Bookshelf speakers, small room, close to wall.

[wscottdo]

Hi,

Bookshelf/monitor speaker recommendation under 2k/pair?

Here are the must haves:

Small room requires near wall placement.
For rock/blues music comfortable handle 95db
Nothing made in China
Small footprint, under 20” high
Neutral, not “bright”

Might consider used
Paired with vintage McIntosh 50W
Existing sub

Thank you very much for your help

 

[Timmy]

Nothing made in China

Will watch with great interest for any suggestions matching the »Not China« request, for a new pair under 2k.

 

[Doenerkunde]

Will watch with great interest for any suggestions matching the »Not China« request, for a new pair under 2k.

Focal and Cabasse build all of their speakers in France.
Canton builds their higher end speakers in Germany, the rest in the Czech Republic (btw Pro Ject builds their products in the Czech Republic too).
Nubert manufactures their speakers in Germany (although with Tymphany drivers from China and if I remember correctly the cabinets of the lower end series are made in Poland).
Elac builds most, if not all, their models with JET tweeters in Germany.

EDIT: But you are right, that it won't be easy to find speakers matching all of OPs requirements. The "can comfortably handle 95+dB" requirement especially.

 

[Mikig]

look for a Dynaudio, new or even used bookshelf and you're on the safe side. Neutral, smooth, they are speakers to be discovered little by little.

 

[Mikig]

I forgot, always listen to it first, but I think something is close to what you want: Harbeth, Spendor and ProAc…

 

[Old_School_Brad]

95 dB.
A? C? Peak? Avg? At which distance?

 

[CapMan]

I forgot, always listen to it first, but I think something is close to what you want: Harbeth, Spendor and ProAc…

Harbeth would need to be 2nd hand / even the new P3s are well over £2K in the Uk (crazy money)

 

[Power Pop 23]

Hi,

Bookshelf/monitor speaker recommendation under 2k/pair?

Here are the must haves:

Small room requires near wall placement.
For rock/blues music comfortable handle 95db
Nothing made in China
Small footprint, under 20” high
Neutral, not “bright”

Might consider used
Paired with vintage McIntosh 50W
Existing sub

Thank you very much for your help

According to the detail on the back of their enclosures, the recently discontinued Revel Performa3 M106 bookshelf/standmount loudspeaker and M105 bookshelf/standmount loudspeaker were 'Made in Indonesia'.

Revel M106 Bookshelf Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Revel M106 bookshelf speaker. It was kindly purchased and drop shipped to me. It is not a new sample but came to me with full packaging and protective wrapper. The M106 costs US $1,000 each or $2,000 for a pair. It is only sold through dealer...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Revel M105 Bookshelf Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Revel M105 Bookshelf/stand-mount speaker. A member was interested in it so I decided to buy it through our company. The retail cost is US $750 each for a total of $1,500 for a pair. NOTE: my company, Madrona Digital is a dealer for Harman and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Madrona Digital told me in April 2024 that Revel had confirmed to them that there would be replacements for the Performa3 series of loudspeakers but not when they would be available. I do not know where the upcoming series of Revel loudpseakers will be assembled.

 

[DearSX]

Front ported or sealed speakers generally do well closer to the wall. KH120, KH150, and Burchardt A10come to mind. Kef R3 is also made to be closer to a wall with its stepped base response. Some speakers are also ok with having the ports closed up like Q Acoustics Concept series or being place 1-2 feet from back wall.

 

[wscottdo]

95 dB.
A? C? Peak? Avg? At which distance?

I would say peak at 10 ft

 

[wscottdo]

Front ported or sealed speakers generally do well closer to the wall. KH120, KH150, and Burchardt A10come to mind. Kef R3 is also made to be closer to a wall with its stepped base response. Some speakers are also ok with having the ports closed up like Q Acoustics Concept series or being place 1-2 feet from back wall.

