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Help me find a bookshelf/floorstanding speaker for narrow living room

mfatty

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The picture of my living is below. It is narrow.
I'm trying to find speakers for movies and music. My taste in music varies on a daily basis (reggae, alternative/indie, hiphop, rnb, pop, electronic, instrumental, jazz ...)
I'd like speakers with good clarity, detail, give me the violin sound like it's coming from the instrument in my room. That kind of feel. Perhaps a bit lively too? Not too boring? Not sure if those go together. But yeah.
Budget is around $1500 but I'm willing to budge a little. Also happy buying open-box/lightly-used.

For the past week, I've been searching forums and reading reviews on here and I was set on buying bookshelf speakers and a sub.
Speakers that I listed: Elac Unifi 2.0 UB52 ,,, Elac Unifi Reference UBR62 ,,, Polk Reserve R200 ,,, KEF R3 ,,, KEF LS50 Meta ,,, SVS Ultra.

However, some other reviews changed my mind to switch to floorstanding speakers instead. The reason being the bookshelf speakers might be too small for my space. And with floorstanding speakers, I could probably skip subwoofer, which helps my tiny space. The bookshelf will take the same amount of space as floorstanding anyway. Some towers I found through research include: SVS Prime Pinnacle ,,, Wharfedale Diamond 12.4 ,,, Wharfedale EVO4.3 ,,, KEF Q550/Q750.

Now, please ignore all the speakers I mentioned above. I did NOT listen to any of them. I just listed them based on online reviews.
Considering my situation: shape of my living room, speaker will have to be close to the wall, sitting 7 feet from the speakers, budget, use case.
1) Would you say I should go with floorstanders to get bigger sound and base? Or you think bookshelf speakers should be enough for my living room?
2) Do you have any recommendations for bookshelf or floorstanding speakers for my case?

Thank you. Appreciate any help here.

home_design_speakers.jpg
 

RonL

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I'm also interested as my room is a bit larger, but comparable. No answers yet to this question.

Hope there will be some answer soon... ;)
 

Triliza

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I'm also interested as my room is a bit larger, but comparable. No answers yet to this question.

Hope there will be some answer soon... ;)
Welcome to ASR. How far exactly will you be from your speakers? What's your budget, are you looking for passive or will you consider active speakers also? What about a sub, is that an option for your case?
 

Eric.D

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Wharfedale Linton should be pretty good for ur use case.​

 

sweetchaos

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Welcome to ASR. :)

Kef R3 is US$2200/pair, so a bit above your US$1500/pair budget.
So if you are counting it, then the list of possible speakers expands:

Bookshelves < US$2,200/pair:
NamePSPSwSubLFX
Ascend Acoustics Sierra-LX6.88.636
Kef R3 (Amir) (Erin)6.68.336
Polk R2006.3*8.3*42*
Philharmonic BMR v2 (Erin) (RL)6.17.733
Revel M16 with sealed port [readme] (Amir)5.9????
Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 (Amir)5.77.843
Revel M105 (Amir)5.98.351
Revel M106 (Amir)5.88.046
JBL HDI-1600 (Amir)5.87.638
Kef LS50 Meta (Amir)5.77.843
Revel M16 with open port (Amir)5.67.745
Polk Audio Signature Elite ES20 (Amir)4.86.739
Arendal Sound 1723 Bookshelf S THX (Erin) (RL)4.87.662
Arendal Sound 1961 Bookshelf (Erin) (RL)4.47.368

Towers < US$2,000/pair:
NamePSPSwSubLFX
Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary (Erin) (RL)6.07.836
Emotiva Airmotiv T2+ (Erin) (RL)5.87.332
Revel F35 (Amir)5.77.639
Arendal Sound 1961 Tower (Erin) (RL)5.17.551
JBL 4309 (Amir)3.75.741
Revel F36******
Source: My list

Any of these should be on your consideration list.
For me, the decision of bookshelves vs towers mostly comes down to aesthetics.
So that's a call you're going to have to make.
But I will say that at 7ft listening distance, bookshelves will have enough output for reference level of playback.

Regarding subs, yes, it's always a good idea to get dual subs down the line, since positioning speakers (either bookshelf or towers) still won't be optimal for optimizing room modes.
But in your case, I'd get better (deeper extending) speakers to maximize the bass, before buying a sub.
 

RonL

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I went for the Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2 eventually. Nice and fairly detailed with a natural feel and a good soundstage was my reward. A topping DX3pro DAC and the Aiyiama A07 amplifier. This setup is frugal, but the components seem a good match.
 

anotherhobby

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The picture of my living is below. It is narrow.
I'm trying to find speakers for movies and music. My taste in music varies on a daily basis (reggae, alternative/indie, hiphop, rnb, pop, electronic, instrumental, jazz ...)
I'd like speakers with good clarity, detail, give me the violin sound like it's coming from the instrument in my room. That kind of feel. Perhaps a bit lively too? Not too boring? Not sure if those go together. But yeah.
Budget is around $1500 but I'm willing to budge a little. Also happy buying open-box/lightly-used.

For the past week, I've been searching forums and reading reviews on here and I was set on buying bookshelf speakers and a sub.
Speakers that I listed: Elac Unifi 2.0 UB52 ,,, Elac Unifi Reference UBR62 ,,, Polk Reserve R200 ,,, KEF R3 ,,, KEF LS50 Meta ,,, SVS Ultra.

However, some other reviews changed my mind to switch to floorstanding speakers instead. The reason being the bookshelf speakers might be too small for my space. And with floorstanding speakers, I could probably skip subwoofer, which helps my tiny space. The bookshelf will take the same amount of space as floorstanding anyway. Some towers I found through research include: SVS Prime Pinnacle ,,, Wharfedale Diamond 12.4 ,,, Wharfedale EVO4.3 ,,, KEF Q550/Q750.

Now, please ignore all the speakers I mentioned above. I did NOT listen to any of them. I just listed them based on online reviews.
Considering my situation: shape of my living room, speaker will have to be close to the wall, sitting 7 feet from the speakers, budget, use case.
1) Would you say I should go with floorstanders to get bigger sound and base? Or you think bookshelf speakers should be enough for my living room?
2) Do you have any recommendations for bookshelf or floorstanding speakers for my case?

Thank you. Appreciate any help here.

View attachment 222706
Regarding your 7' distance... I don't think that's only 7', unless you plan to always listen leaning way forward on your sofa. It looks like 9' to me as soon as you lean back. The distance to your ears matters more than the distance to your knees.

Regarding speakers, I think your best bang for your budget is towers and no sub(s). At your budget level, a sub will eat way too much of it. The Revel F35 in the list above is an excellent suggestion, and is on sale right now (at least in the US market) for only $1,232, leaving room in your budget for some potential room treatments or other things to help with your small space.
 
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