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Narrowed speaker selection down to 5 choices

I like all kinds of music. My new room is 13.5x21x9. My amp is Spectron Mus. III SE MK2 w/ all MIT cabling. Speakers are: PBN EPX, Thiel 3.7, Revel studio 2, Dynaudio Contour S5.4, and Focal 1037BE. Speaker will be on short(13.5") wall. Speaker must excell in imaging,resolution,midrange presence,dynamics,tight articulate bass(no muddy midrange,or bloat),and full freq. range. I now have Dali Helicon 400 MK 2. I love the Dali's imaging but, I can't get past a little midrange glare. Tried speaker cables,amps,room postioning,etc. Nothing seems to tame this speakers voicing in this room. Now my old room was 23x28x14 and the Dalis sang in that room. I had more weight and and bass in the larger older room. I would have never guessed that the Dali's would be leaner in the newer smaller room. Help, Opiions needed. If you can think of other speakers in the 5K to 8K range that may work for me then let me have it.
philefreak
rhljazz
1,255 posts
 
Have you tried any room acoustic treaments? You claim the speakers sang in your old room. What guarantee is there that any of the other five contenders will sing any better in this room than the Dali speakers you already know can satisfy you when they were in a different room.

Is the glare a function of brightness caused by reflections in the room, or perhaps a bass cancelation? You do mention the speakers sound leaner in the new room. Most likely you have a bass problem that makes a frequency stand out as a glare. Check out GIK acoustics for some afforable bass traps and corner traps. It does require a significant amount of experimentation to obtain the right mix.
missioncoonery
1,223 posts
 
Philefreak...PBN has no large following(if any),too hard to sell when the time comes.They may sound great but not for me because I consider resale when I buy gear.The Sophia 2 is well worth the extra money if you are seriously considering the model 1 .Im guessing in a few months 9 grand or less will buy a nice pair.If you like Dynaudio the confidence line C2/C4 is worth hunting out(6-8 grand will do it)..Focal and Revel are also winners..and as always this is just my opinion
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
Missioncoonery speaks sage advice..all great speakers:)
veroman's avatar
veroman
299 posts
 
rhljazz has a good point. great speakers can sound like crap in one room and xlnt in another as u know. imo, most gear questing is a failure to create a good acoustic space that matches the current eqpt. but no one in industry wants to mention this pink elephant in the room cause there is no $ in it and low sex appeal.
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
Veroman is dead on! Play with setup first and foremost before any more money is spent. Years of experimentation and research has made certain approaches more successful than others. Use the long wall if possible with your head against the opposing wall (treat wall behind your head with dampning material). Spread speakers as far apart as possible and sit within an isoceles triangle configuration (even with or a little closer than the speakers are apart). Speakers shoul be at least 18" from the side walls and 2 to 3 feet from the back wall (test for slap echo by walking out from the back wall while talking until your voice goes dull and you hear yourself across the room). Angle the speakers in only enough to achieve realistic imaging and depth...do not go for pinpoint placement as it will decrease dynamics and shrink the soundstage along with hardening the tonal balance.
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