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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
hondaron
17 posts
 

How about Revel M126 be bookshelf speakers would sound great with your equipment. I run them with Anthem gear and they are well balanced, not harsh and the beryllium tweeter is awesome sounding and not bright.

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daveyf's avatar
daveyf
2,871 posts
 

My dedicated room is approximately the same size as the OPā€™s. If in budget, a used pair of Sonus Faber GHā€™s would put a smile on your face, they do mine.

mrmax's avatar
mrmax
5 posts
 

I love my little Harbeth P3-ESRs. I forgot to add the REL 5" sub. The combo works amazingly well in my 14' x 13' room.

cundare2
267 posts
 
exley_99
+1

Iā€™m in very much the same situation as the OP. Iā€™m older and not able to handle heavy components, live in an isolated area & unable to travel to shows or dealers to hear before I buy, have a relatively small (14x17) listening room, and have absolutely no tolerance for brittle high ends. My previous speakers were a pair of Quad ESLs that I restored over the course of a decade.

When I downsized upon retirement, I was advised by no less than Art Dudley that any of Harbeth model would be a close sonic match to the ESLs. My suggestion: The latest "HD" iteration of Harbeth's C7 has received glowing reviews from Stereophile & TAS (worth reading), and are priced low enough to leave room in your budget for cables. Harbeth consistently earns a spot in both magazines' Recommended Components lists.

And, despite their relatively low nominal sensistivity, the C7 is easy to drive, with low LS3/5A-type reactance and consistently moderate-to-high impedance. Theyā€™re also a heckuva lot easier than an ESL-57 to mate with an external sub.

Iā€™ve been listening to my pair for 8 or 9 years now and every time I upgrade anything in my $40-50K system, the Harbethsā€™ sound quality also improves -- theyā€™re still not a weak link.Ā  Even today, powering them with a recently added $19,000 T+A integrated, well-recorded LPs still leave me breathless.

My second and third choices would be speakers that stimulate the gizmo-loving geek in me: Vividā€™s wild little S12 (available in any automotive color!) and MBLā€™s admittedly pricier 126 or 120 (because Iā€™d love to hear a true omnidirectional speaker in my room). But even though I now have the means to consider speakers in the $20-30,000 range, the unassuming little Harbeths still do the job for me.

Hey, if I ever do decide to move to something like an MBL, Iā€™d sell you my pair for not too much money. If the little I can glean from your original posting is correct, the C7s would satisfy all your requirements.

<And no, Iā€™m not trying to sell gear on this forum. If I ever did replace the Harbeths, it wouldnā€™t be until at least next year. Iā€™m just sayinā€™.)

Anyway, good luck with your search. Let us know what you finally decide.

dtorc
35 posts
 

If I were in your situation, Iā€™d consider speakers by Larsen. They are meant to be placed right next to the wall, and yet supposedly gift a decent soundstage regardless. They are said to be a little on the warmer side. It may make sense for your smaller room to not have to bring the speakers too far forward.

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