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What is the best audiophile speaker for a tiny square room?

I currently have Soundlabs M545 electrostatic speakers in my 9 x 11ft room. They are great speakers particularly for this small room because they are more directional than box speakers and therefore decrease sidewall reflections. However, like other electrostatics, they are hard to drive and require big amps (>200W), which tend to generate a lot of heat. Class Ds don't go well with ES speakers. Are there great easy to drive speakers that would work well in this room without compromising SQ?
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nmmusicman
276 posts
 
For a small room and near field listening, nothing beats the Audio Physics Step. No longer available but worth seeking out.
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moto_man
376 posts
 
my dedicated music room is a pretty reflective cube, 11x11x11. with a carpeted floor, no treatment.  I have two different systems that work great in that room.  First is my PrimaLuna DiaLogue HP (75 watts of tube power with the stock tubes) powering my Focal Diablo Utopia III's with the Focal Stands, through an MSB Analog DAC.  The Focal's are about 2.5 ft from the back wall, 8 ft from my listing chair.  Sound fantastic.  

The second system is Joseph Audio Pulsars, powered by a highly modified Plinius SA 100 Mk. III by Galbo Audio Designs, which also sounds fantastic.  I keep going back and forth on which I prefer.  Neither is really "better," just different.  I use a REL subwoofer with both systems. I would highly recommend either choice for a small room.  The Focal's are less forgiving on crappy recordings, while the the Pulsars have more bass and are better with bootlegs and that sort of thing but not as good on well-recorded stuff.  But it is a minor difference.  I am happy with both, so its hard to decide which to part with!
schubert
7,386 posts
 
I have used small Totem speakers in small rooms, they are very musical  !
musicaddict
372 posts
 
Good luck.I am simply stunned you can listen to those speakers in a room of that size. I had Martin Logans for 16 years and they HAD to be pulled about 6 ft from the rear wall to enjoy what they could do. I'm not sure how you managed it but congrats, I guess. They are spectacular speakers, no doubt in my mind!
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