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Is My Room Large Enough?

Need advice.My room is only 11'x13' and would like to make a dedicated listening area there.Want to use a tube amp and thought about smaller speakers such as B&W 805/804/803's perhaps.Trying to get a bit of distance from the walls for the speakers with decent chair position will be a problem and am willing to only use one chair. I listen to mostly jazz,classical and vocals not needing a lot of bass.I don't really listen to rock and I don't want to use a sub. I like the thought of a cozy room using a tube amp,as I have only used larger solid state amps in the past,but maybe this room is too tight for this.What do you think,can I make this work?
amwarwick
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,245 posts
 
Your listening room is more than large enough for your intended purposes. You will have to apply acoustical treatment. Be careful not to over damp the room. You will also need to be attentive to your choice of speakers. Near field listening puts a premium upon coherence (multi-driver integration). Given your stated taste in music, I recommend the Magnepan 1.6 or the Quad 63. Both speakers will mate well with the Audio Research CA50 integrated tube amplifier. Together you will have the nucleus for a very high performance small room system. Regardless of what equipment you choose, your room will not be a major impediment.
rushton's avatar
rushton
2,445 posts
 
Here is a link to an article by Steve Deckert that you might find interesting on his efforts to get a room slightly larger than yours to work well as a dedicated listening room. (His room was 13x15.) His experience might at least help you identify some of the challenges and possible solutions, even if you don't pursue all of the room treatment options.
http://www.decware.com/achowto.htm
jadem6's avatar
jadem6
1,074 posts
 
One thought to play with, and I'd love to here opinions on this. I've heard of others with squarish rooms setting up on the diagonal. This breaks up all the reflection points and could reduce the "acoustical treatments" required. It also has the potential effect of lengthening the room. Any thoughts? J.D.
garfish
1,840 posts
 
Hi Am; Yes your room is big enough, just continue on the course you're suggesting, follow the advice in the above posts and you could have a very nice set-up. I started out with a 12 X 14 room, put Vand. 2Ce speakers (pretty big) and 175 wpc amp in it. If I was a grown-up at the time (I was late 40's), I would do what you are proposing. All that said, I still really enjoyed my system. I just couldn't play it at more than low to low/moderate levels. The speakers and speaker location)s) will be really important. Good Luck. Craig
redkiwi
1,092 posts
 
I have a friend that uses a similarly small room and listens to B&W 801s in the nearfield. The speakers are only a couple of feet out from the front wall (to the back of his speakers, and he sits into the room making a slightly elongated equilateral triangle with his speakers. He sits about six feet away and I have got to admit the listening experience is great - a bit like headphones but much more enjoyable. Good luck.
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