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Small room, "budget priced" speaker advice, please

Hi,

I recently sold my dearly beloved, old Vandersteen 2C's here on Audiogon (and I hope SgtPeppers is loving them at this moment!) :-) I did this because in our remodeled house, my new listening room (which will double as a guest room) is just too small for the 2C's. The Spousal Acceptance Factor was just too low. ;-)

I have a PS Audio Elite-Plus integrated amp for power (around 70 W/Ch) and a soon-to-be-shipped-off-for-a-refurb Sota Sapphire for an analog front end (I have "miles" of vinyl)! I will also get a CD player at some point.

For now, I need to find a pair of best-of-breed, truly "budget" speakers. By "budget," I'm talking upper limit of $850/pair. (Gone are my free-spending, single days... I'm a dad now...) :-)

Listening habits: lots of 60's and 70's folk and rock, some jazz, Donald Fagen/Steely Dan, a little classical. Listening volume: not too loud. Sonic preferences: I value transparency and imaging/soundstage. Bass should be accurate above all, as opposed to chest-pounding powerful.

I've looked at Paradigms, which I know are highly regarded at lower price points. Trouble is, our one, local dealer is primarily a TV/home theater outfit, so you're trying to hear them in a showroom crammed with other stuff... you know the drill. I've also hit a high end shop. Listened to a pair of PSB small towers and disliked them; they sounded muddy and veiled to me. Listened to a pair of the smallest Rega's and liked them quite a bit, but would want to go back to listen again. I even wrote to PS Audio for advice; they recommended the "baby" Epos monitors, but they're out of my price range.

Thanks if you've read this far. Knowing how subjective all this is, I'd still welcome any advice you have to offer about what I should try to audition.
rebbi
rebbi OP
1,319 posts
 
Thank you for the clarification! I'd emailed PS Audio earlier and they said "As long as the amp is in good shape and the room is moderately sized you should not have any problems driving those speakers. Personally I am a fan of the entire Dynaudio line. In any case let us know how it goes once you make a decision."
jdoris
852 posts
 
North Creek does a number of small room, near wall specific designs. (northcreekmusic.com). George Short of NC, and Lee Taylor, who builds his cabinets, are both very helpful. I enjoy my North Creek Eskas.

John
rebbi OP
1,319 posts
 
Jdoris,

Looks like they're all kits, no?
jdoris
852 posts
 
Rebbi: I think some of the units can be bought premade, either from NC or Lee Taylor. Believe it used to be so, anyway -- you could email NC. But a kit might be worth considering: the crossovers for the kits come preassembled, so if Lee Taylor builds you the boxes the assembly, esp. for the simpler designs, is the work of a few hours, and requires no special technical acumen. Could get you into something pretty nice at your price point, brand new. George is a nice and smart guy, as is Lee; I expect you'd not regret giving a call, in any event. John
rebbi OP
1,319 posts
 
Well, I think it's come down to either the Arro's or the Silverline Preludes. (I was also considering the Quad 21L2, but I've read some user threads online expressing frustration that they need to be a good foot or two off the back wall or the soundstaging collapses.)

Anybody here actually own or have a good listen to the Preludes? Advice?

Thanks!!
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