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Help me pick speakers for my big room!

So, I am just crawling out of a jbl cbt 70j-1 rabbit hole … on the surface these speakers + the bass extensions + 2-4 subs + some dsp seems like it might work for my room. However, I am concerned that everywhere I went, I read about how these were ‘great surrounds” or ‘great church speakers’, but nothing about how they were ‘great reference stereo speakers in a 2.2 set up’. So that makes me question if I should be thinking they could work in that scenario for me? I seems to be consensus that the kh 310 monitors, or any such ‘bookshelves’ sized speakers ain’t gonna cut it. I really need ‘large’-ish towers of something like these cbts. What are the views around CBT’s (+subs) vs something like the kef r11 metas, or the mofi 888, revel 208, or paradigm founder 100f’s?
I have used these in several residential projects both with and without the bass module. In your case you do not need the bass extension module and probably wouldn't want to live with it either as the speaker becomes quite large.

Read Amir's CBT review and his conclusions. I think this speaker will be a really good compromise of size, price, and performance for your unusual project. Pair them with four small subs and you will have the potential for a stellar system.
 
And we go in circles...
 
And we go in circles...
Yep, that is the problem with threads like this and it does show the limitations of simply reading charts and graphs in isolation.

Yes, most of the speakers mentioned on this thread are very good and many are good for many applications... but this is an unusual case and simply placing the world's best point source loudspeakers into this space without radically changing the room with acoustic panels, bass traps and the like will not yield outstanding results.

A speaker like the JBL CBT arrays properly configured will give very good results without costing tens of thousands of dollars.
 
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A lot of this thread is suggestions of things I doubt will pass through the restrictions mentioned from the start. In the first post he said even having the slightly larger floor standers might be a problem, I wonder what reaction 4 subs gets.
 
A lot of this thread is suggestions of things I doubt will pass through the restrictions mentioned from the start. In the first post he said even having the slightly larger floor standers might be a problem, I wonder what reaction 4 subs gets.
Not all subs look like this:

022520_Ascendo_6-foot-tall_SMSG50.jpg


Since this isn't a home theater and max SPL is reasonable, there are plenty of compact subs that can be tucked into the bookcases. Some can even be hidden behind a row of books. These two are about 14" square and only 4" deep.

dynaudio-custom-install-performance-series-in-wall-sub-rcc-pre-fit-angle.jpg.webp
S10-White-Subw2.jpg
 
You might find these to be all you need.


Or even the slightly smaller 1723 S
 
Interesting comments! I was actually looking at both the Ascend ELX and the arendal 1723 towers recently and thinking of adding them to the short list I had on the previous post: "the kef r11 metas, or the mofi 888, revel 208, or paradigm founder 100f’s", but I didn't want to overwhelm. :cool: I was also looking at the emotiva airmotiv xt3's and the Philharmonic BMR towers and HT towers. The Ascends have super reviews, even being compared to KEF blade 2's! And I just got a pair of ascend luna v2's for my office / mini studio. (see pic). I know I should have gone for genelecs or KH 120's, but the Luna's look so great in dark red wood in my space, and I really like the ribbon tweeters! :D I have a sub under the desk, and the whole set-up rocks! (and before anyone comments on the sonos amp, don't worry, that is only temporary, and it's being replaced by a topping la90 discrete, arriving tomorrow)
View attachment 511564

Back to the library ... I think 12" closed subs (x4) in the lowest bookshelves in the corners would easily pass the WAF test since they would essentially blend in.If I go the CBT route, I was thinking I could paint them to blend in or even laminate them in some cool wood (JBL explicitly has a painting process, so that seems very 'normal'. Laminating them is definitely not normal, but i am pretty comfortable with doing that). I could mount them on the outside of the two large vertical wood beams, slightly toed in, and I guess about 3--5 ft above the floor, and they would not be that noticeable (he says) ...

One last question before I present the options to wifey ... Sonos Fabers? they are the most beautiful of all the speakers here (except maybe the BMR's), and I think if I show them to wifey, and she's OK with floor standers, she will go in that direction. What is the consensus here on those speakers?? No one here seems to talk about them much. Which models should I consider?? (keep it < $10,000 new, please) ?? If they are not suggested, I don't even want to show her, if you know what I mean. ;)
 
One last question before I present the options to wifey ... Sonos Fabers? they are the most beautiful of all the speakers here (except maybe the BMR's), and I think if I show them to wifey, and she's OK with floor standers, she will go in that direction. What is the consensus here on those speakers?? No one here seems to talk about them much. Which models should I consider?? (keep it < $10,000 new, please) ?? If they are not suggested, I don't even want to show her, if you know what I mean.
I don't think you want the BMRs in that space. HTs would be a better bet. If you like that look of the BMR Tower, they make a curved HT that is pretty gorgeous if you order ahead.

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why are HT's better? I must admit, I don't understnad the difference between them, or even why they have 2 tower models that seem so similar, given how few models they have overall, especially.
 
why are HT's better? I must admit, I don't understnad the difference between them, or even why they have 2 tower models that seem so similar, given how few models they have overall, especially.
The BMR Tower is tuned for maximum bass, while the HT won't go as low, but will play significantly louder (and go low enough for 98% of music). The HT are designed to be paired with a sub (or several) if you want truly full range (down to 20 Hz or lower), like in a typical HT (Home Theater) setup, while the BMR is designed to be basically full range out of the box - but again, at the cost of SPL (how loud they can play). Given the size and shape of your room, the BMRs would also probably struggle to play really deep bass anyway. That room is gonna eventually benefit from 2 (or more) well-placed subwoofers. Sonus Faber are generally regarded as much prettier in appearance than they are accurate sound reproducers. You are largely paying for the furniture-quality build of the cabinets, as opposed to state of the art engineering. Most here would say to stay away.
 
I listen to a wide variety of things, rock (bruce s., U2), new wave (clash, cure), ska (english beat), reggae (elovaters),
No wonder you other half doesn't want loudspeakers in this room! :D
 
Yeah, while those TAD are amazing looking and I'm sure sound amazing (and more than loud enough for my space) they are huge (and a huge WAF negative), and at ~$140,000 about 20x-40x what i want (or can) spend. It's cool to know that they exist, in any case, so thanks for that!
 
Yeah, while those TAD are amazing looking and I'm sure sound amazing (and more than loud enough for my space) they are huge (and a huge WAF negative), and at ~$140,000 about 20x-40x what i want (or can) spend. It's cool to know that they exist, in any case, so thanks for that!
Are you in the US? How about a pair of medium silver Revel F328Be for $9300 +shipping? I switched to Genelec because I needed a near-field speaker for my listening space, so I need to let these go. They are mint.
 
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