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

Given your requirements especially in the treble:

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odyssey audio Lorelei. $2900 and add a Rythmic sealed sub or two, if needed.Ā 
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https://odysseyaudio.com/lorelei-floorstanding-speaker/
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++++1 for Joseph Audio Pulsar Graphene if you choose stand mounts, they have been stellar every time I have heard them (dealer demo, audio show, or friends home)....and they seem to be a little more forgiving of electronics

If you like horns or hornĀ  hybrids, the Volit Lucera speakers are brilliant.....and amazing at placing you in the music. Downside: you will not be able to demo them, they are floor stand speakers, and at $11,5000.....$1,500 over your budget.

My next speakers to add to my collection (as of this writing) will be one of those 2 speakers.

You probably have enough suggestions but I'll throw in the speakers I have in my secondary system in a smallish room with no room for speaker stands: Nola Boxer S3s. I tried several other speakers in the room and had issues. I find this speaker to be a great all arounder that does everything well and would probably be even better if I could put them on stands. As it is, they are sitting on an entertainment console about one foot from the wall which is as far as I can push them away from the wall. Even in this less than ideal situation, they sound terrific. Here's a review linked:

https://positive-feedback.com/reviews/hardware-reviews/nola-boxer-s3-bookshelf-loudspeakers/

The DeVore Orangutan O/93 are really good. Should work great with jazz and in a smaller room.

DeVore Orangutan O/93 in a living room

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I personally have the Canton Reference 9K but the DeVores are better (and more expensive).

Someone mentioned Borresen X3 which I have not heard. The Borresen I did hear was great though. The Focal Kanta 2 did sound a bit harsh in the high frequence when I was right in front of it.

For a small room you could also try the Boenicke W5. They are really small but great speakers with some bass.