Best Speakers for 10' x 12' room?


I am putting together a new system for my upstairs office where I do most of my listening and moving the current system downstairs and would love help finding the best speakers.

I have been listening to the B & W 805D with a REL 238 sub & stands, and the Wilson Audio Duette (under 9K for demo model with stands). I wonder about auditioning the Duette 2's, which people say are better, but they are 10K more.
I am also open to other possibilities as well.

I would love to hear people's experiences with any of these speakers or others that work well in a small room. In most ways I like the Duette's a great deal more, but the 805D's were warmer and I am wondering if that is because they were played on Mcintosh equipment. I think of trying the Wilson Audio Duette's with the McInosh amp/pre-amp - Any feedback is appreciated.

Thank-you,
mksr

Showing 4 responses by mapman

Smaller room usually means smaller speakers possible for good bass.

Also listening position is often closer to speakers than otherwise. Often the closer drivers are perceived to be a point source from the perspective of your listening position, the better for soundstage, imaging and coherency top to bottom. Avoid speakers with large physical separation between drivers.

Lots of good affordable monitor and affordable smaller floorstanding speakers in the $2000 or less price range to work with given these two criteria to help choose.

I would try without a sub initially, and only add sub or subs later if desired, making sure sub levels can be integrated cleanly as needed.

Also pay attention to different amps that might be used to best effect depending on the speakers. Smaller less efficient speakers with good bass capability often need a surprising amount of power to deliver optimal results, often 150 w/ch or more. Larger higher efficiency speakers for a room that size, like Klipsch Heresy for example, can get away with much less power and may even sound best with a lower powered tube amp. That is assuming you listen to a variety of music genres and may want to go to lifelike volumes when called for. Using a powered sub even with less efficient speakers will offload work from the mains and enable better results with a lower power amp perhaps there.
Are the Pulsars worth $7000? That's a lot compared to many speakers that might work quite well in a room like that. Just wondering. THey look nice and company has a good rap but have never heard them. Has anyone done specific comparisons with others that they can relate? Thanks.
I'd be prone to want to buy from the dealer with speakers that sound good to you that helps to best take your specific needs into consideration, including room size, acoustics, listening preferences, etc. That's probably the most important thing.

IF they focus too much on their product simply being "the best", beware, especially if there is more $$$$$s involved.

Dealers that focus exclusively on very expensive gear often tend to think that way. Otherwise, the $$$$s would not be justified. I tend to prefer dealers that try to offer the best gear possible at various price points. For a small room like that, Bigger + more expensive is less likely to translate into best results.
I'd add Dynaudio (chose your model) to the list. Dyns have very good build quality including drivers and often seem to hit well above the average of what you would expect from a speaker in a similar sized package overall. That makes even the smallest lesser expensive models prime candidates for a smaller room. I use Dynaudio Contour 1.3 mkII both in similar size and even much larger room and they always seem up to the task.