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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
willemj
1,036 posts
 
For me too it would be the Harbeth P3ESR. If more low frequency extension were required I would add two small subwoofers, tucked away somewhere and kept in check by a DSpeaker Antimode 8033 room eq. My P3ESRs are on my desktop, but I did try them in my main system with a B&W PV1d - they integrated perfectly. They like a bit of amplifier power. In my study that is a refurbished Quad 405-2 and for the experiment in the main system in my big living room it was a Quad 606-2.
smrex13
645 posts
 
Couldn't agree more on the P3s.  It does things that seem impossible for their size, and they sound like music.  Easy to listen for hours but still focus on the details in the music if you want to.  
courant
119 posts
 
Not sure if the OP is still on the market...

If the issue with the LS50 was the Orange Doily, KEF does have other colors available (or at least they used to). I almost purchased a pair of LS50s that had a Black Enclosure but with the a Blue Baffle. I instead purchased the Sonus Faber Venere 2.0 in Walnut. I'm using them in a Media Room. They have a more forward and fuller sound compared to the Harbeths, which works great for movies.

When you have a moment, consider calling Kurt at Echo Audio to see what kind of alternative colors are available for the LS50. Also, I'm not affiliated with Echo (but I can say that they're legit, and have become a semi-frequent magnet for my disposable income).
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