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Need Small Bookshelf Speakers With a Big Sound

Good morning.  I have been out of any kind of audiophile circles for a long time.  We moved into a house with built-in speakers about 5 years ago, which I really enjoy, but of course it's better for casual listening at a party than for quality listening.  Our family room is in a pretty open space that borders our living room and kitchen, so my wife is very focused on speakers being unobtrusive in appearance.  I was therefor looking for small speakers and got turned onto KEF LS50s, which sounded really nice for the price, and more than good enough for my desires.  And they are small.  But I didn't really focus on their "untraditional" looks.  It turns out that was a deal-breaker when I brought them home to demo.

So, I am back to square one.  What I would really like is a speaker that is about the size of the LS50s, or maybe a little bigger, and has a nice looking, traditional wood finish.  Bright colors and artificial surfaces, no matter how good they sound, need not apply...

I would say my self-imposed budget is around $2,000 at the top.  Unless new speakers leads me down the audiophile slippery slope, the speakers would be powered by my old Adcom 545 II amp and GTP 500 II tuner, with either an Adcom CD changer or Apple TV streaming the music.  Not exactly Audiogon Best In Class, but I think it will bring a smile to my face.  And you never know if this will lead to upgrading the whole shebang.

Any thoughts appreciated.  Not that it matters, but I am in the Chicagoland area.
chiguy
dylanfan's avatar
dylanfan
139 posts
 
Look at Dynaudio. Excite 14 for 1500.00. Same price and I like them better. I have both. Dynaudio have a lot of great speakers in their line. I also have Contour 1.1’s they are smoother and have more bass but I prefer the highs on the Excite 14's. I also have the 12's and they are an earlier version that became the 14's. They have a slightly bigger one in the excite line but I have never heard it.
erik_squires
16,041 posts
 
You could build the LM-1 for around $500. Aesthetically they look like the cabinet. :) With a brand on them they would be around $1,200 to $1,800 depending on whose label was on it.

The tweeter is the same as used by some megabuck speakers, including Krell, old Magicos and Sonus Faber and others. The woofer is a find for the price range. Inside, go as fancy as you want to. ( I may have the list a little wrong, but not the prices! This is a great tweeter found in several $5k+ speakers)

Overall, it's a sensitive speaker with a lively midrange, and very smooth sounding treble. Objectively VERY neutral and will play anything well. You cannot hear their location when well placed, and throw a great sound stage. In a lot of music you also won't hear how small they are, but hey, they're small, so for movies and R&R you'll want a sub.

If you have any questions while building, come to DIYAudio’s Multiway forum.

Also one of the best kits ever in terms of documentation. No tricks either, the crossover is very high quality without attempting to juice any part of the spectrum. Frequency response is as neutral as you can get, and (within it’s performance envelope) very low distortion.

The biggest advantage, aside from cost, is being able to tweak the treble/bass balance yourself. You won’t find yourself trying to trade them for less or more treble or better cables. :-)

I make no money if you build them or not. I am promoting audio education by encouraging audiophiles and kids to build their own.

Best,


Erik
chiguy OP
17 posts
 
Thanks!  The Dynaudio are nice and small.  And a Chicago-based company.  Will have to check them out.


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