Requesting Your Expertise - Best Options - High Sensitivity Speakers For A Smaller Room

longplayer

26 posts

08-17-2025 at 03:23am 

Coincident Invictus at $3k USD should be a great choice for a stand-mounted monitor if you intend to keep it for a long time. You’re paying for a very high-quality speaker with Coincident. I’ve kept my small Partial Eclipse for a couple of decades, now. 

If you are thinking this might be an interim speaker for a few years, consider a Tekton Design Lore Reference ($800). The cabinets are not fancy, but they have a small footprint, high efficiency, and are an easy drive for an 8 watt amp. And they are way better than their price suggests. I gave my pair to my son-in-law to use with a Coincident Dynamo 34SE (6 wpc) in a room much larger than yours, and it works spectacularly.

Thanks for the suggestions. I once owned a pair Total Victory speakers for a much larger room and setup, and they were exceptional, with great build quality. I gave some thought to the Invictus, initially, since they should play beautifully with the amps, but cannot find any reviews, or even forum comments associated with them. This is odd, since they appear to have been available since 2022?

I am definitely looking at this is a longtime speaker to last through my retirement. That is the major factor (other than sound) which makes this a critical purchase. 

"doodle6

74 posts

08-16-2025 at 03:45pm 

Ascend Acoustics Sierra 2 EX V2.  Small, mid weight, wonderful timbre, astonishingly deep bottom end, low priced, easy to drive...  I think they’ll send you a demo pair, but not sure about that.  Ask and see - if not, what’s the return policy.  You’ll be amazed.  Sensitivity is 86, but I have used them in a 12 X19 room with that sized SET amp and they filled it very well.  

BMR Monitor is another great option.  Read the accolades, including Stereophile Recommended:        https://philharmonicaudio.com/products/bmr-monitor?variant=44392808612084  Sensitivity and my experience with these?  Same as the Ascend Acoustics above.   Both of these models are real jewels.  I own several pairs of $50K+ speakers and the BMRs and Ascend Acoustics continue to get a lot of listening.  I would not consider selling either. "

Appreciate the recommendation and found the BRM monitors very interesting, especially the higher end speakers that you own, until I read the Stereophile review where the owner of the company recommended 40-60 wpc for use with them. 

@nightfall 

I have the Coincedent Frankenstein Mk2, what’s the difference vs the mk5?  I’m debating upgrading.  Thanks.

Wishing you the best of luck on finding workable speakers.

Surprised no one has mentioned the Daedalus Muse ( used of course) - May be more than your $3k Budget but they are stunning to look at as well.  . I use 8 watts now and they sound wonderful . I do not have any Rap or Heavy Metal in my collections so unable to confirm with that type of music. I also have Heresy's 1's that are excellent with 8 watts. They are updated with Crites crossovers. Lastly I also own a pair of Ascend Acoustics Sierra 2 EX V2 which I love but for me I believe they need more power to shine. I use them with 100 watts or more of SS. so others recommended them but I am not in the low power SET camp for them.

I always laugh at the responses here. The OP asks for high efficiency speakers at up to 3k and immediately gets one response suggesting speakers well above 3k and the next response suggests 86db speakers...