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January 12, 2007 - 12:11am
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portraitinjazztv
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Sub/Sats or Towers in Very Small Room

I am looking for a budget set of speakers for a quite small (13'6" x 10' x 8') room.

I have just purchased a Denon AVR-987 to power my system, and I'm wondering.......sub/sats or towers?

My budget for the speakers is somewhat limiting, but I would love to come out of it with some entry level audiophile sound. I can probably afford to drop roughly between $500 to $1000, depending on financing.

I've been looking at everything from Paradigm Monitor 7s, to Intimus 533Ts to Paradigm Titans w/ Velodyne Sub or Athena F2.2 and the Magnepan MMG but I sure could use some feedback that's more catered to my specific room limitations.

Following is probably more information that you want to know about my room and what I'd like to achieve from this search:

I am planning on running the speakers as a stereo set up, gradually adding on the center, sub and surround over the next year or so. My interests are music 60-70% and HT 30-40%. The room is very small (10x13.5") and very carpeted and cluttered with couches and bookshelves. My music interests are mostly classic jazz and r&b from the 1950s and 60s. I also listen to some contemporary stuff.......some indie folk rock and hip hop and some occasional classic rock.

Unfortunately, due to the location of doorways and closets, I will have to place whatever speakers I purchase along the longer wall with my Sony Wega TV, so I will be sitting across on a couch only about 7 feet from the front of my speakers. I've been told that I should ideally be further away from the speakers but it really isn't an option in my apartment

Particularly if they are towers they will need to be placed relatively close to the back wall (6 inches or so) so as far as towers go I've been looking at front and side vented models. It will also be difficult but not impossible to create space on the side of the speakers so they can breathe, but I can toe them in a bit without difficulty.

Sorry to ramble but I wanted to give as much info as possible.....please help if you can. I've spent a lot of time talking to people and reading reviews online but what I really need is the wisdom and experience of the forum users applied more specifically to my situation.

Thanks for your help...............I just want to get back to listening to the music and not the equipment.

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January 12, 2007 - 8:22am
Yiangos
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Re: Sub/Sats or Towers in Very Small Room

Welcome to the forum porta......damn it man,couldn't you find anything shorter and less complicated ? lol
Stay away from the Maggies.I don't believe the Denon has the "ooomph" to drive them.I am not going to answer you any specific questions here.Instead,i will advise you,roughly,as
to where to begin.First of all,try to avoid florstanders , large or small.Your room is very small and 6 inches from the back wall will only make things worse.Get a pair of stand mount loudspeakers,prefferably ones that are designed to be placed against the wall.If you can't find a specific pair,at least,get one with the bass reflex port at the front
not at the rear.Also,avoid "forward sounding" loudspeakers.

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January 13, 2007 - 3:23pm
Scooter123
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Re: Sub/Sats or Towers in Very Small Room

Take a look at PSB's T-45 towers. Cost is about 750 USD and they are very good sounding speakers. My living room is set up in a similar manner (12 x 15 ft) with my system on the long wall. They are completely front firing and I haven't anything to complain about how they sound. The only defect is that they may be a bit weak in the low bass for HT but you can suplement them with a sub down the road.

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January 13, 2007 - 4:29pm
Jim Tavegia
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Re: Sub/Sats or Towers in Very Small Room

At $1K audition B and W 603s, The Triangle Heliade, and the Monitor Audio R6. All got excellent grades from reviewers of Sterophile. Read in the archives. If you cheap out here all will be lost.

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January 14, 2007 - 2:33am
Yiangos
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Re: Sub/Sats or Towers in Very Small Room

Scooter,i agree with you but it's a hit-and-miss thing.A small loudspeaker will have better chance to play well in a small room than a floorstander.No two rooms are alike and if he gets boomy bass with the floorstander,how is he gonna cure this ?At least,with minis and a sub,he can play around with positioning.

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January 15, 2007 - 9:38am
Anthony Tam
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Re: Sub/Sats or Towers in Very Small Room

I agree with Ylangos.

From my experience it has been hard avoiding bass problems with most floorstanders (and even some moniitors) in a smaller listening space. My room is similar in dimension, but it is irregular in shape- a closet intrudes into the room.

I've tried numerous speakers in my listening space and the only floorstanders that didn't overwhelm the room and cause some significant problems in the lower frequences were the ones with small diameter mid- and/or woofer(s). Models like System Audio 1500-series or 1700-series. Totem's Arro and to smaller extent, the Hawk.

My suggestion would be to get to a dealer that has an in-home audition program. Most high-end retailers do and being able to listen to a speaker in your listening space is the only reliable way to gauge whether or not it will work. Cheers.

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