|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
71.32.92.222
I'm putting a system in my basement office, a tight space requiring near field (7' from chair) listening and speakers near the back wall. Most small 2 way speakers seem to be rear ported (Proac Tablette, Epos, etc)... any recommendations of speakers that work well in this set up? Thanks in advance.
Follow Ups:
Used pair of Naim SBL, very small floorstander that is made to be tucked up close to the walls for best sound. Get urself a Nait 5i and a usedpair of SBL's and you would have avery nice little "small room" system for not much money.
The porting makes no difference - some are made for corners or they're not. For $600.00US The Audio Note AX Two will work near wall and in corners and are fine out away from walls as well. They work in the nearfield or midfield. I heard them in a room way too big for them and they still sounded excellent. They also work very well with lower watt tube amplifiers should you decide one day to go that route.This site has the AX Two and some close to wall speakers from Tannoy that may interest you as well. (PS I own the AN J/spe speakers to let you know my bias up front).
I recall seeing an AX-2 review in Positive Feedback that focused a good deal on the selective nature of these speakers for amplification.
My dealer prefers the cheaper AX Two to the signature -- although he did not have the Signature as long - and I did not compare them. I was not impressed by the AX One. It's certainly fine enough but doesn;t have the magic fairy dust or whatever that the Two has. Perhaps because the AX one doesn't use foam surround paper woofer? As I said though I auditioned in a room that has at least 20 foot ceilings and long and relatively narrow. The AX Two outperformed easily the B&W 705 which here in Canad is more than 3 times the price. An awful big premium for sexy looks but hey it's not my money.I heard the AX Two with a Rotel RA 2 and the sound was very nice indeed when you factor in the budget and in my view you should always try and factor in the budget. Yes the speakers get a lot better with better sounding equipment or more to the point audio note equipment since that's what it was designed on - but then that's hardly a bad thing. A bad thing is when you own speakers that you can't tell any difference from any cd player or any amplifier tube or ss. Speakers that can differentiate these subtleties have higher resolving capacity.
This is different than some speakers that make everything sound "bright" and a dealer or magazine saying you need a new amp to FIX these gross speaker problems. The AX Two/Rotel RA-02 was a good system that one could recommend to friends for around $1200.00Cad +$200Cad for the Skylan Stands and another $300.00Cad for a reasonably competant cd player. You could spend way more at future shop or the like and get rubbish.
Hooking up the OTO to the AX Two greatly improved dynamics, bass and no longer sounded thin and lean like the Rotel. The difference though was that you don;t really know what you're missing if you don't compare. The J/L and E/L are wonderful speakers and then you hear the E/Spe and J/Spe and you can't go back. The AX Two with Rotel sounds very nice and Yes the OTO lays a world of hurt on the Rotel -- but then it's nearly 9 times the price so it bloody well should.
The AX Two is one of the few inexpensive speakers I know of that will actually tell you WHY you would consider spending 9 times the price for an amp - something the 705, I'm sorry to say does not. Whether I ran an entry level Cambridge Audio Integrated or Bryston Separates on that speaker it was Ho-hum why would anyone pay more for the Bryston over the Cambridge? And this is sighted! God help the poor fools doing a blind test with these speakers - you probably would not be able to tell the ASKL AQ1003DT was a tube amp.
AX-2's pretty hospitable, AX-2 Signatures prefer tubes.
Killer sound for their street price ($600, Retail is $695). Not only can you put them close to a wall, you can even turn them sideways if you have an odd space. They are happy with modest electronics yet they have true, high quality sound (very open and spacious). Best LF of speakers in their class IMO.
If you ever want to move them upstairs they will sing with quality equipment. They could also be the core of a terrific surround system for music or movies.I use mine (actually their precessors the Lil'Rascals II) in a second system and couldn't be happier.
Thanks to all for the many responses, lots to follow up on.For those of you who asked: the basic room is 10 x 12, though it opens into other parts of the basement, ceilings are pretty low at about 7' at bottom of joists. It's a semi finished space so lots of irregular angles and heating ducts and stuff. Fun.
I don't know how much you're looking to spend, but I've been having a lot of fun with a pair of Mision M70s that I picked up a few months ago for less than $100. Amazing little speakers that are easily the equal in many terms of the larger bookshelf speakers I have in my collection.They're front ported and you can push them right up against the wall. And if you listen at reasonable levels, they'll easily fill a decent-sized room. Mine is about 12' X 20'. They're heavily marked down right now and represent a crazy-good value for anyone looking for a small speaker.
I picked up a pair of these from the for under $100 from the Stereo Trading outlet in PA. My feelings are similiar. Fantastic speakers, close to the performance of my Phase Tech pc1.1II at a fraction of the cost. Serious bang for the buck. Hi WAF in silver.
They are both front ported speakers, have great imaging, decent bass extension, awesome mids and a nice detailed treble without sound harsh, etched, or grainy. Its a worthwhile audition
Bottom ported and tunable to your liking. How big is your office room? I've run 2 different pairs of Castles in my almost square (15x14ish)listening room with great results. About 90db, so your amp choice isn't as big a deal.
Castle Conway 3 & Stirling 3...
The Castle Stirling 3's work very well near a wall and in tight quarters, but unfortunately the very underrated Castle Acoustics don't have a US distributor at the present time.
Spendor S3/5. Sealed enclosure.
KT88 knows these speakers. You might ping him.
...the Usher S520. I was floored at a dealer's showroom a couple of weeks ago by this tiny monitor. Excellent bass extension and definition from a small box and it's dirt cheap @ $400.00. I can see it working beautifully in an office setup.
Check this speaker out before you buy anything. Always gets great reviews and it's front ported.
Check out this'n when it comes out in a month and a half or so.
Ohm Micro Tall
I just saw the similar post below. I can spend a bit more than $400.. $1000 is more in the ballpark. I'm particularly interested in the issue of a rear ported speaker near the wall.
Try to find a pair of original Linn Kan.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: