2. speakers
  3. 1212633048

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
 
Upon reflection, I think that some of what I'm experiencing has to do with the extent that the Internet (both retail and sites like Audiogon) has changed how you shop for high-end audio.

When I bought my first good system (PS Audio Amp, Vandersteen 2c's, Systemdek turntable) back in the mid-1980's, I spent about 4 months going from shop to shop (I lived in the NYC area back then)... I'll never forget the single-speaker Linn dealer who tried to literally confiscate my wristwatch while I listened to equipment!...) I ended up buying my stuff from two dealers: Innovative Audio in Brooklyn, and a guy in Lynnbrook, Long Island whose name I can no longer remember.

Anyway, there was no internet, and no question that I was going to buy my gear from one of the brick and mortar stores I'd visitedÂ… gear that I'd actually HEARD first. That's how I ended up with the Vandy's: it was love at first listen.

But now I live in Austin which has a nice group of high-end shops, but still limits what you can get to hear.

Plus, between the range of stuff you can learn about (and covet) on the 'Net, the advice you can get on a site like Audiogon, and the possibility of picking up used gear here, everything changes. I started out this upgrade process swearing that I'd only buy something that I'd heard first. And I ended up with a bunch of components that I'd never heard first.

Times do change.
learsfool
1,206 posts
 
I didn't read through all of these responses to see if someone already recommended this, but my brother has a very small listening room, and he as a pair of used Sound Dynamics 300TI's, which he has mounted on stands. He gets very nice results with them. Might be hard to find in the used market, but I saw some on ebay recently.
zkzpb8
208 posts
 
Rebbi, now that you have me thinking about it, I've purchased everything that I currently own without audition.
Amp was purchased from a store in Austin (I'm in NYC!), Ohms are obviously factory direct, DAC was from Pacific Valve MacBook Pro, PS3...
mapman's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
mapman
15,679 posts
 
"Rebbi, now that you have me thinking about it, I've purchased everything that I currently own without audition."

Yeah, almost everything I've bought in the last 3 years have been without audition as well based on info I gather via websites like this.

That includes amp, 3 pair of speaks (two Ohm, 1 Dynaudio), 2 replacement woofers for another pair of speaks that was a DIY upgrade on the Ohm Ls, the CD player, phono cartridge, and all new interconnects and cables. Also 3 digital cameras.

And amazingly, everything has worked out well.
jimmytheglove
1 posts
 
Hi. I haven't read all the other posts, so forgive me if someone has already suggested the Schonberg Series of speakers from Vienna Acoustics. They're perfect speakers for small rooms, but work well in larger rooms too. They are designed to be placed on the wall or against the wall and sound unbelievable. www.sumikoaudio.net
More to discover