Need a warm speaker for a bright room

"Warm" speakers aren't going to solve your problem totally. In addition to speakers, you'll need to consider taming excess surface reflectivity with some manner of acoustic control. Are rugs on the floor an option? Very decent hand woven oriental rugs suitable for traditional or modern decor are available for less money than you'd think from online merchants like Rugman.com. A warm speaker will of course roll off high frequencies, but the smearing of sound, muddiness, and echos will remain. If you absolutely cannot make any room changes, consider inexpensive room equalization like the Behringer EQ2496.

JM Reynaud trents are among the best speakers I have ever heard and also among the most listenable/non-fatiguing. about $1300 used and recommended

Best just to piant the room a warm non bright color! ;0)~

I have a large area rug in the room and a good bit of furnature but there isthe muddiness issue to overcome.
Kayfabe

Hi,
I have a similar situation in an 18x21 room with vaulted ceiling. There is even some slap echo that remains. This was a problem untill I picked up a pair of the FJ Om Loudspeakers. The omni type design and sealed cabinet design seems to work well in this type of room. Very musical and easy to place as indicated in the 6moons review.
I picked up a pair of the Duevel Venus loudspeakers at a terrific price thus the reason for my being on sale.I can't afford both.Not that far over your budget.
I find a good omni very non fatiguing to listen to and appears to be more room friendly.
A friend has the Om Walsh model1(I think) and loves them.
Good luck,
Art

Ok, could you elaborate a little on "can't do much with the room." Are you in a position to add room treatments like bass tube traps or acoustic treatment panels? Even some modest small acoustic treatments for the corners of the ceiling can help tame your issues. Understanding and treating room problems is not something you can accomplish by following advice from someone who hasn't seen your room though. It's going to take some self education and reading on the subject. There are a huge number of excellent online resources for this. Just Google something like "bass traps" or "acoustic room treatments" and there will be days and weeks of reading to help you understand the issues and the multiplicity of ways to go about treating problems. The longer I'm involved in this crazy hobby, the more I realize that proper room acoustics are a major missing link in many if not most individuals' search for audio nirvana.

Photon46 has it right. You can reduce the high freq output to get tonal balance but the muddiness from echos in the room will remain.

I'm going to second photon46: treat the room first, then decide on equipment change.

I've had very good results with the Echobuster products: try some bass busters and corner busters to start. If cost is a problem there is a good deal of online diy info for acoustic treatment.

Here's a good place to start: www.ethanwiner.com/basstrap.html

Equipment changes to "fix" room acoustic problems will eventually lead to dissatisfaction... my recommendation is to correct the problem, you must fix the room. Acoustic room treatment is one of the most highly underrated equipment upgrades. Don't let the tail wag the dog Kayfabe. LOL. Happy Listening!

The first poster describes it brilliantly.

Having overcome your bright room and you still want warm speakers, you can consider Sonus Fabers.

I agree Castle Trents is a stunning monitor that didnt get the exposure that other monitors got,a true gem of a speaker,mid range was magical.

You bought a surround amp without a roomacoustic system like Audyssey. Arcam is a more warm sounding amp already. But Audyssey can solve this problems very easily. This year I had a client with th worst acoustics I ever heard in 15 years. He lives in a farm with a hight of above 8 metres. There was a lot of glass and a flat floor. With a Onkyo TX-NR 818 with Audyssey xt32 I got stunning results. About 5 years ago this would not have been possible. I used Monitor Audio speakers with a Apex sub. Speakers were over 7 metres distance from eachother. I had an individual focus of instruments and voices to die for. Even with this distance. Sharp as a knife. Instruments and voices were still very small in proportion just as in real.

USHER AUDIO CP-6311 : Amazingly musical speaker. I think you can find some for sale cause USHER Audio just changed the design with the new N series.

USHER AUDIO CP-6311.

You should be able to find one for sale cause USHER Audio change it for the new N eerie.

Truly one of the most musical speaker for a cheap price.

The speaker is not the biggest problem, but the lack of a roomacoustic system in your is. You first have to know which speaker you want to buy. After this you look for an amp which fitts best with your speakers and room.

Have a look at the Magico S1. That speaker is warm and a good value proposition.

Wenn you have an Arcam a Magico S1 doens't make any sense.

09-03-13: Bo1972
Wenn you have an Arcam a Magico S1 doens't make any sense.

...we can only hope they may plant a seed of interest in high end.

Wenn you bought an Arcan AVR300, you will not look for a speaker in this price range. And second the Arcam does not have the quality to deliver the performance the S1 can give. You also do not buy a Ferrari with a simple Ford engine.

Sigh, mediocrity is a bore.

Put up some room treatment. To save money you can make your own with fiberglass panels. Much on the internet about this. Make some portable ones you can move around. Heavy  can be used.

Cardboard can be used, my subs use them; cicular in shape.

Tone controls! Curtains, rugs, curtains on the ceiling.  Art panels from GIK acoustics. Headphones.  Small speakers you can keep far from the walls and into the room.

Bright: B&W, Golden Ear, Focal, Triangle, Thiel, NHT.

Neutralish: Monitor Audio is quite neutral, great if you can use them.

Darker sounding: AR, Boston Acoustics, Bose (no flames). Rega, Monarchy are some of the brands in the past that sounded more mellow.  I have various amounts of listening time, and some a lot older than others, so YMWV. 

This is all from poor memory and no scientific rigor whatsoever.  The flame wars may start, but I mean little harm in my thoughts.

Best,

Erik

What you'll need, with no room treatment or furniture, is a speaker with very controlled dispersion. How about a Martin Logan?

Best,

Erik