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Small room, "budget priced" speaker advice, please

Hi,

I recently sold my dearly beloved, old Vandersteen 2C's here on Audiogon (and I hope SgtPeppers is loving them at this moment!) :-) I did this because in our remodeled house, my new listening room (which will double as a guest room) is just too small for the 2C's. The Spousal Acceptance Factor was just too low. ;-)

I have a PS Audio Elite-Plus integrated amp for power (around 70 W/Ch) and a soon-to-be-shipped-off-for-a-refurb Sota Sapphire for an analog front end (I have "miles" of vinyl)! I will also get a CD player at some point.

For now, I need to find a pair of best-of-breed, truly "budget" speakers. By "budget," I'm talking upper limit of $850/pair. (Gone are my free-spending, single days... I'm a dad now...) :-)

Listening habits: lots of 60's and 70's folk and rock, some jazz, Donald Fagen/Steely Dan, a little classical. Listening volume: not too loud. Sonic preferences: I value transparency and imaging/soundstage. Bass should be accurate above all, as opposed to chest-pounding powerful.

I've looked at Paradigms, which I know are highly regarded at lower price points. Trouble is, our one, local dealer is primarily a TV/home theater outfit, so you're trying to hear them in a showroom crammed with other stuff... you know the drill. I've also hit a high end shop. Listened to a pair of PSB small towers and disliked them; they sounded muddy and veiled to me. Listened to a pair of the smallest Rega's and liked them quite a bit, but would want to go back to listen again. I even wrote to PS Audio for advice; they recommended the "baby" Epos monitors, but they're out of my price range.

Thanks if you've read this far. Knowing how subjective all this is, I'd still welcome any advice you have to offer about what I should try to audition.
rebbi
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knownothing
1,621 posts
 
Rebbi,

Check these out:

http://virtuelvis.com/archives/2004/09/audio-test-cd

http://www.soundstage.com/audiohell/audiohell200111.htm

I tried to follow Arve Bersvendsen's placement ratio recommendations for my room (first link) as it seemed the less complicated and more versatile of the various placement methods described, and it really improved the sound of my system in my room. I did the best to adhere to one of the recommended placement ratios that worked with my room shape and furniture placement, and then moved the speakers slightly from there and played with toe in to fine tune. You will know when you get it right because you will have an immediate "Now That's What I'm Talkin' About" moment.

I also found his test CD with 63 different tones useful to see where frequencies were dropping out or being enhanced. I even bought an inexpensive digital sound meter from Radio Shack to assist my ears in this exercise. Aside: it is remarkable the difference between these measurements taken 1m directly in front of the speaker baffle versus from your listening position. Even when the speakers are well placed and sounding good, the frequency response at my listening position is far less flat compared to right in front of the speaker itself!

This an inexact science at best, but careful placement can make a huge difference in overall system performance, your happiness, and the resultant longevity of gear in your listening room. :-)
rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
Knownothing,

Thanks a lot for the links. I'll use them as a starting point. I know I'm still not at the "That What I'm Talkin' About" position! ;-)
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knownothing
1,621 posts
 
Good luck!
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,464 posts
 
Rebbe,

How are you liking the Unison?

I've been doing some reading on it and it seems like a very nice find. I have some interest in the Unison SE integrated as well.

Did you work something out with Unison regarding the phono preamp yet? I'm curious if it can handle a low output MC cartridge like the Denon DL103R in my system.
rebbi OP
1,326 posts
 
Mapman,

Hi! I like the Unison very much. Built like an absolute tank and sounds very fine to my ears... more than enough power to drive the Arro.

I consulted with a Unison dealer (don't want to put him on the record without his permission) who told me that the Unico's phono stage is "okay" at best, maybe on the level of the Pro-Ject Phono Box. Anyway, Unison's distributor quoted me a price of $250 for the Unico phono card, delivery from Italy included, and this dealer thought I could get a much better outboard phono stage for that kind of money.

Ultimately, I decided to try my hand at assembling a Bottlehead "Seduction" tubed phono stage. The kit goes for $275, and the reviews are wonderful. I haven't touched a soldering iron in years, so this is bound to be an adventure. :-)
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