Small, cute, but decent sounding surround speakers

[Heatransfer]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a replacement for my surround speakers in a living room 5.1 system. Fronts are kef r series; I'm not concerned with matching surrounds to the front soundstage.

Since this is a living room however, I do have physical criteria for the surround speakers; they need to be wall mountable, preferably max weight in the 5-6lb range with a 1/4" insert to match hardware that's already on the wall.

Practically this means that I'm looking for speakers with a 4" max woofer. Ideally I'd like to cross them over as close to 80hz as possible. I'm realistic enough that maybe 100hz is more reasonable goal. Would prefer to avoid the typical 120-150 Hz crossover that seems to be inherent to most satellite systems.

Despite the modest/subpar ASR review, my current front runner is the PSB Alpha P3, due to form factor, bass extension and value (good price in my country).

I intend to allow my AVR to run room correction above the Schroeder frequency for this speaker to tame the worst of the resonances below 4k.

Paradigm millennia one seem like a potential dark horse but the measurements online are old school and I don't trust them... Mainly thinking that their bass extension will not meet my stated goal.

Are there others that I should consider before pulling the trigger?

Thanks.

 

[jaakkopetteri]

Does your AVR have pre-outs i.e. could you use active speakers? Something like Kanto Oras or Edifier MR3 on the cheaper end would make sense

 

[EERecordist]

Small Genelec, Dynaudio, Kali, Audioengine, Adam, desktop speakers if they meet your SPL needs.

I think you will have problems with small and an 80Hz crossover to your sub.

You can go through the ASR review index sort by price, go down the list for recommended and preference score, then read the reviews.

 

[Svend P]

Some used Kef 2005

 

[Eric Natural]

These are the largest surrounds Mrs Natural would allow in our living room : https://www.kevro.com/monitor-audio-radius-45-pr
They work just fine for what they are/do . . .

 

[Paffi]

If active is an option: KEF LSX

 

[Heatransfer]

Thank you everybody for the replies. Active probably isn't in the cards with the way that things are set up but I'll have a look at each suggestion.

 

[Rednaxela]

KEF HTS3001SE are very nice.

KEF HTS3001SE - How would you EQ these?

Some time ago I got myself a pair of KEF HTS3001SE satellite speakers, possibly the nicest eggs produced by KEF. Out of curiosity I am now trying to make them sing. Setup: Digital source -> Behringer DEQ2496 optical in/out -> Sony STR-DB940 -> KEF HTS3001SE and a stacked pair of active...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Roland68]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a replacement for my surround speakers in a living room 5.1 system. Fronts are kef r series; I'm not concerned with matching surrounds to the front soundstage.

Since this is a living room however, I do have physical criteria for the surround speakers; they need to be wall mountable, preferably max weight in the 5-6lb range with a 1/4" insert to match hardware that's already on the wall.

Practically this means that I'm looking for speakers with a 4" max woofer. Ideally I'd like to cross them over as close to 80hz as possible. I'm realistic enough that maybe 100hz is more reasonable goal. Would prefer to avoid the typical 120-150 Hz crossover that seems to be inherent to most satellite systems.

Despite the modest/subpar ASR review, my current front runner is the PSB Alpha P3, due to form factor, bass extension and value (good price in my country).

I intend to allow my AVR to run room correction above the Schroeder frequency for this speaker to tame the worst of the resonances below 4k.

Paradigm millennia one seem like a potential dark horse but the measurements online are old school and I don't trust them... Mainly thinking that their bass extension will not meet my stated goal.

Are there others that I should consider before pulling the trigger?

Thanks.

As an alternative to a 4" chassis without compromising, there are wall speakers.
These can be very flat and, if the color is right, are hardly noticeable.
You can also make these speakers look like murals by covering them with a fabric printed with a picture or photo.

There are also just the fronts with chassis and crossover so that you can sink them into the wall or build a frame yourself. They can also be hidden in the corner of the wall by using the triangle behind it as volume.
With a 20cm wide MDF board in the corner of the wall, from floor to ceiling, even large speakers with e.g. 2 x 17cm bass, midrange and tweeter can be hidden relatively invisibly.

