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Need Small Bookshelf Speakers With a Big Sound

Good morning.  I have been out of any kind of audiophile circles for a long time.  We moved into a house with built-in speakers about 5 years ago, which I really enjoy, but of course it's better for casual listening at a party than for quality listening.  Our family room is in a pretty open space that borders our living room and kitchen, so my wife is very focused on speakers being unobtrusive in appearance.  I was therefor looking for small speakers and got turned onto KEF LS50s, which sounded really nice for the price, and more than good enough for my desires.  And they are small.  But I didn't really focus on their "untraditional" looks.  It turns out that was a deal-breaker when I brought them home to demo.

So, I am back to square one.  What I would really like is a speaker that is about the size of the LS50s, or maybe a little bigger, and has a nice looking, traditional wood finish.  Bright colors and artificial surfaces, no matter how good they sound, need not apply...

I would say my self-imposed budget is around $2,000 at the top.  Unless new speakers leads me down the audiophile slippery slope, the speakers would be powered by my old Adcom 545 II amp and GTP 500 II tuner, with either an Adcom CD changer or Apple TV streaming the music.  Not exactly Audiogon Best In Class, but I think it will bring a smile to my face.  And you never know if this will lead to upgrading the whole shebang.

Any thoughts appreciated.  Not that it matters, but I am in the Chicagoland area.
chiguy
carmenc
293 posts
 
Try some Tannoy DC8.  Great bass, coherent, lively and good speed.  Good luck.
audiolabyrinth's avatar
audiolabyrinth
4,483 posts
 
Be sure to check out the JBL synthesis studio 530 speaker's,  this is the hottest thing on the market currently,  so hot,  JBL is on back order till January, 2016, no worries,  you can get them on ebay new on the used market,  they come in black wood grain or chery wood, 45htz to 40khtz!
mtbrider
130 posts
 
Ascend Acoustics Sierra 2's.
chiguy OP
17 posts
 
Wow, thanks for all the recommendations!  FWIW, in a couple of coincidences, I went to Holm Audio to hear the KEFs.  While I was there, I also was advised to listen to PSB Imagine Minis, which I liked, but seemed to need a subwoofer to fill out the sound.  So I wonder if the slightly larger PSBs would be a good all-in-one alternative.

I also listened to a pair of Tannoy floor speakers there, although my wife decided she liked the "lighter" look of smaller bookshelf speakers on stands, than taller floor speakers.  Appearance is very important to her, and I think I can find speakers that sound good to me if they fit her "blend into the woodwork" eye.  Lots to check you.  Thanks for the ideas!
freediver
585 posts
 
chiguy,about a year ago I had to downsize from Sonus Faber Toy Towers & SimAudio i5.3 integrated amp.I wanted the absolute best combination in my budget range of small size & big sound as replacements,they had to sing with lowish powered tube amps(10wpc.+)& as these would probably be the last pair of speakers I would ever buy they had to look special.
I went through 3 pair of Dali’s,long demo’s of Martin Logan Motion 15, 35XT’s,Focal Aria 905,906’s & my VERY hard earned $ went for the Made in Denmark, Dynaudio Excite X14’s in Satin Tiger Rosewood finish on Pangea DS400 stands.
Do yourself a favor before you drop coin & have a look at the physical size of all the speakers on your short list & the baby Dyn is smaller than them all.It has the ABSOLUTE most beautiful finish of any of your choices & in either the Rosewood or Walnut finish they can stand next to the finest furniture.
My room is 4mx5mx 2.5m & with a 10wpc.single ended Class A tube amp they can ROCK Judas Priest Metal Gods until the walls shake!They never drop below 7 ohms impedance & have a very mild Phase Inversion Angle so every watt goes straight into driving the speaker.The crossover is designed to eliminate early floor reflections so they integrate easier into areas with reflective floors.Lastly the sound is IMO superb!Driven by a 25wpc.Class A EL84 tube amplifier it has everything I required in a speaker.Tone,texture,imaging & sound staging is all there & present in spades!You can feel the resonance of a cello being pushed,the difference between the dull thud of a plastic bass drum & stretch of skin,horns have bite but are never brittle or hard,closely miked vocals are so perfectly portrayed you can hear the parting of a singers lips just before the first notes sing out.Bass is just amazing & hits a solid low 40's in my smallish room & after hours long listening sessions absolutely no listener fatigue.You do yourself a disservice if you don’t give the Dynaudios a long look & listen...
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