I like this topic as I too live in a condo and trying to get the sound dialed in has been an issue.
When I owned a home, I had a dedicated listening room that was fairly treated, and I was running Magnepan 1.7 powered by a McIntosh MC2600 and C220 pre and the sound from the Maggie’s were just stellar, especially for a speaker that was just a tad over 2k. Like others have posted, to get the most out of the Maggie’s, I had them five feet away from the back walls and about four feet from the side walls. It was a wonderful system.
Divorce happened and I ended up moving into a high rise condo, so I had to figure out what to do as far as speakers and placement as I do not have the room for speakers to be far away from the back walls, plus my space is open, high ceilings and complete glass on one side.
In my time in my condo, I’ve been through two changes of gear, as well as 5 different sets of speakers. My first were vintage B&W 803 Matrix and they sounded great, but they seemed a tad much for my space, especially having to worry about neighbors so I decided to go with stand mount speaker’s. I’ve had Monitor Audio Gold, B&W CM6’s, B&W 705’s and finally to my current speakers being a pair of pre owned early 2000’s B&W 805’s. The 805’s have seemed to be the best with my current integrated McIntosh MA352.
I also wanted a system that could be listened to a lover levels and still enjoy great sound, and that is what I’ve found in good bookshelf speakers. The only thing lacking is deep bass, but like others suggested, I ended up buying a small B&W sub, and while it took a lot of tweaking, I have found that I’m very happy where I’ve ended up with a pretty balanced system.
I wish you luck in whatever you end up with as far as speakers and getting them to work well in your environment. Btw on the 2k price, there is a lot of choices for stand mount, especially used. My current 805’s I picked up for just under 2k and the detail and soundstage are excellent.
When I owned a home, I had a dedicated listening room that was fairly treated, and I was running Magnepan 1.7 powered by a McIntosh MC2600 and C220 pre and the sound from the Maggie’s were just stellar, especially for a speaker that was just a tad over 2k. Like others have posted, to get the most out of the Maggie’s, I had them five feet away from the back walls and about four feet from the side walls. It was a wonderful system.
Divorce happened and I ended up moving into a high rise condo, so I had to figure out what to do as far as speakers and placement as I do not have the room for speakers to be far away from the back walls, plus my space is open, high ceilings and complete glass on one side.
In my time in my condo, I’ve been through two changes of gear, as well as 5 different sets of speakers. My first were vintage B&W 803 Matrix and they sounded great, but they seemed a tad much for my space, especially having to worry about neighbors so I decided to go with stand mount speaker’s. I’ve had Monitor Audio Gold, B&W CM6’s, B&W 705’s and finally to my current speakers being a pair of pre owned early 2000’s B&W 805’s. The 805’s have seemed to be the best with my current integrated McIntosh MA352.
I also wanted a system that could be listened to a lover levels and still enjoy great sound, and that is what I’ve found in good bookshelf speakers. The only thing lacking is deep bass, but like others suggested, I ended up buying a small B&W sub, and while it took a lot of tweaking, I have found that I’m very happy where I’ve ended up with a pretty balanced system.
I wish you luck in whatever you end up with as far as speakers and getting them to work well in your environment. Btw on the 2k price, there is a lot of choices for stand mount, especially used. My current 805’s I picked up for just under 2k and the detail and soundstage are excellent.