To clarify: Looking for a passive speaker to use with a vintage McIntosh Amp 50wpc.

 

[TimW]

Ascend Acoustics makes some excellent monitor style speakers with crossovers optimized using a Klippel NFS. Their speakers are assembled in the USA and most of their drivers are made by SEAS which I believe manufactures in Norway. Other parts of the speakers are of course made elsewhere which probably includes China. For a 50wpc amp and use with a sub I would recommend the CMT-340SE2 which has an efficiency of 91dB but limited bass extension. The problem with that model is that it exceeds your 20" height limit by 1". Their best measuring option according to the preference score is the Sierra-LX. The Sierra-LX is an excellent monitor with deep bass extension and a very linear response. For placement close to a wall it comes with tunable port plugs:

While the Sierra-LX can handle high power levels to get loud, it isn't very efficient at 82dB. So your 50wpc McIntosh would not be the best candidate for powering these speakers, although that really depends on how loud you like to listen.

 

[wscottdo]

According to the detail on the back of their enclosures, the recently discontinued Revel Performa3 M106 bookshelf/standmount loudspeaker and M105 bookshelf/standmount loudspeaker were 'Made in Indonesia'.

Revel M106 Bookshelf Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Revel M106 bookshelf speaker. It was kindly purchased and drop shipped to me. It is not a new sample but came to me with full packaging and protective wrapper. The M106 costs US $1,000 each or $2,000 for a pair. It is only sold through dealer...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Revel M105 Bookshelf Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Revel M105 Bookshelf/stand-mount speaker. A member was interested in it so I decided to buy it through our company. The retail cost is US $750 each for a total of $1,500 for a pair. NOTE: my company, Madrona Digital is a dealer for Harman and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Madrona Digital told me in April 2024 that Revel had confirmed to them that there would be replacements for the Performa3 series of loudspeakers but not when they would be available. I do not know where the upcoming series of Revel loudpseakers will be assembled.

Can Revel m106 be used close to the wall?

I read somewhere on this forum they moved manufacturing of their drivers to China. Is that the case also for the m106?

Thanks for your help.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Ascend Sierra LX's are probably your best bet. A 50 Watt amp (17 decibel watts) should just about convert their 82 db efficiency to 95 db peaks, though not much louder. And they have excellent bass. Around $1400, so if you wanted something like a miniDSP unit which has PEQ and Dirac Live for around $600, you could pretty much voice them any way you would care to.

 

[Timmy]

Nubert manufactures their speakers in Germany

Wow – did not know that! So maybe their nuVero 30 could fit in the request. The bigger brother, nuVero 60, has been reviewed here.

 

[DearSX]

KLH Model 5 and 3 also come to mind. Both sealed.

 

[TimW]

KLH Model 5 and 3 also come to mind. Both sealed.

These are manufactured in China

 

[Looneybomber]

Can Revel m106 be used close to the wall?

I read somewhere on this forum they moved manufacturing of their drivers to China. Is that the case also for the m106?

Thanks for your help.

The OEM for the Performa3 (discontinued) drivers was SB Acoustics in Indonesia. The OEM for the PerformaBe series is from China. I don’t know what company.

Anything can be used close to the wall with proper room treatments and EQ.

 

[wscottdo]

Ascend Sierra LX's are probably your best bet. A 50 Watt amp (17 decibel watts) should just about convert their 82 db efficiency to 95 db peaks, though not much louder. And they have excellent bass. Around $1400, so if you wanted something like a miniDSP unit which has PEQ and Dirac Live for around $600, you could pretty much voice them any way you would care to.

These looks wonderful, and check a lot of boxes. There has been some chatter about them sounding a bit too bright. Do others share this experience?

 

[TimW]

These looks wonderful, and check a lot of boxes. There has been some chatter about them sounding a bit too bright. Do others share this experience?

I have never heard them, but you may prefer the sound of the Sierra-2EX if you were to dislike the high end of the LX.