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Speaker Recommendation - Small Room

drfous

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Thanks for this site. It's been a real learning resource.

I'm looking for a speaker recommendation for a fairly smallish room - 10' w x 16' l x 10' h. This is also my home office.

$1500ish budget works. I know the Revel M105s fit that budget and score well in Amir's tests.

I'm also thinking something DIY like the Philharmonic BMR. Sound stage is an important element for me. Just not sure how that would work in this room.

I've got a single 12" sub. May add a second. Basshead.

Jazz, Blues and Rock are my primary genres.

Streamer = moOde on a Pi 4
DAC = RME ADI-2 DAC FS
PRE = Schitt Freya
AMP = Purifi Eval 1 kit
Sub AMP = Behringer NX3000D

Current Speakers = JBL L110. These sound bright to me in this room.
Listening level ~ 75dB

TIA!
 

Chazz6

Active Member
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Mar 4, 2021
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Your room and listening level are similar to mine, and your music choices overlap mine. I'm happy with a pair of Focal Aria 906 speakers, favorably reviewed at
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/focal-aria-906-speaker-review.14085/

If you are in the U.S., know that the price in Europe seems to be less than half the list price in the U.S. I happened to get mine off craigslist from a man who bought them several years ago on a trip to Europe and brought them to the U.S. in his luggage.
 

amper42

Major Contributor
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Dec 21, 2020
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Thanks for this site. It's been a real learning resource.

I'm looking for a speaker recommendation for a fairly smallish room - 10' w x 16' l x 10' h. This is also my home office.

$1500ish budget works. I know the Revel M105s fit that budget and score well in Amir's tests.

I'm also thinking something DIY like the Philharmonic BMR. Sound stage is an important element for me. Just not sure how that would work in this room.

I've got a single 12" sub. May add a second. Basshead.

Jazz, Blues and Rock are my primary genres.

Streamer = moOde on a Pi 4
DAC = RME ADI-2 DAC FS
PRE = Schitt Freya
AMP = Purifi Eval 1 kit
Sub AMP = Behringer NX3000D

Current Speakers = JBL L110. These sound bright to me in this room.
Listening level ~ 75dB

TIA!

I would highly recommend the BMR monitor for your office. They sound amazing in my office of 12' x 14' x 9'. They offer amazing clarity and bass flat down to 38Hz in my room. I have never heard a bookshelf that sounds this good. At $1700 it's a great value compared to the sound quality and bass extension. It's hard to fully appreciate how great they are until you have had them for awhile. https://philharmonicaudio.com
 
OP
D

drfous

Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2020
Messages
71
Likes
60
Location
Valley of the Sun
Your room and listening level are similar to mine, and your music choices overlap mine. I'm happy with a pair of Focal Aria 906 speakers, favorably reviewed at
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/focal-aria-906-speaker-review.14085/

If you are in the U.S., know that the price in Europe seems to be less than half the list price in the U.S. I happened to get mine off craigslist from a man who bought them several years ago on a trip to Europe and brought them to the U.S. in his luggage.

Thanks for the info - I'm in the US.

I was looking at the Focals several months ago. I need to go back and check them out.

Thanks for the recommendation.
 
OP
D

drfous

Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2020
Messages
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Likes
60
Location
Valley of the Sun
I would highly recommend the BMR monitor for your office. They sound amazing in my office of 12' x 14' x 9'. They offer amazing clarity and bass flat down to 38Hz in my room. I have never heard a bookshelf that sounds this good. At $1700 it's a great value compared to the sound quality and bass extension. It's hard to fully appreciate how great they are until you have had them for awhile. https://philharmonicaudio.com

That's great.

Any thoughts on the sound stage? I guess my concern is that my room is just too narrow.
 

Bamyasi

Senior Member
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Feb 19, 2019
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I was going to recommend Buchardt's S400 but checked the current price and it exceeds your budget, unfortunately. I have bought my pair as an early pre-order and they cost me "just" $1,700 then but today's price is over $2,000, partially due to a weaker dollar. They occasionally may have some discounted B-stock at a much more reasonable prices but all are sold out at the moment, it seems.

My listening room is about the same dimensions as yours, with lower ceiling at 8 ft, and I use Apollon NC800SL Hypex NC500 based amp to power them. Honestly, S400 is simply the best sounding compact bookshelves I've ever listened to, period. Most importantly, they completely lack that harsh forward sound typical of most modern speakers. I call it showroom tuning since it makes speakers stand out at the shows but it immediately causes listening fatigue when you bring them home. I can listen to my pair of S400 for hours though, enjoying the music more and more. They are however not suitable for nearfield / desktop use due to rather narrow dispersion.
 
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amper42

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