Not sure if these are small enough but the Kaiser Kawero line - I have listened to the Classic and the Chiara when I was demoing Magico and Scansonic. I remember the price on the floorstander being $70K so I think it had to be the Classic I heard, not the Vivace.
The Classic should meet your criteria. Definitely one of the best speakers I have ever heard.
In a cost-no-object scenario, these would be at the top of my list.
... 85 lb floorstander footprint 12" x 12" x 36" tall vintage Gershman Avant Garde RX-2 or more recent issues; slightly deeper footprint with the New Grande Avant Garde are in the low $xx,xxx range list new, sometimes found available used: Avant Gardes have Incredible sound, and many times are in the running for Best Of Show at audio shows
To get us back on the main road: The original prompt reads, "What is the most impressive small footprint/small-modest height/full-range/cost-no-object speaker." Sure, Totem works here, but so does Magico M2 or some Raidho designs. Just sayin' ...
I cant believe no one has added the Fritz Carbon 7 or Fritz Carrera BE speakers. 16"x11"x10" and dont take my word for it...just Google these and read the 40-50 reviews on the quality of these for less than $3k...anyone else feel this way?
A/D/S/ Sat7. Three way, 7" woofer, dome mid and tweeter. I've heard other speakers as good, but none as good from the same size. (17" H x 9" W x 11" D).
Well, how long is a piece of string? Putting a Wilson Audio WAAM in a small study will sound awful. Putting an LS3/5a in a huge auditorium will be inaudible.
Hi Curious and Folks, Owning Salk Veracitys (<other posts have details) and being an admitted cone-head, one small floor-stander 2-way I could easily live with are decade old Josephs heard with so-so vinyl (not a fan of the Rega1) a lousy Marantz cdp (ditto) with a post-Anniversary McIntosh MC275 amplifier.<fan The setting was an impromptu listen in a tiny hi-fi shop in Bangor, Maine with speaker placement squeezed amongst other speakers. Yes, the bass was wonky (the port is tune-able with a plug) and the sources not so great, however, there was honesty and greatness in those little floor-standers. Sorry, I don't recall the model but full retail was $3k. If I needed a small floor-stander for my little dedicated studio, a winner! More peace, Pinthrift
Spendor A2/A4/A7: each excellent sounding at their price points and as move up thru them just get more of that great and phenomenally acclaimed Spendor sound.
Then you get to Spendor D7 which are in altogether different league imo due in part to the LPZ tweeter that Spendor designs and makes in house along with many cabinet and flow port improvements. Stereophile class A rated for 5 yrs and universally acclaimed across all of the review mags.
Just amazing sounding speakers and what I purchased after a several month exploration quest that saw me audition nearly 20 different speakers in the 3k-10k price range, up to Bowers 804d3 at 9 or 10 k in price.
Bowers & Wilkins, Vanddrsteen, Paradigm, Focal, Dynaudio, Goldenear, Rega, Martin Logan, Magnepan, Linn, Kef, and Spendor. I listened to all and when possible multiple models within brand lines and not for 3-4 minutes but typically sittings of 20-30 minutes to over an hour.
Lots of good options but for me the Spendor D7 was the one, and it wasn’t particularly close. Ymmv
Small footprint per your requirements.
not quite full range but listen and audition in home if you can. I pair mine with REL S5 sub, but quite often I ask myself now after several months of ownership and many hundreds of hours of listening whether the REL was even needed. I think I could have been completely happy just with the D7’s and no sub.
Tyler Acoustic Highland H3. Small footprint full range. Very dynamic. Sounds great at all volumes easy to drive. Will embarrass most of what is listed above. for the money.
Smallest footprint that impressed me was a Totem model (I never got to ask which one) I heard at a show. I was literally looking around for the source of the sound because I couldn't believe those diminutive towers could produce such prodigious sound.
Epos M16i. Small footprint? Check. Dimensions: 35.4" (885mm) H by 7" (175mm) W by 8.4" (210mm) D (without grille). Full Range? Pretty close. 2 1/2 way down to 20 KHz. Cost no object? Absolutely not! I’m fortunate to have the space for a number of speakers. If I ever have to downsize these will be the ones I keep.
jackd - "Cost no object" is exactly what I meant. Some of my favorite,
albeit rare, audiophile experiences have been what some might refer to as
“blind shootouts.” Not just A/B sessions
with similarly priced, similarly designed audio components, but true variety
pack shootouts between significantly varied designs and price points. These experiences have been healthy cleansing
reminders for me to avoid listening with my eyes (or my wallet), and keep my
ears on the music. In the May issue of Enjoy the Music, Roger Skoff offered a
candid explanation as to why each of us is ultimately the “expert” when it
comes to defining the two primary determinates of audiophilia: “What’s good?” and “How can you tell?” The common response to this of course is one
most of us have heard countless times: What
do your ears tell you? The clarity of
this response lies in the inherent subjectivity of audiophilia, that each of us
has a formed opinion as to what the end-game in musical sound reproduction
should be. Sure, we might all agree that
a common denominator would include an accurate representation of the recorded
event from every possible sonic parameter. Still, there’s that sub quotient to the
equation whose formula is deeply personal and can only be known to the
listener, who, upon hearing it, recognizes it instantly. Audio personality is what makes this
crazy infatuation go-round. So, to answer the question, "What is the purpose of this exercise?" I'm simply curious what speaker designs caught the EARS of fellow audiophiles as truly impressive, without the baggage of $, eye candy, or other distractions. I could have let it go at that, but was curious specifically to floor standers w/ a small footprint.
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