THE BEST SMALL SPEAKERS

www.vocedivina.com -- Voce Divina Soprano.

I have heard the Audio Physic Step and thought that it was a great sounding small speaker. It is limited by the fact that the woofer is very small and can handle only so much power before bottoming out. If you do not listen to loud music it may be an excellent choice. If you do listen to loud music the ProAc Response speakers are great musical speakers. You may be able to fit the 1.5 in that space. They are expensive, but they would enable you to have full range sound in your narrow room.

Coincident Triumphs are a good choice.

Castle "Isis" (discontinued) continue to be the favorite of a local Castle dealer. I don't know if you'll ever find a used pair of Verity Audio Encore "Monitor" satellites (these are the top 1/2 of the Encores), but they have the best midrange of ANYTHING I've heard, and actually roll off smoother in the upper bass than when mated to their woofer basses! They list for an unfortunate $5600, but if you can find a pair of demos/used in the $3k range give them a VERY serious listen! I'm continually stunned that a 5" piston midrange can sound that quick 'n natural! Sonus Faber is a good bet; B&W CDM1 or Pro-Ac Tablet 50 for lower rez. Good Luck, and happiest holidays.

"Best" is always subjective and depends heavily on the price range you are looking at. If price is no object you should try to find a pair of B&W JB Silver Signatures to audition. They are the best "small" speakers I have ever heard, and they have good bass extension (for their size) and interesting looks. Getting hard to find these days though; I've seen a couple of used pairs selling for around $5k over the past year or two. If your budget is more limited, B&W makes several cheaper though still fine sounding small speakers at various price breaks. For $2k (pair), you might also want to check out the Dunlavy SM-1; I have used this speaker for the past year and found it to have good sound (fast & detailed) and satisfying bass for its price and size, but it might be a little bigger than you are looking for. For the price, Paradigm Refs sounded pretty damn good to me too. Finally, if you want to go very small and very cheap, I think the NHT Super Zeros (and One's) give the best bang for the buck. The larger NHT 1.5's also make a nice bookshelf. Happy shopping