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Speakers for long, tall, bare room in NYC

Hi all. Made a mistake. Could use some advice.

Living room in NYC that is 7' wide x 15' long with a 14' ceiling. Bare wood floor. Bare hard walls. Furniture is a desk and chair with a computer at one end. Other end is a desk, piano keyboard, and a couple of nearfields - Dynaudio BM5As. Those sound great when close but I'd like something to fill up the room.

What I thought might do is the Polk VM30s. Bought them for $450 and they sound like what I'd expect $450 speakers to sound like. No nice surprise. (Maybe it's just my room and setup because I can't believe Polk originally listed them at $2300.) All high and mid, no low, and no mid-low. No full feeling. Playing them loud just hurts. A sub isn't going to fix the problem because it's the mid-low that drives me nuts when not present. Amp is the emotiva $250 one.

Spending up to $3000 for speakers and an amp what are some options you can suggest. I live for music, lately classical. I'm at the Met frequently and Carnegie often (Avery Fisher - never!) so have a decent idea of what music should sound like. Obviously can't reproduce that but would like to not have big chunks of the audio spectrum missing.

How do I approach buying equipment for a room like this? A recommendation for a good audio shop in NYC won't be ignored either.
12001200
tpreaves's avatar
tpreaves
2,515 posts
 
Tough room,I wish you luck.I'm curious to see what ideas folks come up with on this one.
unsound
6,115 posts
 
I think this is what your room needs: http://www.tactlab.com/Products/Ambiophonics/ambiophonics.html
soulbrass
246 posts
 
Your room would benefit greatly from careful speaker placement and some room treatments (e.g., absorptive panels) - money spent on the room will pay dividends by allowing any equipment you do purchase to perform at or near potential rather than being hampered by the room itself.

Many solutions available, both commercial and DIY. Lots of on-line help - search "room treatments".

Plan B would be a great headphone setup!

Good luck!
martykl
3,563 posts
 
Digital Room Correction (like TacT) is probably your best solution. I use the Velodyne SMS-1 with subs which applies DRC only to the bass region, but I'm not sure it'll fix what's ailing you up there in the mid bass. Audyssey makes a full range DRC system that's pretty commonly included in HT receivers and (less often in) pre-pros, as well as in a (rather expensive) stand alone unit. Also expensive is Meridian's version which works from IIRC 300hz down.

Good Luck

Marty

PS, beware fullrange loudspeakers (and subwoofers) in NYC, as IME the neighbors may not be pleased!
donjr
1,311 posts
 
Since you probably can't play music at glass shattering volumes, maybe you should look into the Tekton Design OB4.5 Monitors And S12 Subwoofer. They received a Blue Note Award from Enjoy the Music. Here's some of what they said about them.

You will also have to settle for moderate listening levels and a polite but tuneful bass. But its shortcomings are few. With a full-range driver on an open baffle it gives you superb focus, transparency, timing and phase coherence. Place them out into the room on solid stands and it delivers a wide, deep soundscape with excellent definition. Need more bass? Add a Tekton S12 subwoofer for $650 (or two) with Aperture Subwoofer Technology-an open baffle monopole design, similar to the monitors, that goes deep, reveals the tonality of the recording and blends seamlessly with the monitors. At $1200 for the monitors and subwoofer, this combination is an absolute category killer and one of the biggest bargains in high-end audio.
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