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I am begining to like small - low-powered receivers for my
upgraded office system...What do the members like for
small efficient -clean mid -reasonably priced - bookshelf speakers ?
PSB Alpha's ? that speaker Best Buy now sells for $59 a pair ?
I used to like the old ADC 404's -hardly find those these days
Paradigm Atoms ?..working with 20-25w x2 or less
Have Minimus 7's now- want a little more voice quality and bass
Advent 3's ? Bose 301's too big for my space
Follow Ups:
nt
I have had both the Paradigm Atom and Titan, in fact, I have 5 Titans (can't pass them up when I see them). Both work very well at lower volumes. I had the Titans set up for the longest time and when I tried the Atoms in their stead, I really noticed the drop in bass, but if you don't do a head to head, the Atoms are really impressive especially for their size. A side note, the 5 Titans I have are version 1 and all have needed refoaming, so count on having to do that if you buy an older pair. The mainelectronics.com foam seems to be a good fit and is cheap.The Paradigms have rear ports, so you cannot push them up against a bookshelf or wall. If you want a front port, I also fool around with a pair of JBL 4301B which I saw a pair go for a mere $130 on Ebay recently, so they are in the same price range as used Titans. Bigger and heavier, better sounding of course and easy to refoam with 8" generic foam from matelectronics (.99 each). Mine are not for sale.
The Minimus 7 has been suggested. When I got my pair and swapped them for the Titans, wife walked into the room and had me change back to the Titans immediately. I like the 7s for what they are, but if quality of sound is important, then they are the wrong ones for the application. Of course, this is just a peronal opinion, many people love them and that's just fine.
Triangle Titus are small efficient and should be ~300 used.The original Celestion-3 is an excellent small speaker as is the B&W DM302. Both should be ~200.
I have a pr of Dynaco A-10 connected to a NAD 7060 receiver as my computer audio system. The A-10 will not play loud, has moderate bass extension and the the treble is rolled off. But in the nearfield with a computer as source the do sound ok.
Best,
I have these in a small system with an Advent 300 reciever (15 wpc). I believe that their efficiency is 89db. They sound very good at low levels and are suprisingly good when you crank'em a bit.
listed? I, too, am looking for a small set of speakers. The small Advents are nice, I know for sure.
I have used a pair of TC-50's, on a bookcase, against the wall, near the ceiling (i.e., exactly how you're not supposed to place them) in my office with excellent results. I found they needed decent high-power amplification, though. They were great driven by a 100 watt Adcom, but sounded wooden and dead with 15 watt single-ended tube amplification (Antique Sound Labs).
I like the little 5.25" Sonys. Go for something like $50 each at Best Buy. I got mine used for $40/pair. My brother has an older 6.5" version. Voiced to sound bigger than they are so are not accurate but are the most musical of the little cheapie speakers.
I also picked up a pair of KLH 32 models recently and I've been impressed with the sound, especially considering the size. The other small speakers I like a lot are a pair of BIC Venturi Model 1's which I use on my test bench. They use an 8" woofer with a rubber surround, so no foam rot problems, and a horn tweeter. These have very strong bass and are even smaller than the KLH 32. Probably more efficient too although I haven't compared them side by side.
Polk R-15s are pretty decent little speakers... and can be had for $50 a pair at Frys quite often (75% off list). ;-)Cambridge SoundWorks newton M-50s are GREAT small speakers, but ain't cheap.
If you can find a nice pair (used), the Mission 760i is almost impossible to beat.
And last but not least (necessarily), the much debated Best Buy Insignia with the 6-1/4" coaxial driver is a really fine sounding, smallish, bookshelf speaker.
I have all of these, and find them all to be very enjoyable (and MUCH better than the Minimus/Optimus 7... which I also have).
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simul justus et peccator
I forgot about the Boston Acoustics A-40. Another VERY nice speaker, but not quite as efficient as the ported designs I mention below.
