Small Room, Move Often, Speaker Suggestions.

I'm having very good luck in a small 12x12x9 room using the Spendor S3/5. I was previously using the excellent Martin Logan Aerius i but wanted to find a small speaker that didn't make me feel like I was taking a step backwards in sound quality. The Spendors are doing great on 26" Sanus ultima stands. I'm driving them with a 300b (Cary 300sei) 11 watt integrated amp. Since the Spendors are sealed boxes, the low frequencies fall off at a gentle rate and extend flat to 40 hz with room reinforcement. I have never been able to achive this when auditioning bass reflex ported high quality monitors. The S3/5 are easy to drive and have steadily improved over the first month of ownership. You can get away with small watts if 1. you have a small room, and 2. you do not listen at high sbl levels (80db is loud in my room). Your 80 watt per channel amp should prove terrific.

More info would be helpful.

What's your source?

What are your musical tastes?

Will this be a music-only setup?

What is your budget? There's a pretty big price difference between the Khites and the S3/5s

Mirage MRM-1 Reference Monitors. Great in small listening rooms. For moving convenience, they come in their own little wooden crates.

I second jg41's recommendation for the Totem Arro's, and compared to the other speakers in your list, you could save significant dough. They're somewhat on the lean side of reality, but I would think that they'd be a perfect match for your Mistral. I'm using a Linn Classik and the Linn is a tad thin and dry in the midrange, so I'm looking for some speaker cables to fatten things up a bit (I'm using Linn cables right now).

What the Arro's do spectacularly well is in the area of detail, imaging and soundstaging. It's the first time I've experienced the soundstage extending dramatically to the left and right of the speakers, and the depth is great.

No, they don't come up to the absolute standard of my Pro Ac Response 3.5's, but they come closer in sound quality than any speaker one seventh the price has a right to.

For what it's worth, they're also highly recommended by Harry Pearson.

Good luck!
Steve

Danheather:

My current source is the top of the line Onkyo DVD (single disc, I don't remember the model #, and I'm at work now), but I will be up-grading soon to either a Niam CDX or a ECM I MK II for digital. For analog I have a Thorens TD-520 nicely set-up with arm & MC cartridge, with a seperate Rega FONO stage.

My music tastes change with my mood. Best guess is 35% Blues Guitar (Clapton, SR Vaughn, Bloomfield, Buchanan), 40% Classical (piano, string quartet), and 25% "Classic" Rock (Pink Floyd, Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Janis Joplin, etc.)

Yes, this will be for music only. The Onkyo, Carver Cinema Grand, Carver subs, and Def Techs will be relagated to TV and HT use. By the way, the Def Techs (BP-30 front, BP-10 rear and a matched BP center) are IMHO excellent for HT, but I find them a little bright for music and tough to set-up in a small room.

My budget? Good question. I find that if I make sacrifices (even small ones) to save a little money, I end up spending more. Very soon I become dissatisfied and buy what I should have bought, the first time around. Fortunatly, I am gainfully employed and do not have any other significant bills, so I am able to indulge one hobby at a time. This time it is quality audio. Next time maybe it will be quality women, who knows?

Dave