HELP Horns, Stats or Conventional Speakers

First off Bose is not a speaker. Not sure what you'd call it, I've heard some bad words not to repeat, used to describe Bose.
No stats, ribbons, horns for me. Strictly old fashion cones.

does anyone have any thoughts on the Piega 8s.

And the Bose thing was a joke

I can relate to your quandry as I too have been looking for speakers. Since my price point is a bit higher, I added equalized, powered woofers (Vandy Quatro, Zu Definition), and omnis (Deuvel, MBL) to my menu. Still working it out.

In your case, the room dimensions suggest that electrostats (or other panels) and horns may work better than "straight" dynamic speakers. 'Stats and horns both limit horizontal dispersion which may make placement easier in a 13' X 17' room. Of course, very large 'stats are likely to physically overwhelm your space.

I expect, however, the 9" ceiling may prove to be your biggest issue. ;-)

Punkuk,

Be careful what you wish for....

Most good high-efficiency setups(re: horns) can be ruthlessly revealing of other components and poorly recorded material - as most punk & rock is/was. They can be so revealing that much material will seem almost unlistenable until you learn to fully accept bad recordings.

The move from 90db, mid-efficency/mid-wattage, 3-way system to 97dB/6 watt system has left a large swath of my punk and rock recordings unused. They just plain sound horrible - too much compression, far too tinny, poor dynamics, etc. very wart is held under a microscope. I can only think it gets worse as efficiency goes up into the 100dB range.

The jump to horns isn't as simple as simply getting the speakers. Source components, amps/preamps, will also be held to the microscope. Previously unheard hum in components and your AC line will stand out like a sore thumb. So, you might also have to get a new amp and/or preamp plus some line filtration, too.

High-eff is awesome, but it comes at a premium. Not always in cost, but in attention to minute details many times not necessary with less efficient systems. The payoff is worth it to many of us, but do not underestimate the journey.

Many theaters use horns, HT is easy for a good loudspeaker to reproduce music is hard to do well.