Speaker advice?

Thanks again, everyone. Al, I have taken the Epos out of the running. Still thinking really seriously about the Spendors, Harbeths, Minuets, RS1. Someone also suggested the Dulcet Ref3a, which maybe does a bit more bass. My listening, by the way, is pretty eclectic, except that I don't listen to classical. I play a lot of jazz, pop, rock, country, blues, acoustic, etc. Margot

Oh, and I am also still thinking about the Paradigm Reference Studio 20s, v. 5, though I am unclear how well the Creek Evolution 50a could drive them, or if they are fussy about placement and for this reason might be problematic in a small room. Thoughts?

If you're considering the Studio 20s, I'd strongly suggest that you check out the Studio 10s as well. Yes, the 20s are larger and they go a bit lower, but the 10s sounded much better. The mid range was just more pleasing to my ears.

In a room the size of yours, I don't think it's going to make much of a difference, but the 20s do play a tad bit louder.

Just want to mention that my last pair of speakers was the Studio 10 and I moved those in favor of Minuet Supreme Plus. The Minuets had more body and were much more transparent.

I'm not saying that the Paradigm stuff doesn't sound good, because it does. I'm a big fan of Paradigm stuff, but the Minuets just sounded better in my setup. The Paradigms are also going to be a bit more fussy about setup.

This is really helpful, Tony. Thanks.

One other question to Tony and other advocates of the Minuets: would you advocate going this direction even without a subwoofer? Because I probably won't do get one for this room...