Great looking room. Budget a rug, fabrics, heavy blinds. Pull the speakers out a little if you can- get a sub. You are relatively nearfield so I wouldn't get too worried about reflection points. Do you have any slap echo in the room? That's a real concern if you do.
Seeking advice for speakers for my Family Room
Hello experts,
I am starting out on my quest to finally get some quality speakers, mostly making do with off-brand in-walls, in-ceilings for the most part for my family room.
And wanted to get your advice on what speakers to get for my kind of use case.
USE:
So, these will be used in my Family Room where I will be using them for 60/40 movie watching/listening music. Ocassionally, we would like to be able to pump up the volume and listen to either multi channel audio or 2 channel music for parties etc.
ROOM:
The room has a lot of hard, reflective surfaces (tile flooring, some, tile on the wall behind the TV, it also is a large room (36' wide x 18' deep with 9' ceilings). However, my main listening position/couch and media cabinet and the floor standers will be in the left 15' portion of the width of the room and at 13' away from the speakers/TV. Pictures attached below.
EQUIPMENT:
My receiver is Denon x3700H and I have a Polk PSW-505 12" sub. Eventually, I am open to getting an external amp to use with the pre-outs of my receiver, something like this Class D amp Purifi based VTV stereo amp. But first, I wanted to get my speaker selection nailed down.
SOURCE:
At the moment, I have tried only YT Music (at 256kbps AAC) since I already have a subscription for this. I am not an audiophile and neither is my use case for critical listening. So, while I understand there are better SQ options for streaming music, I have my reasons for sticking with YT music (lyrics, music videos etc)
SPEAKERS AUDITIONED:
I have tried the Klipsch RP-280FA with the Klipsch RP440C center channel and found them unbearably harsh/bright. Tried several modes, but couldn't even get through 2 songs without having to stop. This was at loud volumes...
Next, I tried the KEF R11's and these were MUCH better, but I still found the highs a bit bright.
Other contenders (based on what I am hearing are considered a bit more warmer speakers) I have not tried yet but would like to get some advice on before just going through the hassle of ordering, setting up, trying etc:
-Wharfedale EVO 4.4
-Sonus Faber Lumina V (would have to wait a long time to even get these)
Maybe later, I might look into room treatments, but I am thinking I will leave that for later, that can be a slippery slope/money pit, but for now, I am looking for speakers that don't sound harsh/bright at loud volumes for extended periods of time. I will probably get a matching center as well (for HT/movies) that would need to provide clear dialog.
Thanks,
KG
ROOM PICS:
61 responses Add your response
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Seek speakers that are on the warm side, somewhat rolled off on the upper octave. Absorption panels need not be expensive. One can even have pictures imprinted on canvas to use as covering over self made panels. Look up ATS Acoustics for DIY materials. Much of the needed supplies could be purchased locally. |
lol, I generally don't monitor the Speakers sub forum much because opinions are all over the place. Klipsch are not that great of a speaker and can sound harsh. The KEF are going to have a bright edge to the sound due to their metal dome tweeter. I actually think their metal dome has more of a bright edge than other metal domes. The same goes for Focal with their exacting beryllium tweeter or the older generation aluminum dome. The Sonus Faber are excellent speakers and may work out for you because they are more forgiving in the high frequencies due to their soft-dome tweeter. In your room, this may be the best speaker solution. I do not generally recommend Sonus Faber to people who want a fast-responding high resolution home theater system, but it may help compensate for all your hard tile surfaces. Otherwise, you can try a Marantz receiver. Their sound has high frequencies that are softened and rolled off. I would not recommend Monitor Audio speaker because their ribbon tweeters are so bright. The Monitor Audio sound is also a hard edged sound that would not work in your room with so much tile and reflective surfaces. I would not recommend Wharfedale EVO 4.4 either because of their ribbon tweeter. Actually, you should avoid any speaker with ribbon tweeter or metal dome tweeter. Look for speakers with soft-dome tweeters, unless you are able to compensate with warm sounding electronics such as Marantz. |
Thanks for the quick responses @maxwave and @ditusa . I was afraid of those answers :-( Room treatments are a tough sell for the wifey....but I do intend to put blinds on all the windows, add a few paintings etc...maybe a larger rug etc.. I am hearing Focal's are bit brighter sounding than the Sonus Faber's, all else being equal? What receiver would you suggest? I am still in the return window for my Denon x3700H, I got the 3700H so I could eventually add external amplification. Forgot to mention that I did run Denon's Audussey MultXT 32 calibration for both the speakers I auditioned. |
You have a lovely house. The room’s acoustic is half the sound. Home theater needs fast speakers . I do not see how you could get what you are looking for with your room. Lots of reflective surfaces.( floor , windows ) Maybe Monitor Audio Silver series. With Marantz HT receiver .
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