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Tower Speakers and Room Size

Hello,

I have been considering a speaker upgrade for my modest rig:
Rega Mira 3, Onkyo DX-7555, Infinity Beta 40 speakers with decent IC's and speaker wire.

My listening room is 16.5' by 13.5' with 8.5' ceilings. My guess is this would qualify as a small room?

I recently listened to the Monitor Audio RS6 through the Rega Mira 3 and Rega Saturn CDP. As you probably know, the MA RS6 has gotten rave reviews for the price range. My impression was that yes they have detail -- they had nice timbral detail and air, but something in the treble bothered me. It was as if the treble was almost too crisp sounding, which makes me wonder if they can get fatiguing.

Then I listened to the PSB Imagine T through the same rig. Slightly more recessed in the treble (as compared to the RS6), but with noticeably great imaging. I did feel that the bass was a bit vague compared to the RS6, since I thought bass was a strong point of the RS6. Nonetheless, I believe I found the Imagine T more pleasant to listen to.

The dealer says that they will have the PSB Synchrony series in stock for demo in the fall. My question is will the Synchrony One be too much speaker in my 13.5' by 16.5' room?

Also, neither speaker really blew me away. Sure, I shouldn't expect to be blown away in this price range, but perhaps I need to take another step up in terms of price to really hear a significant improvement.

In terms of feedback, what are your experiences with speaker size vs. room size? I do want towers, but if matching their size to my room size is important, I want to know that so I can narrow my search. Thoughts?
braudio7
mapman's avatar
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mapman
15,679 posts
 
I think monitors will do better with soundstage and imaging in a room that size and my preference would lean that way.

I've heard the Synchrony Series floorstanders and liked them A LOT! They were hard to fault on a very good system driven by a Cambridge Azur 840c CD player, Rogue power amp and ARC Ref 3 pre-amp. I also heard my Linn Axis table with Denon DL 103r cart on them and that was also quite the toe tapper!
ejlif's avatar
ejlif
1,243 posts
 
I have not heard any of the speakers you mention but I have fooled around quite a lot with different speakers in different rooms. The room size you have is pretty small, so you can probably get away with monitors and lower power. I have a bedroom system that is using monitors and 100 watts and a living room system that is using close to full range floor standers and 400 watts. It is shocking how mush easier it is to get those 100 watts to get loud in the small room than it is the 400 watts in the big room.

I think you could go either way, but there are some full range floorstanders that might be more than you need. Also if you are buying from a dealer and probably paying a premium then hopefully you can just take them home and see how they sound in your room
loose
239 posts
 
I agree with most of what the two previous posters stated. Medium to larger sized monitors or smaller floorstanders would be how I would lean as well.

However, regarding the PSB Synchrony speakers, I have heard one of the bookshelf (read: monitor) versions (not sure if it was the synchrony one b or the two b) powered by the latest bryston 4b incarnation, upper end bryston preamp and bryston front end and there was a certain tonality to the music that was just not right to my ears. Granted, it could have been the gear/ room/ lack of break-in, combo of the aforementioned etc, but it just didn't work for me.

I also briefly auditioned the floorstanders (again, not sure which ones), which were a different animal altogether, imo.
I liked them to a degree, however, they were a very 'big', sort of 'in your face' sounding speaker, which is not exactly my cup of tea. I'm sure many people (would) enjoy them, but I personally would look elsewhere.

anyway, i digress...

Without a doubt, though, correct speaker size per room is of utmost importance, as I've learned (over and over) the hard way. If you really want them, I still think you can get away with towers in that room - if you choose carefully.
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