Size matters...need smaller speakers


It pains me to write this but alas I have finally accepted the fact that I am never going to have my own large listening room (not with real estate prices the way they are here in SoCal). The best I can hope for is my current corner of the living room or my yet to be built loft or a small den. For those of you who have read some of my posts, you know I love my Usher BE-10 speakers. They are some of the most accurate and transparent speakers I have heard. The problem is that I think they are just too big for the space I have alloted them. In the past year, I have complained a lot about my soundstaging issues (too low, too narrow). I know I can use room treatments but this is not possible in my living room and even with them, I still feel that my speakers are too darn big. I tried different toe in angles, pulling them out as far as I could, moving them away from side walls, etc. There is simply not enough room for them to breathe. Will monitors work better in smaller spaces, especially with regard to imaging and soundstaging? I think perhaps monitors with a sub could be the right way for me to go given my domestic situation.

Anyway, I do not know much about monitors and would appreciate a starting point. I prefer my speakers to be as accurate and transparent as possible. I prefer a dynamic sound that is true to the upstream components. Price does not really matter but I guess for monitors I would hope to spend less than $10K. One option is the new Usher "tiny dancer" monitor. Another is the Focal BE series. Are there others I should look that fit my preferences?

Thanks in advance.
128x128tboooe

Showing 10 responses by tboooe

Thanks for the responses everyone. It seems I have a lot of choices to sort through. I forgot to mention one other requirement for me is low volume performance. I rarely listen above 75db so a speaker's ability to sound its best at low volume is critical for me.

Here are some thoughts:

1. I have heard the Focal Utopias and these speakers remind me of the Ushers, probably because they both use beryllium.
2. My friend has the Harbeths and they do indeed sound so musical but I am afraid I thought they sounded a bit colored and not as dynamic as I would prefer.
3. I cannot imagine spending the kind of money it will take to get the Magico Minis (especially for a monitor).
4. I will be powering them with Ayre MX-R amps.
emailist, I have heard my system in a bigger room with what I feel are inferior electronics. The soundstage was high, wide, and enveloping.
Mitch, my current room is 15x22 but I dont expect to be staying in this room in the future. I will either move my system up to yet to made loft or into a small 12x12 den.

Shadorne, thank you for the info. I was not aware of this. 75db is the steady state volume. I have measured max peaks of up to 90db. But even so, it looks like I could get away with a monitor most of the time then if I want, in the future I can get a sub or two.
Mitch, your findings would be of great interest to me. If you dont mind, please post your thoughts after your audition. I will be on the audition path as well. The hard part is that I hate auditioning speakers! There are just so many to choose from. I want to stick with speakers that use beryllium or diamond tweeters. Right now I am going to try and listen to the follow monitors:

Focal
Dynaudio
Marten Alto (thanks Stan!)
Usher
Bar81, you are right. I was not clear in my last post. I meant to say that I want to try and stick with monitors that have beryllium or diamond tweeters but will of course consider others.
Henryhk, thank you for the recommendation. Though I think the SF are really nice speakers, they do not fit my personal tastes and system strategy. I prefer to get the most transparent, dynamic, accurate speakers possible. Even though the SF do sound incredible, to my ears I do not believe these traits are its strong point. Thanks again!!

Bongofury, I used to own the BW 805s, 804s, and the 802d. These are great sounding speakers with an incredible midrange. After living with these three speakers, I realized that I do not favor the British speaker sound. I will check out ATC and Paradigm.
henryhk, I too am looking at the Magico and Marten Miles. I am not sure if I can handle the price of the Magico's though. Well the Marten's are not that much better....I am intrigued by Asian based speaker manufacturers. I think they offer a better price/performance ratio. I will look into Volent.
Henry HK, I checked out Volent. Very intriguing! I am a big fan of the price/performance ratio of speaker products coming out of Asia.
Thanks Arthur. For a while I really wanted to hear the Prince speakers. There is no local dealer around me though...by the way, how much are the Elixir's?