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Suggestions for Full Range Speakers up to 10K

Hi Everyone,
I am new here and I am working on a home theater/2 channel combined living room setup.  My room is shared with a kitchen (island counter separates kitchen from living room).  My original plan was to convert my 2 car garage into a home theater as I have a walk in cooler there with 5 beer taps through the wall. My wife is not fond of the garage idea, but I think I could convince her to do a full 2 channel setup out there and leave the HT setup in the living room where it is now.  But in the meantime, I'll continue getting the living room dialed in.

My setup is as follows:

Marantz AV7704 pre
Marantz MM8807 amp - currently pushing my center channel, sides and rears. No height speakers at this time.
Peachtree Nova300 - currently doing double duty pushing floor standing fronts using HTB for the HT usage.  I understand this is not the highest end, but you have to start somewhere, and it actually sounds pretty nice, even if the buttons are flimsy-ish.

Fronts are ML Motion 40's, center is ML Motion 30, sides and rears are older Aperion bookshelves that I plan to upgrade down the road, but they are sounding ok for these duties for the time being. I like the combination of the 40's with the Nova300, as I run though the DAC into this amp via USB-B in from a Mac with all my FLAC files on it. Sounds decent to my ears and is more than loud enough but I think the mid and low end needs a bit more presence though. 

Room is 16' x 24' but opens into a kitchen and has a hallway leading to the back part of the house where bedrooms are. My main wall with my projector screen on it and all my components is about 12 feet wide as I have a desk in the corner and a kitchen counter on the opposite side.  Ceilings are beamed, and I have multiple bay windows that are covered with shades.  I would say the room is harder than softer with respect to sound reflection versus absorption.

My thinking is to add a full range speaker in the spaces between the center channel and Motion 40's, which is about 22" of space to work with, up to 46" tall (bottom of my screen) and 30" deep. I was originally considering a pair of subs in this space, but having them able to do double duty for music and HT seems more difficult to deal with as most subs have the controls on the back and I don't feel like reaching back there every time I want to go between HT and 2 channel work.  And frankly a good set of full range speakers shouldn't need a sub for 2 channel work. I think I will do one big sub later for HT use only, but I'd rather focus on the 2 channel part first. Another option is to replace the Motion 40's with a fuller sounding speaker altogether, but I figured since I have the extra room from the MM8077, I can push the Motion 40's from that amp and move over to a fuller sounding full range for my 2 channel application. 

I'd love to hear some expert opinions on what speakers would make sense for my application.

Thanks in advance.
irrenarzt
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,925 posts
 
Mtrot bingo. 

The Se are just outstanding, we have yet to find any speaker for the money that offers all of its attributes


Roberjermin, i sold Snell A3 at SBS in NY they are not competitive to todays better loudspeakers which are much more transparent, and image much more precisely your speakers have a natural midrange and are quite musical.

Your arguement about how little you paid is immaterial when your old speaker  breaks and you cant get replacement parts.

Mr Shutts agreed an excellent post.

We sell the entire Kef Ref line and they are superb you demonstrated that you have to work to accheive the sound you are after and too many people here are too quick to jump on change the new component bandwagon vs ameleorate what is not working.

Audio is a journey sometimes when you upgrade you have to change a bit more then you originally had thought.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ
mr_m
1,900 posts
 
Audiotroy,

Was just wondering. Are you one of  those guys that stand at a busy intersection with a cardboard sign with large arrow on it pointing to your store?????....:-)
jond's avatar
jond
6,052 posts
 
Check out the Audio Note AN-E size is right, efficient and easy to drive, can be placed in corners or close to walls. Prices start under your budget.
ricred1
2,082 posts
 
I just talked to Audiotroy yesterday. I’ve actually talked to him several times. He’s very knowledgeable and a very good person to talk to. He has never suggested that I sell my speakers, but instead has suggested several very affordable small tweaks. I don’t agree with everything he posts, but I respect him for his willingness to provide advice. There are a lot of dealers that won’t talk to "potential customers" over the phone. The high-end is full of very arrogant dealers. Despite how he comes across, I think he is very down to earth and has good intentions.
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,925 posts
 
Thank you Ricred1, I think you are a very good guy and have also good intentions.

One of the main reasons both I and Troy post is the dearth of just bad advice that is given on this site. From people endorsing out of business speaker companies, or impossible to demo products to products that just won't accomplish the OP stated goals. 

Or in the case of some people always recommending their speakers no matter if they would be something that the OP would like.

We endorse many different products and tailor our response to products that the OP may like that would fit into their application which is why we sell so many different brands of speakers and we like them all for different reasons, and for different listeners.

We sell the Paradigm Personas, the Legacy Focus and Aeris, the entire KEF line, ATC, Quad, Rethem, Cabasse, Elac, Dali, we are playing with the Bache speakers as well.  

Which is the "best" don't have one nor do we feel that the Persona is better than the Blade or the Aeris, they are three terrific loudspeakers that do thing differently,.  Their are too many dealers and or listeners that expect everone to subscribe to their choices, such as the Magie guy always recommending Maggies etc.

Our advice is for people to actually go and try to listen to these products for themselves. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ
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