Speaker Selection with "difficult" room

Thank you everyone for your comments. Very constructive.

I would suggest staying away from Paradigm speakers. I really enjoyed listening to Paradigm speakers in the store, but they are probably the brightest speakers that I've ever heard and I suspect a very poor match for you room.

I own Focals (Chorus Series) that are fairly bright speakers to my ears, but they actually sound wonderful in my listening room that is fairly live as well so you might give them a listen and see what you think.

What equipment have you previously owned or heard that is sort of your target? Though I'd love to have seperates, I'm very happy with my receiver and it comes with Audyssey built in.

My Integra 50.1 AVR and Focal 836v speakers would be under your $5,000 budget and might be a satisfactory setup for you, I'm very happy with it. You might even step down to the 816v speakers and add a nice subwoofer to the system for a similar total budget. I suspect that a subwoofer would do wonderful things in a room that large.

A lot of members are anti-AVR because they don't sound quite as good as stereo equipment and they simply can't be happy with less. I know that things can sound better, but can't imagine not being happy with the sound that I currently have. You'll have to figure out where you stand on the subject.

If you're only planning for stereo listening then a nice integrated amplifier would be the ticket. Some options to consider are the Cambridge Audio Azur 840A or Krell S-300i.

Joe22ny1,
Trying to get a handle on this room...
17' wide, 23' long. Speakers will be near one end with french windows on one side of the listening area and opens to a dining room on the other side of the listening area. Your seating position will be 8 ft in front of the speakers... Do I have this right? By the way average listening is typically 82 to 90 db. I find myself at around 86 or 87.
If this is correct and you want to keep your current receiver, you will need fairly sensitive speakers. I would suggest 90-91db 8 ohm speakers minimum. I would not risk 4 ohm speakers with this receiver... Next, if truly on a 5K budget. I would highly recommend you take
$1000 to $1500 toward a good integrated, then $2000 to $2500 on speakers and $500 to $1000 on a source and the balance on good cables....
If I have the room correct, We can give you some easy and inexpensive room treatments and make recommendations about speakers or electronics once we hear what you are dealing with. Tim

Speakers will fire down length of room (23 feet). 11 foot ceilings BTW.
The sitting areas are @8 and 14 ft from the wall that will be next to the speakers.
I don't know dB levels as far as loudness and if it translates to speakers but 60 dB is normal conversation and 100 dB is a mower so I would say between those levels and less. Thank you.

I'm with Plato.

Anthem, TacT, Deqx, Lingdorf, or Audyssey are your main options for room correction electronics. Not neccessarily audiophile approved, but probably your best call.

You could also go with bass only correction from Velodyne or SVS/Audyssey if you're willing to go to a subwoofer. You'll just have to find a speaker with the right top end for all those reflective surfaces in your room.

Good Luck,

Marty

Will the speakers fire down the length of the room or across the width of the room? How far will you be sitting from your speakers? How loud do you listen?

A few thoughts....

You might want to go with a speaker with a soft dome tweeter (ie., a slightly rolled off top end). It will be tough for you to control the high frequencies in that room, so anything 'brightish' will be hard on the ears.

You definitely need a floor stander to fill the room, but I'd be inclined to re-look at the Onkyo, you'll need a tight grip on the bottom end to keep it in check. So maybe something with some really high quality power (100wpc+), and a fairly efficient speaker.

Tons of choices on specific brands, really a personal preference.

Thank you.

Yes. Sorry.
Budget is $5000 for speakers.
Floorstanding speaker.
Now have Onkyo TX-8211 integrated amp. but this can change if needed and budget as well.
Music is mostly alternative, rock and jazz.
Have listened to B&W CM-90 already but not sure if that is an underwhelming choice for this space.
Thank you.

If you have poor room acoustics, there are no standard components that will provide optimal performance. The room acoustics will prevent this.

However, to get close to optimal performance my suggestion would be to acquire a component with digital room correction. I use a Lyngdorf DPA-1 digital preamp (they make an integrated amp with room correction also). In my large weird room I am extremely pleased with its ability to turn my "poor acoustic environment" into a very-good to excellent acoustic space. In my view, it's performance is extraordinary.

Alternately you could spend a ton of money on bass traps and other passive room correction devices that will cost more money and your wife will hate. Best of luck to you.

What is your Budget?

And what type of speaker do you want?
(i.e. Planer, electrostatic, dynamic, floorstander, bookshelf, full range, etc...)

What type of music do you listen to primarily?

What equipment are you using, (or planning on using), with these speakers?
(Especially the amplifiers.)

We need a lot more information in order to give you decent suggestions.