Impossible? Small towers, efficient, musical, loud


I've been reading on threads here for different speakers that sound good with rock, which is my primary pleasure. But I am also a lover of high fidelity and do not want to compromise on sound quality, so this isn't necessarily about speakers that just sound good with rock. My situation may be a paradox or impossible, but I'm hoping I can be enlightened favorably. I'm looking for smallish floorstanders that are tube friendly, placement friendly, and can still sound nice and full at reasonable to loud levels.

Room is an open design roughly 23' wide, 12' deep and vaulted ceilings 8-12' high. Listening area is 15' wide as opposed to the 23'. Speakers must go along the wide wall at 10' apart, one speaker is in a corner. Listening position is 10' from the speakers. I can pull the speakers out at most 2' away from the walls, depending on how large the cabinets are.

Associated gear:
Cary Rocket 88R (30w triode/60w ultralinear)
Promitheus passive TVC Ref 4
Eastern Electric minimax cd

The amp and the TVC are new, haven't yet received them yet in fact but will be replacing my current gear.

Current speakers are Usher 6381, large speakers that I believe are too big for my room. With the tiny amount I can pull them away from the walls, staging is pretty flat, though surprisingly I haven't had any issues with bass boom. Hoping to put them up for sale/trade soon and wanted some feedback on what I should be looking at.

I was considering something like the smaller Silverlines (though they may not be good enough) or perhaps some Devore's. Above all I value musical speakers that emanate a sense of realism. I don't require subterranean bass, just a natural, full sound that doesn't sound wanting without a sub. Musicality is key.

Thanks in advance
tholt
I agree with Goat's general statement re: Merlins not being the first choice for rock music (and, in particular the VSM SE that I suggested) because of less "thump" below app 100hz.. But, but, but...

Your desription of the sound in your room and the required set up suggests that you may have too much energy in the bass region due to speaker/room interaction. Hence my suggestion of a "non-rock optimized" speaker for a rock music fan. BTW, the Merlins are tremendously dynamic through the presence region ("jump" factor), particularly with some tube amps that ride the impedence curve a bit.

Marty

PS One other thing to consider is a tuned Hemholz resonator like the bassbuster. If you have 10 or 20db too much energy from 80ish hz to 150 or 200hz - a reasonable guess - these devices can help a ton.
Oops, your post says NO ISSUE with bass boom - I misread it. My bad. As Emily Litella put it "never mind".

Marty
my 2 cents..keep the ushers and move them a bit...they're great even in a smaller room. a cary or other active pre would firm up the bassand put entire the presentation in order.....nice system.
Sorry you didnt ask for this but have you thought about room correction??? Tact makes some cool stuff that sounds like it would help you reach hi fidelity nirvana.
I have a room that is very similar to yours. I cannot speak for rock as I'm not really a fan, but I use very efficient Coincident Super Eclipse III's which I feel are well suited to the room. One suggestion; have you tried bringing your speakers closer together? You may find the soundstage improves. You are probably listening right up against the back wall from your description. Check out this thread for some further input on this - specifically for options on treating the room. I'd highly recommend the Coincident speakers, but I'd qualify that by reiterating I don't listen to much rock. I'd imagine they'd do very well, but you should ask someone who uses them for that purpose. They do well with both tube and SS amplification. I have also used Silvirline Sonatina's and they did work quite well in my room too, and I did like them very much, but I prefer the Coincidents for their fuller range among other qualities. I would check to see if you can get the room working in your favor before you go changing speakers though.

Good luck!