Budget Speakers for a small living room


Hi guys,

I've posted here some time last year searing for a setup for a new place I was moving to but things didn't work out and I was stuck in my dorm.

I'm graduating soon and finally moving into an apartment of my own with my fiancé.

We've got a small living room that's about 11ft by 11ft. I'm looking for budget speakers that could fit this environment. Primary use would be for audio but we would also like to use them for the TV and for movies as well.

My source would be a Mac running iTunes with ALAC and 320AACs. Would have to stream the music using probably an Airport Express. I don't have any other electronics at the moment, so please do chime in with ideas on amps/preamps and DACs too if you can. But right now I'm looking to build the system with speakers in mind first.

My first option was the Audioengine A5+ since it's cheap and the option of a subwoofer exists for movies but I'm not sure if it'd provide good quality sound for a larger space (since it was made with desktops/near field listening in mind). Or possible the Epoz Aktimate mini, which I was impressed with when I auditioned it, but it's been a long time since then.

The other options was to get a cheap T-Amp like the Trends Audio and pair it with a Paradigm Atom, Wharfedale Diamonds or for more money something like the Monitor Audio BX2.

As you can see from the options I'm looking at right now, my budget is paltry =( Something like $500 tops for speakers alone.

Looking forward to your suggestions.

Btw, I am looking at the used market, unfortunately I'm in Singapore right now and shipping speakers here costs a small fortune. The local forums have some options available but they aren't that fantastic. The fiancé also prefers that we buy new gear rather than vintage sadly.
milesandcoltrane
Milesandcoltrane - I've bought three pair of the Cambridge S30's. One was for a system for one of my daughters where they're used with an Onkyo A-5VL integrated that has a very nice built-in DAC with Burr-Brown PCM1796 chips. The second was for some friends who wanted a receiver so I bought a Pioneer Elite XS-A6-J for them. That's a very impressive amp with typical Elite build quality and a smooth, articulate sound, another real bargain like the S30's. The third pair are in my basement being driven by a DIY chip amp.

I've tried them in my living room system driven by a Simaudio I-5 LE and one of the impressive things about them is that even with an amp that cost 16 times what the S30's cost they still sound way better than their price would indicate.
@sfar - Wow, those are some wonderful words for the S30. That just bumped it up my audition list =) Funny you should mention the Onkyo A-5VL. I did audition that amp with the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 last year. Was keen on it because of the built in DAC. That setup didn't blow me away unfortunately. It sounded pretty good on simple acoustic tracks with 3-4 instruments like Jazz trios and stuff. However it started breaking up and sounded less coherent in busier passages. I think it was Art Blakey's Night In Tunisia. In some parts of that track you've got horns, the piano and the drums and cymbals going pretty fast - that setup just couldn't deliver the sound with ease. I was driving this from my Macbook Pro at the time - Lossless files hooked up optically to the Onkyo.

That Pioneer elite amp you mentioned is quite pricey at about 600ish retail. But will look into it.

Would you advise one of Cambridge Audio's integrates with the S30? Perhaps the Azur 340/350A or one of the Topaz amps possibly?

@Donjr - Ah Epos, seems to be quite highly regarded. Was also thinking of the ELS3 since the price is very affordable.

@Cdc - Yes I do like netural - if that refers to a natural sounding setup. Very often people refer to a setup that's natural and to my ears it ends up sounding bright =( That was mostly for headphones though. I have very limited experience with speakers.