Help Deciding On New Speakers For Small Room, $10k budget


Hello everyone! A brief background. For the first time in my life, I have a dedicated room for listening! šŸ™Œ Iā€™m very excited about it. However, itā€™s not very big. Something is better than nothing though. Previously I always lived in apartments and had to primarily listen on headphones. The room size is 10 feet by 11 feet with 10 foot ceilings, almost a perfect square. It has already been professionally sound treated with many panels from Gik Acoustics. So despite its tricky sizing, it should be all set up for a proper experience! And I already have a nice chain, a McIntosh MC52 Preamp and Primare Power Amp and CD Player with a Holo Audio May KTE. Oh, I also have a Rel A7X subwoofer.

I unfortunately have a disability that makes it very difficult for me to travel. I cannot easily just go to a hifi store and try things. I also live kinda in the middle of nowhere. But Iā€™m a former professional musician and music is my life, and I want to feel connected to my music as much as I can, so Iā€™m willing to invest into it. I have a budget of about $10k give or take $1k or so. I donā€™t mind looking at used options in like new condition.

A little about my hearing preferences: I am very sensitive to high frequencies, specifically around 7k-10k. For reference, every hifi headphone Iā€™ve ever used made me wince because the high frequencies are too pronounced. I just put up with it because I didnā€™t have a choice, but Iā€™ve noticed that with speakers Iā€™m usually not so sensitive to them so Iā€™m excited to go down this journey and enjoy my music listening more. I like powerful, punchy bass, and generally prefer a warmer sound signature, however, even though my ears are sensitive to higher frequencies, I love a nice crisp and realistic cymbal sound. In general, as a musician, I think Iā€™d love something that sounds ā€œtrue to lifeā€ because I have obviously a lot of experience hearing instruments live. I mostly listen to jazz (because Iā€™m a jazz musician) but I also love music of all genres like rock, electronic, pop, soul, alternative, and occasionally K-Pop too, Iā€™m pretty open minded. So something that is a good all-rounder might also be nice. Writing this all out, I now think I might be asking for the moon though, so letā€™s just say jazz and realistic instruments is my main priority šŸ˜‡


So with all that said, I would greatly appreciate your suggestions. Iā€™ve been looking at Focalā€™s line of Kanta and Sopra but Iā€™ve heard they are bright. Iā€™ve heard B&W but I donā€™t think their house sound is for me, again too bright. Ā Also debating between bookshelves and small floor standers for a smallish room. Iā€™ve been looking also at Canton, Dali, Tannoy and Wharfdale, but Iā€™m not as familiar with the speaker world as I am the headphone or IEM world, so Iā€™m quite open to ideas. Thank you so much and best wishes on the evening of this crazy time Iā€™m in the U.S.!

cookiecurls

@cookiecurls - I recommend checking out the Buchardt line of speakers. They are Danish and sell direct to the consumer. I own the Buchardt S400 Mkii and use them in my office which is pretty small. They recommend at least 50 watts to drive them.

The sound of the speakers leans towards the being warm. And the bass on the speakers is incredible given their size. I highly recommend them. They just came out with a new E50 speaker which is a more premium version, but Iā€™ve not heard them. R

There are plenty of reviews online to check out. By the way, they are easily in your budget!Ā 

Based on your listening preferences, Harbeth should be right up your alley. The C7es should work great in your room.

Joseph Audio pulsar2 graphine. Would be an absolutely perfect speaker for what youā€™re looking for!

PureAudioProject open baffle speakers are an interesting recommendation made above. Ā The smaller models, like the Trio 15 with something like the horn midrange/tweeter module might work. Ā I have not heard these speakers in as small a room ss you have, which is why I said ā€œmightā€ work. Ā Open baffle speakers need at least two feet of space behind then, and ideally, more than that. Ā The Trio is a fantastically good speaker well within your budget.

Charney Audio makes some extremely good sounding speakers that work well in small rooms. Ā Iā€™ve only heard several versions of their Companion model, which is beyond your budget, so I donā€™t know how well their lower-price models work, But I am hopeful.

My best bet would be Audio Note speakers. Ā Their big speakers, the AN-E are actually quite compact and fit in the corner of the room, but they are probably too big in terms of bass response, so look at the smaller AN-J or AN-K models. Ā Within each model type, there are many options that can take one well past your budget, but, there will be something within budget. Ā There is nothing harsh or bright Ā about any of their speakers. Ā These speakers are normally used with low and medium-powered tube gear, but they sound good with almost anything.

Ā I would go with standmounts or small towers with twin subs to give you the bass you want. Ā I Also am sensitive to sibilant sound with my old guy ears. Ā Consider beryllium tweeters. Ā I have a pair of Revel M126Be on stands with a pair of subs in a similar sized room and it sounds great. Ā Revel has 226 towers too that are smaller towers if you want to avoid stands.Ā