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Best of the small speakers

I'm looking for a small, preferably floorstanding speaker that will integrate well with my current system and room. My main source is a California Audio Labs CL-20 DVD/CD player, through a Rotel RC-995 preamp, into a McCormack DNA 0.5 Deluxe (which will be upgraded to Revision B by Steve McCormack himself in the very near future). My current speakers are Magnepan 1.6QRs. While I absolutely love many of the Maggies traits, they don't seem to integrate well into my fairly small listening space. As far out from the wall as I can move them, about 30 inches, I still get what sounds to me to be a fairly ragged frequency response. For reference, I have pretty electic listening tastes, from baroque to bebop to bluegrass, but the majority of my music is fairly complex, with many simultaneous melodic or rhythmic lines, on both acoustic and electric instuments. Accurate, timbrally-true bass is more far more important to me than rattling the windows. Any suggestions for speakers roughly in the Maggie's price range ($1500-$2500) which you feel would fit well into my system would be appreciated. Just trying to narrow down my shopping list. One speaker which has drawn my attention is the Thiel CS 1.5s, but I know there must be others I am missing! Thanks in advance for the help!!!
bswilliams
jrt
18 posts
 
Some others worth mentioning are the Arro and Sttaf from Totem Acoustic for floorstanders, but I would concur with some of the other statements about stand mounted monitors. The Merlin TSM SE is a great speaker for imaging and goes down a reasonable bit, as does the Totem Model 1 Signature and even the non-signature version, but the Sig. is a better speaker. Depending on your tastes the B&W N805 and the Sonus Faber Signum are good choices also. As with anything else in your system, try before you buy.
holos
9 posts
 
I truly understand your interest in speakers for smaller rooms. Many high end speakers I've heard do better in larger rooms (in the far field response). I've personally had speakers with larger woofers easily overwhelm smaller rooms with resonant underdamped lows. It's also a basic principle of physics that larger speaker elements (magnetic and electrostatic panels) are more directional and require a greater distance for their natural diffractive spread. An an absence of nearfield wall and ceiling reflections is needed to integrate most speakers properly for correct response and imaging. To many of the excellent sugestions above I'd like to add two of my favorites for smaller rooms: Proac and Spendor. Both can be purchased with silk dome tweeters whose smooth non-resonant highs sound natural and are not fatiguing to the ears at close proximity. Both have surprising lows for their sizes and smooth natural responses in the midrange. Check out ST's audition of the Proac Tablette 2000 Signature in the most recent issue of Stereophile (he compares them to Quad electrostatics). Enjoy! Holos
valencia
8 posts
 
Give the Soliloquy 5.3 a listen. I have the Maggies also.
kkirkpa1805
48 posts
 
I'd give the KEF Reference-II a shot. Since your listening room is small, their "coincident" tweeter/midrange is a big plus (sound comes out "pre-mixed" meaning you don't have to sit back 15 feet for the drivers to blend. Also, these speakers have the greatest bass for their size. Overall my fave' full range speaker for $2700.
sounds46
1 posts
 
You should listen to the Impact Technology Charisma and Labomba sub/satellite system before buying. Great balance, soundstage, imaging and bass response.
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