This sucks

Pawlowski6132, I heard the Zu Audio Tone monitors at Zu Audio's Los Angeles demonstration in September. I was very impressed. They are 101dB sensitive, and cost $1795/pair.

I haven't heard them in my room, but if I was in the market for some very sensitive and relatively inexpensive monitors for a small room, these would be strong contenders.

FWIW...

Thanx Tvad. I never would have thought of those.

Onhwy61, I agree that phones are capable of excellent bass that you can hear, but to get the full effect you need bass that you can feel. How about headphones and a sub? Still no soundstage though.

Pawlowski, As for speakers I think you are on the right path exploring high efficiency speakers but not because of a small room, rather I think that they sound the best, and you will need them for the amp you have.

Monitors that will work well with an SET amp are a rare breed. To get any bass out of a small cabinet they must be inefficient. To get bass out of an efficient driver takes a big cabinet. In a small room with your amp you need a high efficiency speaker in a moderate size cabinet like the Lowther medallion and a small sub. http://www.lowther-america.com/

Pawlowski6132,

I understand much better now. Money is a good reason to back off. Good decision. Also, a small square room like your size led me to a 2 year doctorate (not really) in acoustic treatment and I realized how tough it was to get the jr's to work in a small room. It can be done, but it's very difficult. I would heed others advice and look into the Cain speakers, get tubes, and look into room treatment when you have the cash. If your room/system was anything like mine the brightness/harshness is horrible, but it wasn't attributed to my system. It was the size of the room. Some blankets or treatment can solve that.

Headphones can be enjoyable. I listen to them regularly and enjoy them. You just have to realize they won't give you the same sensation, but they will eliminate the room problems caused by all loudspeakers in all rooms, so in taht sense, they are superior.

Anyway, hang in there, you have the rest of your life to get the system you want, so don't stress, just enjoy what you have now.

Thank you Robm321.