Not to throw a wrench in the mix, understanding that your speakers are 25 years old. In today’s dollars you would have to spend close to $7500 for equal build quality. I’m sure that there are plenty of really good $3000 speakers out there, but to me you’re taking a step backwards in the journey.
Thoughts on Speakers for a Small Audio/Video Room
Hoping to get some thoughts from the group here.
I recently moved into a dedicated TV/audio room, but the room size is on the small side: 15.5ft x 11.5ft. As pics will show, there's quite a bit in there, so empty volume is decreased further due to that.
I've been using Aerial Acoustics Model 7B speakers, which I've been very happy with in larger spaces, but they seem to be overwhelming the room and I'm getting fairly overwhelming bass. Vocals have sort of a chestiness/congested nature to them, and there are bass undertones to most songs. If I play records loud, I need to activate my rumble filter, which I never used to have to do. As a sidetone, I also have Monitor Audio Gold Reference 20's in my collection.
Preamp is a recapped Mcintosh C35 and amp is a recapped MC2255. Phono pre is a VTL TP 2.5 II, TT is a Marantz TT-15S1 running a SAE1000LT MM cart.
I borrowed a friend's Sonus Faber Electa Amator II's and they sounded very good in my room - sweeter, more natural, no congestion, though I did give up bass slam/impact, which I kind of missed.
Here are pictures of the room:
Front:
Back:
I'm playing around now with plugging the rear ports of the Aerial, as well as putting some acoustic panels in the back corners of the room. Both of those seem to have helped quite a bit.
As far as measurements, those Aerials are currently about 80" apart, 16" from speaker back to front of cabinet, 96" from each speaker to the listening position.
What's your opinion: With some room treatments/plugged ports, can the Aerials work well in a room of this size, or do I need to move toward smaller speakers?
If I go smaller, any thoughts on something like the Sonus Faber Concerto Domus (there's a pair local to me) or Sonetto III? Those seem to be more modestly sized, don't go as low. Would those be at least a lateral to the AA Model 7B's, or a step down in terms of overall speaker quality? I only mention Sonus Faber models as I was impressed with my friend's speakers and generally do enjoy the smoother, more musical speakers and will give up some detail/pinpoint accuracy if needed to avoid brightness/listening fatigue.
Thanks all. . .
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- 93 posts total
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@gkelly Yes, point taken and you’re not wrong. The Aerials are 95lbs each and incredibly solidly built. They were my main speakers longer than any others since my first set of real speakers back in the early 90’s. They worked really well in my previous larger room and I thought I’d keep using them for the foreseeable future. But the more I think about it, there are limits to how much I’m willing to treat the room to accommodate whatever speakers end up here. I have 10ft between the front cabinets and my listening position (LP). I’ve already tried to plug the Aerial’s ports, move them closer to the LP to get the port further from the front cabinets, put some panels in the corners, etc. I don’t really want to end up with a near field setup just to get the ports far away from the front wall/cabinets, and as I’m thinking about this, I also don’t want to end up with acoustic panels all over my the ceiling, intersection points, etc. I chose the front and wall cabinets, pictures on the walls and cabinet doors, etc because I want some of my preferred aesthetics in this room even though I’ll be the only one in here. I can live with some panels or traps in the corners and a couple of strategically placed panels on the ceiling or wall, but there’s a limit to what’s tolerable aesthetically to me. In the end, if I can end up with some smaller speakers that sound really good to me and allow me to maintain reasonable aesthetics without making the room look like a recording booth or recording studio, I’m okay with giving up what are very probably better built speakers that require a lot more accommodations to make them sound good in this room. In the $3K budget range, including the possibility of buying used speakers that may also be fairly “old” like my Aerials and have sold for a high retail price when new, I feel like I should be able to land in an acceptable place. But I completely understand where you’re coming from in making your point and appreciate your bringing that up. |
I would suggest a YouTube search for small room acoustics. Darko audio has a pretty decent video. If this room is going to be your listening room for any length of time, having an idea of what is actually going on and possible solutions seems almost mandatory. Knowledge is power. (I think!) Doesn’t have to cost much. |
- 93 posts total