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Very small room! Help me with monitor speakers

I am sure some of you are tired of reading all the similar posts asking for help picking the right monitor speakers, but with the risk of boring you, please read this one too! 

When I was really young, I was fascinated by very small salt-water aquariums full of vibrant, beautiful live plants and fish since I knew the smaller the tank, the harder it is to have the occupants stay alive, let alone do well and thrive. I experimented with building my own and was semi successful...  ;-)

I now find myself in a similar situation. I am trying to build a good sounding system in my very small (10 x 9 ft small!) office. Unlike many here, I don't have a big budget. I have painstakingly upgraded many parts in an old EL34 based tube amp (around 35 watts per channel) that I would like to use, or I could go with a Rotel 100W per channel solid state stereo amp depending on the speakers. For source, I'm using an Oppo DAC connected to my Mac for digital music (Flac and DSD files). I will be adding a turntable and phono preamp later. My current speakers are Martin Logan Motion 15 bookshelf speakers and while they sound okay, I feel there is a lot of room for improvement. I listen to many types of music, but  primarily Jazz, some mellow rock and old electronic music (the likes of Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk, The Art of Noise, etc.). I have done some acoustic treatments to my room which has helped. Speakers will be fairly close to the back-wall (around 1ft) and about 6-7 feet from each other.

I am looking for speakers under $2k, and here's what I am hoping for:
- Good sound at lower volumes since I listen a lot at nights, but with the ability to handle higher volumes when needed
- Large sound stage, revealing, a little warm, clean, and with high dynamics and definitely good with vocals

I am not looking for really analytical and super accurate speakers - I want to listen, relax and enjoy the music late at nights.
Since I can't go to stores and listen to different speakers, I've been reading a lot and feel these speakers could be good. If you have any real life experience with these, could you please tell me about what you liked and disliked and if they meet the criteria above? BTW, I am definitely open to buying used as well...

- LSA-10 Signature
- Silverline Minuet Grand
- Revel Performa3 M105
- Canton Reference 9k
- Xavian Perla Esclusiva

I appreciate all your comments and help!
rfarassat
oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
3,825 posts
 
They went plenty loud and.sounded great with 40 watts of EL34 goodness.  I also used them with a McCormack 125 and they didn't disappoint.     

They are one of the few small speakers I've used that maintain their composure at louder , more realistic levels.  They have really good bass for a small speaker , at night they were plenty satisfying without a sub.   With a really good sub I think the combo rivals more expensive floor standers.    
rfarassat OP
17 posts
 
oddiofyl, thank you, appreciate the info on the M106!
ryder
1,689 posts
 
Harbeth P3ESR if you can give the speakers some space from the wall behind.
Proac Tablette 10 Signature if the speakers need to be placed against the wall (or very close to the wall).
panzrwagn's avatar
panzrwagn
519 posts
 

Since you'll need stands for any speakers recommended, you might also consider a small footprint floor-stander intended for smaller rooms like the Monitor Audio Silver 200 7G. Designed to be placed near the back walls, it's dual port design allows you to adjust the bass for your specific room. Don't take my word, read this: https://www.whathifi.com/monitor-audio/silver-200/review 

My second choice would be the KEF R3. A much more livable speaker than it's super-analytical nearfield  monitor cousin, the LS-50. More restrained than the MAs, I still can't imagine anyone with a small room being disappointed with them.

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,911 posts
 

Vandersteen VLR , Larsen, Neat, Totem 

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