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simul justus et peccator
Generally, when designing a speaker, there are three main goals. Small Size, Efficiency and decent Bass. You can have any two, but not all three.Towards that end, I have a pair of Minimus 7's at eye/ear height flanking my computer monitor, about 4 feet apart, slightly toed in towards me, with a small sub under the desk. Works great for me. Great near-field experience.
I use the smaller advent in my office system, coupled with an H/K 730. I reworked the crossover using hints from Bold Eagle and am very happy with the sound. I ended up putting the advents on stands which helped the bass response. If you have the room, I highly recommend this setup.
I have a pair of Advent 3's that i think sound like mini Original Large Advents (I own them too). They are often on e-Bay and very affordable.
I like my Advent 3's pretty well, but one thing they are not is efficient. I would recommend some Pinnacles--they can be found pretty cheap on occasion. i have the Pn2+'s and they sound darn good for a 2 way with only a 4" woofer. my dad has the PN6's (6" woofer) and they really are nice sounding efficient speakers with very good bass. just my 2 cents. Scott
True, the Advent 3's (sealed enclosure type) need a mid-powered amp to sound their best. Maybe a ported speaker would be better off with a low-powered amp.
How about the Smaller Advent, or a little EPI, or a little Boston Acoustics, or the Koss dynamite whatevers, or the a/d/s 200 or a/d/s 300?The Advents are just big and heavy enough that they sound good but don't confuse you by sounding better than they ever ought to. The EPIs may not sound better than the Advents, I haven't A-B'd them, (I've got one in my garage and the other upstairs), but they sound so rich, it's like they've got to have something magic in the box or use some kind of trickery.
Give a listen to a set of Allison Fives and/or Sixes if you can.
My brain must be mush as I forgot the L3xx A/D/S series but they are not efficient and do need a bit of juice to get them to articulate.
thanks - all you folks
never knew there were so many good small speakers
just won 25w Tandberg on ebay...Never tried one
will be selling off HK 330 C ..will try with PSB Alpha's and let you know how that combo works out..
Don't remember how small they are but what about say a Klipsch KG2. I've not kept up with Klipsch products as I am a Heritage person but there may be something else. Klipsch do tend to be quite efficient AND maintain all their articulation; something that many speakers do not do at low levels. Other may be the Dynaco A10 or Smaller Advent but, again do not know if too big.
Been a while since I've owned them, but the Tannoy M2 fit the description and sounded very clean and good with an AVA-modded
ST-70 tube amp making about 25 wpc. Should sound equally good with a receiver.
Nice speakers, small
I have 2 vintage Marantz receivers with 40 and 50 wpc. I found the EPOS ELS-3 at 300 and the M5 at 600 great matches. The 5's have more bass and vocals are nice on both. Good luck.
They are a fraction of the size, but nearly as good as the classic M100.
Efficiency is rated at 91 dB, which is pretty decent.They measure 14-1/2" H x 8-1/2" W x 7-1/2" D, and have a 6 1/2" woofer & 1" tweeter.
They sound a lot bigger than they are & have a non-fatiguing, smooth sound with very good bass for their size.
I am guessing you're looking for a two-way speaker with about a 6" woofer... My research has lead me to believe that smaller speakers are LESS efficient than larger. (In general.) I would look for EPI 70, Boston A40 and my favorite of the genre, the Celestion Ditton 100. If you can fit a cabinet about a third larger than those three I would look for something in the ADS 400 series. (L400, 420, 470 etc.) Probably all those speakers could provide pleasant moderate listening in a small room with 20-25 watts or so. The only speakers around that size that I would consider efficient that I have heard have been a few Klipsch models, specifically the KG2 and KG1.5 They were pretty good, but nothing I needed to keep. The KG1.5 is pretty small, has a heavy well built cabinet, and a vented 6" woofer. Pretty good bass, but the horn tweeter had a narrow "sweet spot".
Or you might think of your Minimus 7's and hide a powered subwoofer under the desk...--Matt
"Cold Turkey isn't as delicious as it sounds..." --Homer Simpson
I would look for a Wharfedale Diamond series speaker. They are small and sound very good.
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I like vintage KLH 32's. Not real efficent but sweet sounding.
You can get them fairly cheap on ebay.
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