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Speakers for a smaller room/moving issues...

Been looking for apartments/condos/houses to rent in New York as I am moving back there shortly. In other words-- I am moving out of my rental house with its adequately sized listening room/den into a potentially more cramped crib- possibly with neighbors behind an adjoining wall or two.
I've been privy in this search to all kinds of rooms-- small, big, oddly shaped etc. And of course, I am considering all kinds of speakers-- planars (so as not to piss off the upstairs and downstairs neighbors as much as box speakers), smaller monitors in case my room is like 13 by 14 or something and so forth.
Alright already- I'll come out with it! I guess what I really want to ask forum members doesnt exactly pertain to a particular speaker rec at all--
Rather, when you guys move, or for that matter, when you chose your current home or apartment, was your 'listening room' a primary consideration?
I mean, my realtor barely understands my needs in this regard and seems a bit miffed at this point regarding my 'listening room neurosis.'
But what can I do? Move into a small condo and buy a Hello Kitty boombox? What did YOU do? (And DONT say "gave up the hobby"-- otherwise you wouldnt be reading this in the first place! Clever, eh?!)

PS- Jaybo, I love your 2 or 3 word answers; please feel free to participate multiple times!

abramsmatch
mrjstark
1,112 posts
 
Find the place that feels like home - in every way.
Choice of your new place will be crucial. Start there. Brownstone and other concrete/brick buildings are usually great for minimum sound transmission and will keep you & your neighbors sane. Bass traps and other acoustic treatments will help keep the bass leakage as well as careful setup. Living on the top or bottom floor also makes sense - one less neighbor to worry about.
Speaker wise..........you don't need any advice but I would look into one of the best monitors that you can afford (for most of your listening) and add small, fast subwoofer for those reference sessions( before 10PM ).

We can keep in touch for some audiophile get together, shoot outs and such.

Mariusz
celtic66
1,619 posts
 
Dynaudio 42. All of the great attributes of English speakers but with a bit more dynamics and not with so much of a rolled off high end. Great with vocals and acoustic piano.
abramsmatch OP
61 posts
 
Actually-- I'll be renting on Long Island, as that's where work is taking me. Soooooo.... I wont have to deal with a 4th floor walk-up or what-have-you, nor are there many 'pre-war' buildings. Most I have seen are newish (10-20 years old) and knocking on the walls makes me fear that even at lower levels my neighbors will be enjoying my hobby along with me. (and I theirs-- whatever it may be!)
But yes-- the Dyns and the LS3/5A's are in the running (havent owned either-- I owned the original standmounted countours-- great tone and punch! I also owned the harbeth Compact 7 ES 2's -- too polite/midrangy for my tastes).
MrJstark, your room certinly looks smallish-- smaller than the ones I am looking at and that, my brother, gives me hope! you look happy as a clam in there with those Vandys. What are the dimensions of that finely tuned/treated rectangle of yours?
mrjstark
1,112 posts
 
Abramsmatch,
actually my room is in the "L" shape. I own that house, so there are no problems with grumpy neighbors. There is one tenant in this building but his choices are very limited - stay and accept it or leave.
Overall dimensions of my space are approximately:
19feet long by 15feet wide. However one of the corners is taken by small bathroom which is 6X7 feet. You are right it is on the small side but given a 100% freedom from my other half - I can do whatever I want and not worrying about WAF. Quatros are awesome for two reasons:
1. They sound great
2. Flexibility in setup and room (bass) EQ. (maybe you should give them a shot???)

My second system inclueds:
AAD 2001 monitors
RWA 30 integrated amp-Omega Zebra-wood version
Dodd preamp
Consonance Droplet 5.0

Very satisfying system - death quiet, great bass, quick and fluid when needed, very articulated and real.
prfont
89 posts
 
Contrary to the above I wouldn't recommend Ls3/5a's or equivilant for small room low volume listening. They are a great speaker when played at a given volume, but they are not low volume champs. I've had the original's, stirling's and the spendor SE's. Loved them all, but didn't satisfy my low volume requirements. Live in NYC with a wife and son (21 months).

2 speakers I can recommend are the devore gibbon 8's or the omega xrs's. Both will give you much more of the music with better dynamics at low volumes. I have modded my omega's with a fountek ribbon tweeter which improved them further at low volumes but that was a time consuming trial and error process - not for everyone. The devores were designed for smaller room listening and are front ported.

Oh yeah, I don't think maggies are great low volume speakers either.
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