Thoughts on Speakers for a Small Audio/Video Room

@OP - the volume of your room does not indicate whether it will or will not benefit from acoustic treatment. Your room is bigger than a lot of the control rooms in small studios, which, if they are commercial, will be treated. Sound on Sound magazine used to run a feature where they helped out readers with project studios and the first thing Paul White always did was address the acoustics of the space.

Hey @captouch , I posted a couple of months ago seeking speaker recs for my 10x12’ spare bedroom. I got a lot of great responses including the Fritzes. I had a nice talk with him and found out he was located in Norcal. I’m inSocal so unfortunately I couldn’t demo them in person. He has a trial policy where you can ship them back (at your expense) if you’re not satisfied.

I was planning to go that route until I found some Quad floorstanders on clearance at my local salon and decided to get them instead.

703 Owens Corning rigid fiberglass panels come in 2’ x 4’ x 2” thick panels. 
using the supplies I mentioned before, Including mounting hardware was less than $500 Plus my time and labor. 
The only Thing I would’ve done different is I would’ve gotten two cases of Owens Corning fiberglass panels and made some of the panel panels 4 inches thick for better base absorption. Alas, that is another project for me in the future. 
Even if you were to consult a professional, he’s gonna have you start with some form of this set up. I looked up GIK acoustic panels and they start out at $120 each for a 2 x 4 x 2“ panel. Sure the first one you make isn’t gonna be as nice as theirs, but the learning curve is really low and by your third one you ain’t gonna be able to tell the difference between who made it. Just put your first couple ones kinda out of sight. The rest will impress your friends, people Have often commented to me how nice they look.👀 

if you’re lacking in the DIY gene, I would still use a local upholster and or cabinet maker would probably still come under GIK asking price, a lot of their cost comes in shipping. I could be wrong on this, but then I’m one of those let’s support the local economy. 

Good luck in your journey, but I can’t stress enough doing this simple step Is the path you need to follow!! 

Just another quick thought ever go into a guitar center and see one of their recording rooms? Notice how it’s floor ceiling in absorption. That’s that small room factor coming into play

@yogiboy Looking at the Harbeth specs, my concern is that the bass only goes down to 75Hz.  I’d definitely need a sub in that case, whereas a monitor that went down to 38-44Hz I may be able to go without.

@soix I’ll take a look at the Revivals.  I think the challenge with any recommendations that can’t be demoed is you just have to take your chances.

@everyone I am getting the message about importance of treating the room.  So whether I do it before pursuing a smaller speaker or after as the final finishing optimization, I hear that message loud and clear.

@ristretto Do you remember where in NorCal?  That might work out great if I can drive there and demo different models and drive a demo pair home.

The thing that, at least initially, attracts me to Fritz is that it would likely allow me to bring all this lower powered tube gear into rotation.  The fact that it uses the series crossover making it an easy load usable with low powered tube gear is something that’s tangibly different and differentiates it from other monitors that are similarly sized and priced.

I also like the idea that if I do end up spending ~$3K for a pair of Fritz speakers, I’d have the option to pick my veneer and can pick something fairly distinctive and unique.  It’s a pretty conventional looking box, so a distinctive veneer is a nice option to have.