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Help Choosing Speakers

I am looking to find a nice pair of speakers that will work well in a relatively small dedicated listening room. My setup is 100% analog, tube amp, turntable, phono pre. I am trying to keep a minimalist approach.

Turntable: Thorens TD-150
Phono Pre: AudioResearch PH3
Amp: Decware MiniTorii
Speakers: DIY MarkAudio A12P in SuperPensil

Room Dimensions: 11' W x 12' 4" L x 10' H

So far I have been looking around at a lot of options and while I don't want to limit myself to 94 dB+ efficient speakers. I would like to be able to keep my Decware MiniTorii in place if possible.

LegacyAudio Signature SE is top on my list, little bit more than I wanted to spend, but this is a lifetime purchase. I have also looked at SalkSound Veracity ST but I am concerned about the Decware amps being able to push those. I have also looked at the Decware HR-1s which look impressive.

Of course its difficult to buy speakers without hearing them, any other recommendations/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone has heard the Legacy Audio Signatures with a Decware amplifier and has any details, that would be spectacular.

Thanks,

Ron

hifiron
cb5300
42 posts
 
cb5300
42 posts
 
hifiron, I know that the Legacy Signature SE's would serve you well, but if you are afraid that the room is to small maybe you could look at the Studio HD's or the new Calibre from Legacy. If you feel that you needed more bass then add one of Legacy's sub woofers to the mix.

It's hard to beat the Legacy line, I spent over a year researching, listening, and traveling before I decided, and now I have a set of Focus SE's and a set of Studio HD's.

Doug, and Bill (and Victoria, Bill's daughter) are great people and will take the time to answer questions for you. 
nakamaye
16 posts
 
It would be worth your time to look at the Spatial Hologram M4.  Clayton is well informed and will spend the time to discuss your front end.  He also offers a long trial period to fully break in the speakers before deciding to keep them or not.  His OB design has truly hit a sweet spot and in the words of my non audiophile wife, "I can hear the difference in these speakers."  At least worth examining.  I'm sold on them and to boot, they are an amazing buy at about $2K.
hifiron OP
102 posts
 
Ok so after about 6 hours of listening, I am thoroughly impressed with the Vandersteen 1Ci speakers! The beauty is my amp is plenty powerful to push them to sound great at levels louder than I would listen to in this room.

In addition to that, they fit well in the room and are quite a bit lower than I was originally going to spend. Just going to spend some time noodling on the HR-1 v. 1Ci, both of which would be powered by my current amp just fine.

Thanks again for the input all!

Ciao,
Ron
hifiron OP
102 posts
 
Basically have narrowed it down to a more reasonable cost. Something I am more comfortable with.

Speaker Selection
  • Vandersteen 1Ci
  • Vandersteen 2Ce
  • Decware HR-1

Amplification
  • Keeping MiniTorii
  • Purchase Torii Jr
  • Purchase Torii Mk IV

Other Options
  • Replace PH3 with ZP3
  • Add CP3 Pre-Amp in front of MiniTorii for more gain

The Vandersteen 1Ci awards the most flexibility from a component perspective. I think adding more power than 4 watts per channel would be well received in the system. I could afford the massive Torii 25 watts per channel if I stick with the 1Ci or 2Ce.

The low end response at 26 Hz on the 2Ce is very impressive. That said, the 2Ce would require an upgrade to the amp to either the Torii Jr or Torii.

Back to spinning some wax!

Ciao,
Ron
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