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Big speakers in small room at moderate volume levels

My office is 11’W x 10’L x 9’H and is where I can listen to music for the next few years. I have a toddler and, for now, he has commanded the big spaces in the rest of the house. I have auditioned the Magico A3 and wanted to buy it but that was before I was relegated to the smallish office (I was expecting to move to a bigger room). I have removed the closet doors in this office room. The removal of the closet door gives me another 4 feet of depth to this room, though for only 1/2 width of the room. I can sit unobstructed 8 feet away from the speakers before I hit the area where the closet ends (so near field listening).

I currently I have KEF LS50 with Peachtree Nova 150. It is good and I can listen for the whole day without fatigue. I listen to FM, digital files on ROON, and my Sony SCD-1 SACD player. I want a bigger sound so I am looking at bigger speakers. I also do not want to use a sub since I am not a fan. I will also upgrade the NOVA 150 to the NOVA 500 in Spring 2019 and use with the LS50’s in a bedroom.

I came to the conclusion that my tastes would be best served by one of KEF Reference 1 or Magico A3. I was thinking that I would use the Lyngdorf 3400 in this room but I am having seconds thoughts on this now (some A’gon comments that it maybe a little dry). I am interested in solid state AB units like the Hegel H590 and Mark Levinson 585 to drive the speakers. I have heard the ML 585 and it is a fatigue free sounding unit that was a joy to listen to. I have not heard the Hegel H590 yet (but have heard other Hegels with KEF) and I am in the process of getting an audition of the H590. I have also discounted the class AB Micromega M-One 150 (with MARS room correction) because I do not want a cooling fan blowing in the room.

I must mention that I do not listen that loud when I am working and when I am working very late at night the volume is very low. The Mark Levinson and A3 combo was very good at low volumes during my demo but that was in the dealers perfect large room.

1) Am I making a mistake foregoing room correction with the 2 integrateds I am considering? Should I go with the Lyngdorf and A3 or KEF Ref 1, though I have never heard the Lyngdorf?

2) Will the Magico A3 work in this small room at moderate volumes WITHOUT room correction or will I subject myself to headaches and fatigue?

I am going to ask the dealer selling the A3’s this question when I am ready to buy but i wanted to ask on A’gon first to get some feedback. I doubt I could get the A3’s into my room for a trial but I have not asked the dealer yet.

I think (not 100% sure) the KEF Reference 1 with a non room correcting amp should work in my office space but I would prefer to buy the Magico A3 for the office. I have plans to buy another KEF model once my kid is a bit older and I can kick him out of the big room.
yyzsantabarbara
pokey77
1,269 posts
 
@yyzsantabarbara 

Although I've not used the, yet anyway, I've heard nothing but good about GIK.
crosstrek
2 posts
 

@yyzsantabarbara

I had LS50 + Parasound Halo Integrated for almost two years.

Upgraded to Kef Reference 1 + Hegel H190.

My room is rather small and doesn’t have good acoustic.

I'm thinking to replace Hegel with the Lyngdorf 3400, specially for room correction.

I cannot say anything negative about the Hegel, sounds better than Halo in my configuration.

I don't know if I will be able to achieve better sound with Lyngdorf 3400 + Ref1.

Too bad I cannot get 3400 for demo at home. ;-)


yyzsantabarbara OP
4,941 posts
 
@crosstrek I conversed with someone on A'Gon who had the KEF R1 and the Lyngdorf in a room around my size and he was raving about the quality of sound he had.

I wanted to try to correct my room outside of DSP before I try DSP. Along that vein, I just completed a transaction with  GIK acoustics for room treatments. They looked at my A'Gon photos and gave me a quote. I called them up and we spoke for about 45 minutes. In the end I spent  a little under $1000.00 (including shipping).  I will have these items a little after Christmas.

With the treated room as a baseline I will try to do some home demos. The guy on the GIK side mentioned to me that I may have more options in speakers now than I was considering before.

I will post pictures of the treated room. 
tatyana69
269 posts
 
I do not understand why the Kef blades speakers are recommended. Plenty of much better speakers out there for that price. From direct experience I could name quite a few!
djfst
169 posts
 
Something like the Marten Django L would work well.  They are always paired with Zests audio gear at shows and sound wonderful in smaller hotel rooms.  The fuller size XL's would be too much in the small room, so the L's and other similar manufacturers that have an intermediate sized speaker would work.  Sonus Faber Olympica II would also be a consideration (in-between the Olympics I monitor and the larger III model).  The companies that offer an intermediate model would be what I'd look into.  
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