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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
james63
534 posts
 
yyzsantabarbara,

The vivids look nice but I always ignored them due to price. I have the opposite issue as you with a 27’x25’x7.5’ deticated room (real estate is cheap in Ohio). I have the setup off center and a carefully selected seating position to help with the square room issue.

Low bass seems fine in my room but I struggle to get good mid bass impact and really need big speakers and that gets pricy (good and big…). With my duel subs I have a good bit of flexibility on speaker choice but the A3 is probably the smallest speaker I would go with.

For what it is worth when I was remodeling I put a pair of B&W 803s (not D) in a 12’x11’x8’ room and was really surprised that it sounded fine. I am sure the bass was lumpy but I remember thinking it was pretty enjoyable honestly with great impact in the mid bass. However I did not know much back then and it was my first “real” set of speakers which I grew to hate lol (too harsh).
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,080 posts
 
I would say this popular thread benefits from your extensive writing on the learning / personal journey of discovery while you solve some unique issues with demanding requirements- people are investing in helping you and learning themselves...

to that end i had another reason to read the Lyndorf 3400 manual

it has extensive filters for high Pass as well as frequency response smoothing DSP

you should be able to set a first order filter at 40 HZ or so and fix some room gain issues 
yyzsantabarbara OP
4,975 posts
 
I made a change to the furniture in the room. I got rid of the desk facing the speakers. I can get by with out it. I am also going to remove the ugly 30 year old side table I have near the right speaker. The cable modem and other wires will go to the ground.

Listening to Muddy Waters "Hard Again" sounds much improved now. It sounds like a big desk has been removed from in front of the speakers. A brilliant move on my part.

I must say that at the moment the LS50’s are sounding alight. It would be interesting to try it with better amplification but I am not going to diverge from my plans to do that. I will get the Harbeth SHL5+ for a home demo in 3-4 weeks with my Pearchtree Nova 150. This will show me the character of the Harbeth and also show how a bigger speaker sounds in the acoustically treated room.

I will post photos soon when I install the acoustic treatments that should be in transit to my home.

@James63 I demoed the A3 at Brooks Berdan in Los Angeles area. The room may have been 3/4 your size. That room sounded great with A3 and Mark Levinson gear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmTf0K6iJ3s

Happy New Year to all.
gosta's avatar
gosta
839 posts
 
It may have been said in earlier posts but Lyngdorf 3400 in addition to automatic correction and eq curves also has manual dsp correction. So you are actually able to get whatever sound you like. If you want subs to do the low parts the crossover facility in Lyngdorf amps is very good. A much cheaper but powerful alternative would be the new XTZ edge amp paired with an Antimode 2.0. No crossovers though. 
yyzsantabarbara OP
4,975 posts
 
@gosta Thanks for the feedback.

I wrote an update to this thread but I seem to have suffered the posting gremlins in the new A'Gon catcha selections. Let me test this post and then try again (condensed version).
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