2. speakers
  3. 131529-91258

"Best" mini-monitor?

I have a relatively small listening room (12x10) and have always owned mini-monitors.  Currently I have proac tablette anniversaries, but have had the original 15 ohm rogers ls3/5a, proac response 1, KEF, and reference 3a through out the years.  As you can see, these are all moderate priced speakers, having never spent more than 3k on any pair.  I am now in a position to spend a bit more money, certainly 5k, and maybe up to 10k.  So what out there should I be listening to?  I am in the Chicago area, so I would love something that I can listen to at a local (Midwest) dealer, but I do travel a lot and have auditioned/purchased things across the country from time to time.  New or used, does not matter to me.

as you can probably guess, I really don't care much about deep base, but live for soundstage and warm midrange, listening to a lot of female vocalists, acoustic rock/jazz/blues, and light (non full orchestra) classical.  

With my musical tastes, I have always loved el34 tube amps.  I currently have the prima Luna hp premium, which has 4 el34 per channel, giving me in the 70 wpc range, more than enough for a small room.  I am running naim digital source material (no bad remarks from the analog folks... I know I have have traded off).

so, what should I spend time auditioning?  I have used "best" in quotes because of the 10k price limit, but I suspect there are many more candidates below 10k than above it.

thanks.

Bill


meiatflask
sfseay's avatar
sfseay
495 posts
 
II can’t comment on the best, only what I have tried and what I have now.  I have a relatively small listeningroom (11.5’x15’) and purchased a used pair of Wilson Audio Sophia 2s.  Too big for the room and the sound wasn’t to my liking.  I then tried KEF LS50s augmented with a subwoofer.  I liked the sound, but felt I was missing out on treble and mid bass.  

I just got a great deal on a brand new pair of Focal Sopra 1s and really like what I’m hearing.  I understand they have a long break in period, but so far to my old ears they sound great.  I listened to KEF Reference 1s and didn’t like them.  I’m sure the way they were setup by the dealer,  and the wide open space they were setup in didn’t help at all.  

I’m not an audiophile mainly because I don’t know what that means, but I’m an Audio enthusiast and I know what I like when I hear it.   I am very much enjoying the Sopras.

Driving them with a Classe Sigma 2200i integrated, Aurender N100H, PS Audio Directstream DAC and multiple cables from a sweat shop in China.

Happy speaker hunting!
soix
8,634 posts
 
Flyby alert!!!

mekong56
137 posts
 
Will second the recommendation of soix for the Joseph Audio Pulsar. I have a pair and they are outstanding, so I would not hesitate to recommend them. As far as I know Holm Audio is no longer a Joseph dealer. They do have a used pair of System Audio SA2K monitors that you might want to check out. They are a very "under the radar" speaker but are VERY good.

Other monitors I like are the Usher BE-718, Dynaudio C1 and Special 40, and Focal 1007BE. I have owned the Ushers and Focals but not the Dynaudios (I have heard them on quite a few occasions at dealers and AXPONA).
psickerson
97 posts
 
Listen to the Aerial 5T’s if possible and plan on spending at least an  hour to audition. 
mcanaday
168 posts
 
I have a similarly small listening room (9 by 11) and tried a lot of speakers there before I felt like I got it right.  The best for me is the Trenner and Friedl Sun (little sibling of the Arts) with the Brinkmann integrated.  Heaven!

I would also take a look at the Watkins Stereo Generation 4 speaker just reviewed in Absolute Sound.  Sounds quite amazing.  

Depending on amplification, some prefer the Falcon Ls3/5a to the Harbeth P3esr.  I own the latter, though, and it is quite stunning especially on the kind of music you favor.

Margot
More to discover