Small Office - Wilson vs B&W vs Kef
I saw this recent article by the guy I am going to get to create my DRC Convolution file. I mentioned it previously on this thread. http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/manufacture/0420/Understanding_Digital_Room_Correction_For_Audiophiles.htm Getting a big speaker into a small room. |
@eisenb11 I was told by dealers that carry KEF that the REF 1 would work in my similar sized room. However, they did say that the REF 1's sound best with some space from the back wall. I bet the new Vivid monitor speaker that is due out soon would work even better than the KEF 1 in the small room because Vivid can be placed close to the back wall. This I heard from the Vivid mgmt directly. I should have also mentioned the TAD ME1 as another amazing monitor. The price bothers me though. It is back to $15K 1 year after TAD dropped the price to $10K for 3 months. Then putting it back to $15K to appeal to the audiophile crowd. |
My room is slightly larger than yours at 10' x 14'. When I was demoing speakers I listened to Vandersteens 2ce Signatures Focal Sopra's Spendor A1's B&W 805 D3's Wilson Tune Tot's I ended up with the Tune Tots. I felt that the Tune Tots had the superior highs. Low end was not a consideration since the plan was to pair anything I bought with subs. |
OMG. So my new speakers just came in. Until now, I was running a Bose Lifestyle Acoustimass 5 system that I bought in the mid 90s for $2k. I know we like to knock Bose, but it was a decent for a little system with huge WAF. I was originally leaning towards the Kef Reference 1 for the 3-way action, but in the end I decided it was a little too physically big for the space. Ended up going with the B&W 805D3 in piano black with the matching stands - love the way it looks too. Holy moly, what an upgrade. Bigger sound stage. Highs. And Lows. And Mids! Dang. I feel like I'm sitting in the middle of a private concert. ... and what's funny is that I'm powering it with a 100 wpc Harmon Kardon amp that I had sitting in a closet. Also I didn't realize I had only ordered one cable (thought I got 2 for that price) so one speaker is bi-wired with some good cable and the other speaker is bridged and using some el-cheapo thin Monster speaker wire that I found in a box in the garage (at least I didn't use the Bose cables, ha ha). The other cable should come this week sometime. Curious, how big the difference will be when I eventually replace the Harmon with some blue watt meters. What are your thoughts on that... 200W... or 300W? Would 300W be a total waste because the speakers are rated for 50W-120W @ 8 Ohm per the specs. |
Congrats on the new speaks, and glad you’re enjoying them! Don’t know your personal tastes and what specifically you’d like to improve upon, but if it’s me I’d take a hard look at a used Hegel H300 that has plenty of juice and will likely blow away your HK in every way. And it has a decent onboard DAC you may be able to make use of as well. Also, if you can pull the 805s a foot or so further out from the wall, even if it’s just temporary for more critical listening, I think they’ll reward you with even better imaging/soundstage. Hope this helps, and best of luck. |
