Speakers for long, tall, bare room in NYC


Hi all. Made a mistake. Could use some advice.

Living room in NYC that is 7' wide x 15' long with a 14' ceiling. Bare wood floor. Bare hard walls. Furniture is a desk and chair with a computer at one end. Other end is a desk, piano keyboard, and a couple of nearfields - Dynaudio BM5As. Those sound great when close but I'd like something to fill up the room.

What I thought might do is the Polk VM30s. Bought them for $450 and they sound like what I'd expect $450 speakers to sound like. No nice surprise. (Maybe it's just my room and setup because I can't believe Polk originally listed them at $2300.) All high and mid, no low, and no mid-low. No full feeling. Playing them loud just hurts. A sub isn't going to fix the problem because it's the mid-low that drives me nuts when not present. Amp is the emotiva $250 one.

Spending up to $3000 for speakers and an amp what are some options you can suggest. I live for music, lately classical. I'm at the Met frequently and Carnegie often (Avery Fisher - never!) so have a decent idea of what music should sound like. Obviously can't reproduce that but would like to not have big chunks of the audio spectrum missing.

How do I approach buying equipment for a room like this? A recommendation for a good audio shop in NYC won't be ignored either.
12001200

Showing 1 response by buconero117

As for a shop, try Stereo Exchange on lower Broadway. Most of the times they are friendly, sometimes not. However they do often give speakers on loan, which is the only way you are going to me able to tell if they work in your room. Start with monitors that work close to the wall, then once you get the monitors that sound good, add a sub, if necessary. Don't over look the need for room treatments no matter what speakers you get. Your room size is very prone to echo, which is very difficult to tame.