Best Speaker for audiophile-grade small room rig

I had a room of almost identical dimensions and had tremendous success with Aerial Acoustics Model 5s. They're perfect for nearfield listening. Most speakers need some distance between you and them to integrate properly and to tame the tweeter. The tweeter on the Model 5 is one of the best I've ever heard. Smooth, airy and...oh, so extended.

Stay away from ported speakers. They'll only frustrate you. If you need the bottom two octaves use a subwoofer (REL Strata?).

In my opinion, the Aerials are head and shoulders above the rest of the above recommendations with the exception perhaps of the ProAc 1SC or Harbeth Compact 7ES, but I believe the Aerial Model 5 is better suited to such a small room and would be an excellent match with your electronics.

Let us know what you end up with.

My vote spendors...great 3-d imaging and transparency...I own Green Mountain Europas...which are awesome...but they do require a bigger room...at any rate...a number of Brit monitors come to mind...Harbeth,Castle,Rogers, and Linn...good luck...

I suggest either the Dynaudio Special 25 or the Totem Mani-2
both are highly regarded. For my taste, I also like rock and
female vocalist (Enya & Patricia Barber)so I prefer the Mani-2. I got a pair after reading the Stereophile review, first time that I have purchase a pair of speakers without hearing them. The bass is incredible deep and tight, mid and hi are top class. Good luck.

I have posted in the past on best small monitors. Look at Penaudio. They offer a progressive growth listening system concept that allows you to build your system based upon price and sound all within the same footprint. Their $1500 Rebel 2 are an excellent starting point. Joe Abrams of Portal Audio is their US importer. I have been using their Chrisma monitor for a year and will never change. Send me an e-mail off line if you want more info.

I concur with Cellorover on the Penaudio speakers. They are brand new to the US but the little suckers are an amazing speaker with a very dynamic and natural sound. Contact Joe Abrams he is a great guy.

Good luck