 

[Ellebob]

I use the MilleniaOne in my system. I use it in a 2.1 system in my family room. I did have them in my small theater as well. I really like them a lot. Great soundstage and they play pretty loud for their size. They remind me a lot of the Genelec 8020 in their characteristics minus the bass. A little more top end on the Paradigm.

As you aware you need to use a higher crossover. I would say 110-120hz with the MilleniaOne if you go that route. They are a good speaker. A little pricey IMHO and they have went up in price over the years.

 

[Bucking]

I use some E301s as surrounds with my Q350s as fronts.
I think they do the job quite well and are small enough.

You could also check out the Cambridge Audio Minx 22s or the Canton Plus series (I'm conscious both of these for atmos)

 

[Heatransfer]

I use the MilleniaOne in my system. I use it in a 2.1 system in my family room. I did have them in my small theater as well. I really like them a lot. Great soundstage and they play pretty loud for their size. They remind me a lot of the Genelec 8020 in their characteristics minus the bass. A little more top end on the Paradigm.

As you aware you need to use a higher crossover. I would say 110-120hz with the MilleniaOne if you go that route. They are a good speaker. A little pricey IMHO and they have went up in price over the years.

Thank you.

Question about the Milleniaone:

Do you happen to know the size (and length) of the mounting rod/bolt on the rear of the speaker? The millenniaone uses a weird proprietary mounting system (but perhaps based on a fairly standard bolt!) and I'm wondering if I can adapt it to my present wall mount. Thank you.

It's also funny, I'm spending a fair bit of time and energy on speakers that are lightly used and stressed, that I would likely be okay with no matter what I ended up with... Yet still I want to optimize the tradeoffs that I make. Good thing I enjoy the process!

 

[Ellebob]

I will check it later

 

[Ellebob]

The bolt on the back of the speaker is about 1 inch from the very back of the speaker. It is about 1 and 1/2 in all together as that part of the speaker is indented in a concave shape.

 

[Heatransfer]

The bolt on the back of the speaker is about 1 inch from the very back of the speaker. It is about 1 and 1/2 in all together as that part of the speaker is indented in a concave shape.

Thank you-it's very much appreciated!

I asked a few other questions of paradigm. I'll include them as somebody could find it useful:

Paradigm Milleniaone:
Mounting bolt on the speaker (for attachment to their stand or wall mount) is M12- quite large.

The integrated mounting system does not support simultaneous pan AND tilt. It does one or the other, not both.

It turns out that this speaker will not work for my application as the room is a funny shape (I need both pan and tilt).

The (re)search continues...

 

[kyuu]

Something like the JBL Stage XD-5 doesn't meet your requirements?

 

[Heatransfer]

Something like the JBL Stage XD-5 doesn't meet your requirements?

Thank you for the reply.

It may indeed meet the requirements (I haven't looked into every single suggestion made.) Definitely some interesting ideas so far, yours included.

 

[kyuu]

I now realize that when phrased as a question like that, it might come across as a little churlish. Sorry about that. I should've phrased it more like "The JBL Stage XD-5 might meet your requirements."

 

[scrubb]

I like my pair of Monoprice THX Satellite speakers which might meet your criteria. It's a two-way in a coaxial configuration which provides more even horizontal and vertical dispersion - a useful characteristic for surrounds, particularly if placement options are not ideal. I have one on a 1/4 threaded wall mount and the other on a fireplace mantle.
Review here:

Monolith by Monoprice THX Certified Satellite Speaker Review

Monolith by Monoprice THX Certified Satellite Speakers

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

 

[kyuu]

I like my pair of Monoprice THX Satellite speakers which might meet your criteria. It's a two-way in a coaxial configuration which provides more even horizontal and vertical dispersion - a useful characteristic for surrounds, particularly if placement options are not ideal. I have one on a 1/4 threaded wall mount and the other on a fireplace mantle.
Review here:

Monolith by Monoprice THX Certified Satellite Speaker Review

Monolith by Monoprice THX Certified Satellite Speakers

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

Those are definitely not designed for anything approaching loud or dynamic content. However, within their constraints, they are actually quite impressive considering their size and price.