boxes sound incredible in this small space.

    The thing that I’ve really discovered that’s surprised me is that they sound great no matter where you are. They obviously sound best right in the sweet spot, but I can get lazy and lay down on the couch all the way over on one side with a book and they still sound incredible. Not sure how they do it, but it’s a nice bonus that I didn’t expect.
     
  10. hoytis

    hoytis PDX Cratedigger

    Location:
    Oregon
    I can vouch for ProAc Tablette 10. Excellent detail, not too bright. Love em.
     
  11. Rick58

    Rick58 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eagle, ID, USA
    I never got around to setting up a system in my previous home, which would have been in a similar sized small room. I was thinking about getting a London 12 room treatment package, this might be a decent thought whichever speakers you get.
     
    Itamar.K likes this.
  12. Itamar.K

    Itamar.K Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Israel
    head_unit - physically I prefer small/slim floor-standing or small bookshelf but I also have a little bit concern about fitting big speakers in my room.
    I'm not willing to use dirac or similar and all the amplifiers I'm interesting in don't have bass management.

    ProAc Tablette 10 are also nice option I forgot about.

    Just noticed used pair of Focal Kanta No.1 that might fit the bill. Very like Focal sound and aesthetic.

    I have few acoustics panels in my room and I'm waiting for shipping from UA-Acoustics to arrive.
     
    Rick58 likes this.
  13. big_pink_floyd_toole

    big_pink_floyd_toole I am not a bat

    Location:
    USA
    Why not get some studio monitors built for near-field listening? Like Genelec, Dynaudio, etc?
     
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  14. Itamar.K

    Itamar.K Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Israel
    From my experience I found I prefer hifi loudspeakers against studio monitors I heard bunch of the them from Adam, HED, Focal, PMC, Yamaha & Dynaudio
     
  15. hoytis

    hoytis PDX Cratedigger

    Location:
    Oregon
    Also Tab 10s are closed cabinet, so you can get pretty close to the walls without sound suffering from blowback. I would consider closed or front ports if your space is tight.
     
  16. Itamar.K

    Itamar.K Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Israel
    In my listening room, rear ported speaker work OK next to wall, a tad more boomy than front ported, in both cases I have to pull them at least 0.5m-1m from wall to enjoy good soundstage. Good implementation of rear port can work for me, but I would prefer front.

    I'm going to listening seasons next week and if I'm not going to BLOW away from the speakers I mentioned I think I will get the YAMAHA A-S1200 + LS50 till I make up my mind.
     
    Rick58 likes this.
  17. Rick58

    Rick58 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Eagle, ID, USA
    LS50 are certainly well regarded, I’ll suggest a possible alternative: something from Triangle, if available there. My Tituses from 2002 are spectacular imagers ... work very well in the nearfield away from walls. Maybe add a sub to augment <50Hz.

    I see the Comete EZ are front ported, the Tituses are now rear ported. Comete goes a bit lower too. If you want to spend more you certainly can in the Triangle line.
     
  18. Itamar.K

    Itamar.K Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Israel
    This is exactly why I think just purchasing the LS50 till I make up my mind. So many nice speakers out there. I almost purchased Triangle Gaia Ez when released, still regret I didn't.
     
    Rick58 likes this.
  19. nht2.9

    nht2.9 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Illinois
    NHT 1.5 always sound good.
     
    Ilusndweller likes this.
  20. Khorn

    Khorn Dynagrunt Obversarian

    Too bad you can’t check out Totem. I’ve always been somewhat captivated by their sonic attributes, very “musical” to say the least.

    JBL has always been one of my top choices specially when driven by McIntosh amplification. Superb synergy. Specially the pro stuff.
     
  21. big_pink_floyd_toole

    big_pink_floyd_toole I am not a bat

    Location:
    USA
    JBL Synthesis
     
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  22. Khorn

    Khorn Dynagrunt Obversarian

    Very impressive looking speakers. Love the design and components specially the cone driver. Great size for many domestic situations. Would be an interesting experience to audition them and the 4349.
     
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2021
  23. Itamar.K

    Itamar.K Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Israel
    The 4309 looks nice, a little bit smaller than the L82...Importer said it can be imported but there is no way to hear it before (or the big brother 4349).
    Too many great options. I'm going to audition season soon and if I won't find something to my liking, I might buy the Yamaha A-S1200 + LS50.
    Thanks for your comments!
     
    Rick58 likes this.
  24. Itamar.K

    Itamar.K Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Israel
    Today I went to listen the JBL L82, Cabbase Murano, T+A Tallis, Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor M, Raidho D1 all them with T+A amplification.
    All loudspeakers are truly awesome...wish I could afford the Tallis/D1.
    The JBL really gave a nice fight against all others (that cost x2, x3, x5 more).
    I got a nice deal on the JBL L82 + used REL T5 (not T5i) and I need to sleep on it few days.
    Used Luxman 505uX popped in similar price to a new Yamaha A-S1200.

    My ears wants more from those 5K$+++++ speakers.
    decisions..............................................guess I'm going for the L82/A-S1200/T5 bundle and stop buying audio gear for at least 2-3 years.
     
  25. Super_Grover

    Super_Grover Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Central Illinois
    I'm impressed you have a place to listen to all of these. Very cool. And good luck with the L82's if you decide to go that route.
     
    aunitedlemon and Itamar.K like this.
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