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smaller speakers for critical listening?

I'm curious whether folks out here think that standmount speakers can reward "critical listening." 

I know that may be a ridiculous question; of course one can sit down with Radio Shack speakers and engage in serious listening, and of course the experience is subjective for all of us. I'm actually asking for subjective responses here. If your goal is a system for critical listening, do you think smaller speakers can do the trick or do you need the bigger soundstage and depth that can come with floor-standing, planar, or electrostatic speakers? 

I'm not asking which is *better* in a given speaker line, the small ones or the big ones, and I'm not thinking about $50k Wilson-Benesch Endeavours or the like. Before the pandemic I auditioned some highly enjoyable standmount speakers in the $5k-$10k range. However, listening for an hour in a store, I couldn't tell whether they crossed the threshold from "terrific sound for a small speaker" to pull-up-a-chair-and-tune-out-the-world bliss.

As you can probably tell, I'm struggling with my room; it's very hard to place big speakers in it. Otherwise I'd buy Maggies or Vandersteens or JA Perspectives, etc, and be happy. And, to repeat, I know that the threshold for critical-listening speakers is subjective. I'm asking for opinions and experiences!
northman
tuberculin
86 posts
 
@northman

I have a small room, 11X12. Just due to space constraints I went with stand mounted monitors made by ATC. I think if the selection of speaker provides an accurate representation of the music it will work well for critical listening. I critically listen near field, The sound stage is as wide as the room. I couldn’t ask for anything else. I don’t want my room to sound like Symphony Hall as it would be more difficult to suspend my disbelief, but with the small room that I have, chock full of speakers and subs, equipment and record racks I still have an excellent sound stage and can hear every detail even at low volume levels.

It’s not the best to be sure. When Jim Smith of Get Better Sound saw the layout he almost croaked. We muddled through the setup and I couldn’t be more pleased. If I had the space I would have a bigger room with bigger speakers and a bigger sound stage. Alas, that will have to wait for my next time around.
scooby22
2 posts
 
The new Kef LS50 META is a KILLER speaker! I have them in my system now for evaluation and I can tell you these are not your daddy's old LS50. The new meta damping technology is something special as I've owned the LS50 in the past and this is almost a very different speaker. Out of the box, they sound like pizza boxes. Give them some power for a few days of break-in and they BLOSSOM! Imaging, sound staging, transparency, detail, extension, cohesiveness---they are an outright steal at $1500 list. 5 star! And if you get a pair from Amazon, you have until Jan 31, 2021 to return them if you don't like them. But buy them from your local dealer and keep them 'cause they are THAT GOOD.
paul77e's avatar
paul77e
32 posts
 
Bought a pair of (used) Joesph Audio Pulsar, for my small living room (apartment) and am done looking. I am 75 years and have been looking for decades.
zeeshanb
29 posts
 
If you are considering Harbeth P3ESR, then please have a listen to the Proac Tablette 10 Signature. I compared it, not side by side unfortunately, and preferred the Proac. Your preference may be different. Both are very good speakers for its size.
hce1
60 posts
 
I  used to have a much larger listening room in a much larger home, and spent a lot of time with two of the floor standers you mentioned, Maggie 1.6s and Vandersteen 2a signatures, driven by fully modified Counterpoint amp and pre-amp. Six or seven years ago my wife and I downsized to a condo in which I simply haven’t room for a system like that. I  bought a full service integrated amp, with both phono section and dac, and bookshelf speakers. I spent a tremendous amount of time auditioning speakers at regional stores and two AXPONA shows. I settled on a pair Reference 3a MM de Capos, which are time corrected like the Vandersteens. I think they share many qualities with them as well as with the Maggies. Of course, you sacrifice the soundstage, but, with a small sub, they produce a similarly smooth, natural, even believable musical landscape. I encourage you to seek out opportunity to audition them.
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