I understand your thinking but if you tell Jeff what type of sound you are looking for and send him some pics of the room he will let you know if it possible without charging you anything.I believe this is how he does it. You can ask. So you are out nothing. If you go with him then you will pay for the design. I don’t know how tall your ceiling is but if it’s 9-10 ft it is about the same volume as my room. I am extremely happy with the sound of my system. Jeff is a no pressure person and I thoroughly enjoyed working with him.
Thoughts on Speakers for a Small Audio/Video Room
Hoping to get some thoughts from the group here.
I recently moved into a dedicated TV/audio room, but the room size is on the small side: 15.5ft x 11.5ft. As pics will show, there's quite a bit in there, so empty volume is decreased further due to that.
I've been using Aerial Acoustics Model 7B speakers, which I've been very happy with in larger spaces, but they seem to be overwhelming the room and I'm getting fairly overwhelming bass. Vocals have sort of a chestiness/congested nature to them, and there are bass undertones to most songs. If I play records loud, I need to activate my rumble filter, which I never used to have to do. As a sidetone, I also have Monitor Audio Gold Reference 20's in my collection.
Preamp is a recapped Mcintosh C35 and amp is a recapped MC2255. Phono pre is a VTL TP 2.5 II, TT is a Marantz TT-15S1 running a SAE1000LT MM cart.
I borrowed a friend's Sonus Faber Electa Amator II's and they sounded very good in my room - sweeter, more natural, no congestion, though I did give up bass slam/impact, which I kind of missed.
Here are pictures of the room:
Front:
Back:
I'm playing around now with plugging the rear ports of the Aerial, as well as putting some acoustic panels in the back corners of the room. Both of those seem to have helped quite a bit.
As far as measurements, those Aerials are currently about 80" apart, 16" from speaker back to front of cabinet, 96" from each speaker to the listening position.
What's your opinion: With some room treatments/plugged ports, can the Aerials work well in a room of this size, or do I need to move toward smaller speakers?
If I go smaller, any thoughts on something like the Sonus Faber Concerto Domus (there's a pair local to me) or Sonetto III? Those seem to be more modestly sized, don't go as low. Would those be at least a lateral to the AA Model 7B's, or a step down in terms of overall speaker quality? I only mention Sonus Faber models as I was impressed with my friend's speakers and generally do enjoy the smoother, more musical speakers and will give up some detail/pinpoint accuracy if needed to avoid brightness/listening fatigue.
Thanks all. . .
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@ronboco Thanks for the further info, I appreciate it. It’s a 8’ ceiling unfortunately. But I’ll keep an open mind on this and won’t eliminate any options without at least weighing against other options. |
@captouch Not sure what your budget might be for smaller monitors, but there are many good options to choose from. If I were you I might try for a local hifi shop (if one exists nearby) that would allow an in home trial. That will probably be very illuminating, and the easy returns very worthwhile. The next best thing after that would be some of the big online sellers that offer easy returns. Even somewhat mainstream places like Crutchfield now have lots of quality speakers. You probably have to cover the cost of return shipping if they don't work out, but that shouldn't be too terrible on a pair of smallish monitors. If you like the Monitor Audio sound, I hear good things about the newest Gold 50 6G which are quite small. Or, maybe a front ported design would be advantageous in your space? I recently heard the Triangle Theta Signature and was very impressed. |
@tubeguy80 I'd like to stay at $3K or below, which I think gives me plenty of options. All things being equal, I generally like to buy gently used as there's some good value to be had in gear that's not brand new, but that's not a necessity as whatever I get next I hope will be a long term speaker. I used my Aerials in the previous larger space for 7+ years, so I'm not a constant rotator of gear once I find something I really like. I agree that demoing in my home/room with my gear is the best option. Unless I'm demoing a couple of pairs at once, I think my reference point (what has to be bettered) will be the Monitor Audios I currently have, because at least they sound better than the Aerials with this room size. Based on multiple recommendations above, I did send an email to Fritz Speakers with my situation and plan to speak to him on the phone about his product line. I will say the hardest thing for me at this point is the temptation to buy something used that originally sold in the $3K range now selling for $1.2-1.4K vs buying something new for close to that $3K budget. But buying used means you pay your $ and take your chances, vs finding a shop or company that allows demos like you suggested. |
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