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Which monitors for my tube system in a large room?

Hi guys,

I was completely happy with my system---Devore Nines, Leben CS300XS---when I got blindsided by a new apartment and a new baby. Between those two life-changing factors, my space and time to listen to the system have shrunk. In this apartment the rig has to live in the living/dining room, which means the Nines are suddenly Too Big---not purely WAF, I also concede that they are looming weirdly over my shoulder when I'm eating dinner a few feet away.

Luckily, I can keep them---I will move them across town to the studio where I work, which from now on will be my serious private listening space, and where I'll build a new system around them (the fun silver lining.)

At home I don't want to give up having a serious setup, even if it will have to be used more for background-listening. My plan is to keep the Leben, which I love, and get some bookshelf speakers with stands, which won't be as imposing as the Nines. Obviously there will be a sacrifice in bass and so on, but maybe I'll have fun and discover the joys of smaller monitors!

They will need to work well with the 15w Leben, and the ability to play well from corners is a plus. They will be positioned on the short wall of an 18x21' room with 8' ceilings. I won't be listening very loud in the home setup, and at least for a few years probably won't be up late doing serious solo listening. I just want musicality and listenability.

To that end, been thinking about small models from Omega, Spendor, Coincident, Proac, Usher. I live in NYC and can demo some of these, others not.

Any advice?

Thanks so much in advance for your ruminations!
price
price OP
31 posts
 
Thanks guys. I should definitely give the 3 XLs a listen, I don't know why it never occurred to me.

I should say that there are a lot of great small speakers out there; my main concern is their capability as compared to the room and the low-power amp. I should say that the room is actually more like 18x25', as it opens into a kitchen, and it has three more large openings into other areas (5 foot wide each). So I'm looking for a speaker that punches above its weight and is still a very small item.
price OP
31 posts
 
Bjesien: It's more that the baby completely scrambled my habits. Somehow I had envisioned me rocking the little one to sleep while listening to music, but that was naive. Suddenly my schedule is totally upside down. Also, the 'family room' got a lot more chaotic; with two people I could still get away with just sitting in the room listening to something with total attention, but now... It's just not what our home is about any more. Luckily I have somewhere else to take that hobby.
jcote
100 posts
 
You should check out the Monitor Audio series as well...either the GS10 or PL100.
dover
2,243 posts
 
Hi, I'm a big fan of the Proac Tablettes, you might cringe but you can fill the sound out with a small powered subwoofer tucked away. After a long trip round Proac EBS, Apogees, Martin Logans and finally Tannoy 15's I now realise how musical the little Proacs ( 1st speaker ) are if you match them well. The Harbeths 30's I;ve heard on the leben sounded fantastic but didn't open up and fill out until you wound the volume up. This is possibly a point to consider, if you are in an apartment and are listening at lower levels. The Spendors - the older models such as the SP1 sound much more musical and are fuller sounding than the latest ones - you might want to consider these. The others to consider are compact floor standers ( no ugly stands ) - Proac 140's or Dynaudio 1.8's maybe. Finally 2 classics - original Linn Kans and Rogers LS3/5A.
jdoris
972 posts
 
I think there's something to be said for Bjesien's concern about youngins and stand-mounted speakers.

One way to get a less looming physical presence would be a near-wall floorstander, like North Creek's Big Kat, which is a slender box that can go very close to walls (around 4k with lovely custom boxes, and an afternoon of easy DIY). I have the Kat's little brother, the Eska, and it is very unobtrusive and decor friendly, as well as sounding lovely. I'd expect the Big Kat, which I've not heard, to easily compete with the Nines, and to have some of what you like in the them. They are claimed to dare well with tubes.
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