Speaker recommendations for an open-space apartment with a high ceiling

[EJ3]

Check them out but I thought they were disappointing and I don't think they will be enough for your space and the music you like.

Impossible to give a specific recommendation but I would look for a big, efficient, three or four way tower. Probably from the used market, save you some money for a powerful amplifier.

You will need to damp the room down, that doesn't necessarily mean deploying dedicated treatment, but no speaker in the world sounds good in a highly reflective environment.

Some times a decorative tapestry (or 2) on hung on a wall (or 2) helps.

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

• High ceiling (approximately 3 meters / 9'10")
• Width of placement area: about 4 meters / 13'1"

The listening distance will be around 4-5 meters (13-16 feet give or take).

You will have a lot of ceiling reflections. Unless you are going to treat the ceiling (few people do), this is a thing to think about. So a speaker with narrower vertical dispersion is likely something you should consider.

I have a narrower room, but similar in ceiling and listening position (one of them at least.) My AV/occasional music speakers have been as far as 4 meters in the past, but have VERY narrow vertical dispersion. Vintage horn speakers, modified. My stand mounts have wider vertical, and I set them up closer (2-3 meters depending on whether I get up into the triangle or not.) Modern dome tweeter two way, Ascend Sierra LX, which are likely not something you want to choose given Euromoney and location.

So I suggest either something that has narrow vertical dispersion that live where you plan for them to live, OR stand mounts that would be easier to pull out into the room for peak sound quality. With or without a sub.

Sorry that I don't have any examples of speakers with narrow vertical dispersion, I did not look for that with my latest purchase. I am sure others know some options.

 

[MCH]

@jammymalina what is the size or your open space? i will be in a similar situation soon (80sqm, 860sqf) and am following with interest. Thanks.

 

[Moustache]

I have a room of similar size, around 3.5m ceiling height. My budget would be around 3000 eur tops, but there are so many options, I don't know what to go for...
KEF R5?
Paradigm 700F? 800F?
Elac UFR52?
Triangle BR08?
Canton Townus 90?

Too many options for a layman like me

 

[MKR]

@jammymalina what is the size or your open space? i will be in a similar situation soon (80sqm, 860sqf) and am following with interest. Thanks.

860 sqft ?! Wow, that is a massive space, I am jealous. But you will need some very large speakers to fill that room.

 

[blackiridium]

860 sqft ?! Wow, that is a massive space, I am jealous. But you will need some very large speakers to fill that room.

I’m in a very similar situation and chose KEF R6s and will be adding at least one sub for low end response.

 

[MKR]

I’m in a very similar situation and chose KEF R6s and will be adding at least one sub for low end response.

Isn’t the R6 a center channel? Anyway, for such a large space I would be going with a much bigger KEF design than that driver complement (well, I would go with a fully different speaker altogether than KEF for such a space, but that is just me)

 

[prestigetone]

Isn’t the R6 a center channel? Anyway, for such a large space I would be going with a much bigger KEF design than that driver complement (well, I would go with a fully different speaker altogether than KEF for such a space, but that is just me)

I think I can guess which one

 

[Oddball]

Might be a bit over the budget so a stretch, but these are really amazing sounding speakers. Will play loud and clear in big open rooms - have a pair in a 6,000+ cft loft and could not be happier. They will not go below 30hz though, at least in my room.

Pretty good deal for EU.

HECO HECO La Diva 3-Wege-Lautsprecher mit Passiv-Radiatoren, Paar (119578218) | Ausstellungsstück | Standlautsprecher | Angebot auf audio-markt.de

Angeboten wird „HECO La Diva 3-Wege-Lautsprecher mit Passiv-Radiatoren, Paar“ von HECO als Ausstellungsstück aus der Kategorie „Standlautsprecher“ bei audio-markt.de - dem Online-Marktplatz für High-End. Das Inserat mit der Nummer 119578218 endet am 26.11.2024 um 06:09 Uhr.

www.audio-markt.de

 

[blackiridium]

Isn’t the R6 a center channel? Anyway, for such a large space I would be going with a much bigger KEF design than that driver complement (well, I would go with a fully different speaker altogether than KEF for such a space, but that is just me)

Correct they’re centers. I need to orient the speakers horizontally and in an enclosed space. Due to their coaxial speakers they have great, wide dispersion and others have been able to orient them vertically. They’re sealed which makes placing them close to a wall less problematic. They also have relatively high spl capability that could work while listening at a distance.

 

[MKR]

Correct they’re centers. I need to orient the speakers horizontally and in an enclosed space. Due to their coaxial speakers they have great, wide dispersion and others have been able to orient them vertically. They’re sealed which makes placing them close to a wall less problematic. They also have relatively high spl capability that could work while listening at a distance.

That’s great they are working for you, KEF always a solid choice!

 

[Sokel]

@jammymalina what is the size or your open space? i will be in a similar situation soon (80sqm, 860sqf) and am following with interest. Thanks.

I have exactly the same (82m²) with a little higher ceiling as my dedicated listening room.
And although it's treated and my listening distance is 2.8-3 meters any 2-way or small tower is like a candle in the dark,can't do justice to it.

The same with all rooms at about this size I have listened to.
What does it is big 3-way good from 30s to 300Hz for music.

Subs and satellites don't do it,no matter the configuration and the number except they can do good 300Hz,they are low distortion and are put under or near the satellites (in a W371 fashion)
That way it may have the energy it must have at midbass.
Bigger rooms don't need abysmal lows to fill,they do need enough woofer area though.

One must also prepare for elevated RT,which can go down to a decent (for the size) 600-700ms but to push it down to 300ms as some music genres ask for is a lot of work.
For my genre (classical) is ok though.

And another,such a space often tempts for a very wide speaker placement and it's one of the mistakes people do as it's first impression may be nice.
But will loose depth and image big time,no matter the dispersion of the speakers.

 

[Waxx]

For such a space you want speakers that can do 110dB/1M with ease, just to keep headroom while filling the room on decent loud volume (90dB), also away from the speakers. Something like a JBL 4367 with a good amp that can do 300W/8R and dsp would be very good. The typical narrow tower speakers with 8" or 6" woofers won't do it in such a space i think. Those are over budget, but older variations of it can be had second hand sometimes in the pricerange. Maybe the bigger Genelecs and Neumanns can drive that room too, especially with extra subs, but that will also be far over budget.

That is a big space to fill, and outside diy builds i can't think of a good quality speakerset with amps that can do that good for 5K. Small setups can be cheap, but big rooms need big setups to fill it and that still costs a lot to do right.

The ones i did build for people for such rooms (i assume a 6x10x4m at least) were big multiway systems with compression driver tweeters in horns and big (at least 12") woofers, sometimes with a mid driver in between. All amped with in total a few to hundreds to a thousand watt. Dome drivers are just not powerfull enough to fill a room like that, and the same with small woofers like popular now.

The JBL M2 and 4367 are the best in that category, and not with a small advantage. Tad is also very good but ridiculous expensive. But a lot of those speakes are one-off commision or small series builds by known designers (who mostly know their stuff well) on order, and cost more in the region of the price of a Tannoy Westminster (but sound a lot more neutral). Such a big living room is here a real luxury, only for the rich. And they love "exclusive design" like a one off build.

But there are tons of good plans of those on the internet, that can be build with minimal design skill, and with dsp, can sound as clean as you want. But for ready made speakers from a big known brand with known quality, your budget is to small for your room.