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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
yyzsantabarbara OP
4,917 posts
 
@tomic601 Thanks for the demoing tunes. I am not too good on remembering audiophile demo music but I do have a few standards that test the kid enjoyment factor in me, such as Rush -  YYZ  | Tom Sawyer and Rolling Stones - Slave. If the those tunes don't sound good or make me happy then there is no point in continuing. I should really keep a list of speaker test tunes like the ones you mentioned.

I am thinking over the pros and cons of the DSP stuff I heard and even though I hated the amp section of the Lyngdorf I am inclined to buy the even more expensive Lyngdorf 3400 just for the DSP preamp and the XLR analogue out to the external amps. That part sounded extremely good to me during the demo. I will work with the dealer to figure this out, but it is good to have a solution in the back pocket. Lyngdorf seems to have discontinued some of the  DSP products that do not have the amplification built-in. The dealer seems to prefer the Linn SELEKT DSM system. I will see if he can convince me why that maybe better. The Linn has the perfect configuration for the digital preamp options I need. The Anthem ARC2 should also be discussed with the dealer.

As much as I loved the Persona 5F I am thinking it is may not be a long hours office type of speaker. I was a little under the weather yesterday so I need to do another demo of the Persona. I will listen to this again with DSP on at the dealer maybe in a smaller room. It did not help to mess up my head in the beginning with those bad sound issues. I also need to eat a meal before I demo, not the best way to do this eating chocolates.

So down to 5 speakers:

Harbeth HLS5+  (not a small stand mount)
Vandersteen Treo CT
Paradigm Persona 3F (does not sound like KEF to me)
Vivid Kaya 45  (Sounds a bit like KEF to me)
Yamaha NS5000 (not a small stand mount)
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,969 posts
 
Spouse ( mine )

” OMG not another pair of speakers....”

me

” I dunno, I had a cold, strung out on peppermint bark dark chocolates, I was weak..,. How do they sound ?

ha

gdnrbob
4,452 posts
 
Haha.😜
B
gosta's avatar
gosta
839 posts
 
Very curious of what you end up with. Please keep on posting. Would give a lot to hear those speakers. They're a bit different I suppose. Not sure why you got such a bad impression of the Lyngdorf. Find their amps (I have the 2400 model) very neutral with the capacity to drive problematic speakers without any stress. The xover functionality is very important for me since I use big ATCs as mains but also a lot of other speakers which I pair with the ATC 15 inch woofers. Recently though I have begun to use the new and very cheap XTZ Edge d class amp to drive some speakers with very good result (which means I don't think of the amp at all - it's just a wire with gain). 


yyzsantabarbara OP
4,917 posts
 
@tomic601  You are mocking my audio demoing skills. The chocolate was good though. BTW - I sent the following chocolates to a few friends and family last week. They are incredible (from Japan). Bring these home next time you buy some speakers and you are OK, 

https://order.royceconfectusa.com/collections/gift-set/products/signature-nama-chocolate-bundle

@gosta It was not just me that found the amp lacking on the Lyngdorf. Both the dealer and I thought it sounded rather poor. We actually both cheered  when we heard the same song on the Simaudio.

Some awesome news by the dealer I went to see in Woodland Hill, CA Shelley's Stereo

REGARDING THE LINN/LYNGDORF A/B DEMO

After you left the store I was actually thinking that I should get the SELEKT, TDAI, and even the Anthem STR amps all into the same space, calibrate them and then have you listen to each one on and off. So I definitely want to do that, and I think your idea of having them in our “conference room” for this is probably best since it is a tough room.
Their conference room has 2 large banks of glass walls and is a bit bigger than my office. If the DSP can tame that room then DSP works.
This will be an incredible demo. Not sure when I will schedule this.


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