Loudspeaker recommendation for small room w/ sub-optimal placement

[PancakesAdInfinitum]

I'm trying to decide on speakers for my office/listening room, and am having trouble finding a pair that would work well given the constraints of my space. I could use a short list of considerations under $3k (US) for the pair. I am perfectly content buying used, and typically prefer that from a value perspective. A picture of the room is below. They will be complemented by two 12" rythmik subs, and I will use one of Minidsp's products for room correction. I would prefer a full-range floorstander to make integration easier, and also i want something that will play effortlessly loud. And also the child in me just likes big speakers. Of course, I'm open to bookstanders if that's what will meet my needs best. For those about to comment about hearing damage, please refrain; we don't need to open that can here. And for what it's worth, my louder sessions are kept very short.

The speakers will need to be quite close to the side walls because of the door, and I don't want to move them every time I sit down to listen. At 12" from the back wall, they will roughly form an equilateral triangle with my listening position. I'm fine moving them forward, if that would benefit the sound, but they cannot be moved inwards towards center.

Wide directivity is probably important. I fidget a lot and change seating position, and at short distances small changes make a bigger difference.

I like the sound of Kef's non-meta R series, but I don't know if they'd work in this space. I've searched, and I can find answers that address one issue, but trying to address them all is getting a little overwhelming.

 

[kyuu]

I don't see any reason a couple of KEF towers wouldn't work well for your space. KEFs don't have the widest directivity, but I think as long as you don't toe them all the way in (e.g. keep the MLP 10-20 degrees off-axis from both speakers) you should be good. Alternately, get a couple of Revel F206.

Edit: Whoops, missed that the Revel F206 are not available at the link I provided. Checking to see if you can get them anywhere or if they're gone for good...

Edit2: Revel F208 available on ebay (might go quick though).

 

[AnalogSteph]

I'm not so much worried about speaker placement - the miniDSP should be able to iron the boundary gain out no problem - but that kind of listening position (at the wall) generally stinks. Move the couch like 3' into the room (at which point the subs could also go behind it) and apply acoustic treatment to the offending wall behind you, and things ought to work out better.

At this point you'd still be left with about 6' (2 m) worth of listening distance. That's enough for me to not worry about directivity being in any way restrictive on anything remotely normal, even Klipschs (RP-xxxxF, I mean). Just toe them in a bit more if in doubt (up to the point of crossing axes in front of the listening position, as suggested by Earl Geddes). I don't see why some KEF R5/R7 Metas (the older non-Metas are also good) would not work well.

 

[kemmler3D]

I like to recommend KEF for suboptimal placement because they tend to have very friendly directivity (including vertical) but they are not "effortlessly loud"... Coaxial mid is inherently limited in that way.

Maybe JBL 4349 if you can find a good used pair?

 

[PancakesAdInfinitum]

I'm not so much worried about speaker placement - the miniDSP should be able to iron the boundary gain out no problem - but that kind of listening position (at the wall) generally stinks. Move the couch like 3' into the room (at which point the subs could also go behind it) and apply acoustic treatment to the offending wall behind you, and things ought to work out better.

At this point you'd still be left with about 6' (2 m) worth of listening distance. That's enough for me to not worry about directivity being in any way restrictive on anything remotely normal, even Klipschs (RP-xxxxF, I mean). Just toe them in a bit more if in doubt (up to the point of crossing axes in front of the listening position, as suggested by Earl Geddes). I don't see why some KEF R5/R7 Metas (the older non-Metas are also good) would not work well.

Moving the couch 3 feet forward is not realistic, if for no other reason from an aesthetics perspective. The room is an office, too, and so there's a desk opposite the couch. I also want to watch movies occasionally and place a tv on the desk (temporarily for that). BUT, I did just move the couch forward 20" and put the subs behind, and holy crap the bass sounds so much cleaner. (This is without treatment, and the current speakers are Neumann KH 80). Having a 40" deep couch so far forward in a little room still looks funny to me, but this does sound much better (the picture doesn't quite capture the subjective experience of 'a large couch in the middle of a room').

I should have mentioned, I am extremely particular when it comes to interior design, and I'd like to keep room treatments etc to a minimum to avoid my office looking like a recording studio.

I like to recommend KEF for suboptimal placement because they tend to have very friendly directivity (including vertical) but they are not "effortlessly loud"... Coaxial mid is inherently limited in that way.

Maybe JBL 4349 if you can find a good used pair?

You make a good point. A 17.5" wide speaker does however present issues due to proximity to the door. Part of the appeal of the Kefs is their narrow profile thanks to 6" woofers.

 

[kyuu]

Effortlessly loud with good directivity but in a narrower cabinet? How about the JBL HDI-3600, which can be found on-sale for 1k/each atm?

 

[Roland68]

I'm trying to decide on speakers for my office/listening room, and am having trouble finding a pair that would work well given the constraints of my space. I could use a short list of considerations under $3k (US) for the pair. I am perfectly content buying used, and typically prefer that from a value perspective. A picture of the room is below. They will be complemented by two 12" rythmik subs, and I will use one of Minidsp's products for room correction. I would prefer a full-range floorstander to make integration easier, and also i want something that will play effortlessly loud. And also the child in me just likes big speakers. Of course, I'm open to bookstanders if that's what will meet my needs best. For those about to comment about hearing damage, please refrain; we don't need to open that can here. And for what it's worth, my louder sessions are kept very short.

The speakers will need to be quite close to the side walls because of the door, and I don't want to move them every time I sit down to listen. At 12" from the back wall, they will roughly form an equilateral triangle with my listening position. I'm fine moving them forward, if that would benefit the sound, but they cannot be moved inwards towards center.

Wide directivity is probably important. I fidget a lot and change seating position, and at short distances small changes make a bigger difference.

I like the sound of Kef's non-meta R series, but I don't know if they'd work in this space. I've searched, and I can find answers that address one issue, but trying to address them all is getting a little overwhelming.

View attachment 429711

It's a relatively small room. I have some experience with that, including things that don't work very well.
First of all, I would advise against speakers that have a lot of depth, as this greatly reduces the distance to your listening position. The speakers should be able to be placed close to the back and side walls. Speakers with a more square base and narrow baffle are an advantage here.
Speakers like the Elac Carina 247.4 (approx. 24.5cm deep), Vela FS 407 or Vela 2.0 FS 407.2 (approx. 26.6cm deep) would be well suited for this.
As one bass reflex opening goes downwards and one at the back to the wall, you can close the rear bass reflex opening with a foam plug and place the speakers close to the wall. This wouldn't be a problem with the subwoofers.

 

[Jaxjax]

There is a pretty crazy good sale on Crutchfield for Revel 226be & 228be
2k per on the 226be in silver & white
3k per on the 228be in silver & white
it's over I know but the 226be are new & a good deal at 4k

 

[kyuu]

Revel F226be would be incredible of course, but definitely over the OP's budget. There appear to be scratch&dents available in the white finish for $1767/ea, so that would only blow the budget by $500.

 

[MarkS]

Lyngdorf on-wall MH-2 speakers ($800 each), and a Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 integrated amp/streamer with room correction and subwoofer integration ($2400).

Lyngdorf MH-2 - Lyngdorf Audio

lyngdorf.steinwaylyngdorf.com

Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 - Lyngdorf Audio

lyngdorf.steinwaylyngdorf.com