Listening Nirvana in Tiny Hideaway Room

I had great success and fun with a small room in my house. I left my main rig alone and put money into a room that is 11' x 13' with a vaulted sloping ceiling. One corner is rounded. I used Von Schweikert VR-1s with a solid state integrated Creek. It is almost more enjoyable because it is intimate and accurate. As the above folks have stated, you will need speakers that are forgiving and near-field as well as ones that have a wider soundstage. But, for me, it is fun and private and I heartily recommend it. It will give some music a new definition, especially solo artists, acoustic music and recorded performances in intimate settings. Good luck!

CWL,

I have a small listening area and it can be very enjoyable, but different, from a larger listening area. For me, a nearfield setup has an uncanny ability to provide that "you are there" experience, especially when listening to a small ensemble or vocalist.

One great feature of a small listening area is that it generally doesn't require much power to get up to a decent volume. I have a pair of 92db eff. monitors (Reference 3A MM DeCapos) and I can use anything from a 1.5 watt/channel Moth Audio 45 (the best amp I've ever heard!) to a pair of BottleHead Paramours or a pair of Channel Islands VMB-1 solid state chip amps. I would think that the RedWine Audio Clari-T would also be great in this setup.

Also, because "big bass" is just going to overload the room anyway, you can get by with less bass. For me, this means a Quad 99 CDP CD player connected directly to a pair of Channel Islands VMB-1s powering the DeCapos. For a digital only setup, it is all I could possibly ever need and it was very affordable (at used AudiogoN prices)!.

I say, shop wisely and try it. If it doesn't work out, sell it off and be happy that you gave it a shot.

BTW, I am building a new house and I am building a new cave (cave in the sky!) above the garage. It's for me only and I plan to use it a lot!

Enjoy,

TIC

Hi there,
I read this with interest as I have just had to move my main system from the lounge to the dining room - spouse pressure & all that
I do not want to downsize my system as I hope to be able to build up or out at some stage so it's given that the rig is a bit ott for the small room.
It was used in a 22 X 15ft lounge and is now in a 15 x 12ft room, made worse by having 3 ft deep built in cupboards.
This effectively makes it 12 x 12. Apart from an imbalance due to to one speaker being next to the doorway and hence twice as far from a side boundary as the other, listening to my Virgos nearfield has been a whole new experience. I can't get them as far apart as I'd like but I'm very peased that it is still enjoyable and hoping by the use of some room treatments ( a new learning curve for me, not helped by no one in the UK showing much interest), I'm hoping Nirvana will still be possible.
Rives & Ridgestreets posts are encouraging, it would be no fun if it were easy!
Si

Over the last two months I too relocated to a smallish room, 12X15, with surprising results. I am using 2-way Focal Utopia Be's with an Ayre V1xe, BAT 51SE and Ayre's redbook CDP. My only thought is that as one of the posters above pointed out, I feel the treble is sl too much. Room panels would be the next thought, but not sure which direction/manufacture to seek out. Back to the original post, yes success is very obtainable with smallish size rooms.

I have been using a 10' by 12' wood-panelled library for the past 6 years. My wife lets me use this room only for my system with all the equipment. There is room only for a three person sofa 6' away from the speakers. Over the years I puttered in this 'garden' and currently I use a horn hybrid speaker which sound best in the corners (so do Audio Note speakers.) I use Eighth Nerve for some light room treatment and actively bi-amp with four 45 tube monoblocks. The monoblocks are on the floor between the speakers and the rest of the equipment is located to the side (long interconnects, short speaker cables). IME/IMS, the biggest improvements/uprades have been (in very rough order): Actively bi-amping with a custom tube crossover, the speakers (SAP J2001 twins), adding vinyl, upgrading to EMM Lab digital, adding three dedicated lines, adding the Equitech balanced line conditioning via a remote wall sub-panel. I am thrilled with the nearfield experience/sound I am getting and I cherish this room, albeit its' size . In fact, I am currently building a house with a dedicated music room which is larger (23' by 15' by 10', and I am fearful screwing it up.

Hope this helps,

Reg