The 3A signatures can work in a small room, but you won't be getting all they are capable of. My room is 13' by 14' (though the room is actually a little bigger because of a half wall) and they work well. I have them about 30" from the rear wall and 42" from the side wall so they can breath a little. If they are much closer to the walls they will lose the openess. I did have a problem with lumpy bass, but I solved that with a single 2Wq subwoofer (sounds counterintuitive but it worked!). As much as I like the speakers something smaller may be a better match but there are so many options I'm sticking with this for now. As for the amp I can't offer any advice since I don't know the McIntosh sound. I use an Audio Research amp and preamp to very good result.
Vandersteen 3A Signature in a small room?
Do you think that Vandersteen 3A Signature can perform in a 15 sq. meter room hooked up with McIntosh 6900? Are they a good match? Due to family and financial reasons I recently downgraded from McIntosh 46/402 combo back to 6900 which is still a great amp and the one that can keep me happy for years and also decided to try and built a system in my small (15 sq.m) room once again based on McIntosh 301 SACD/CD player and 6900 integrated. My Sonus Fabers stay in the living room with MHT100 for HT purposes. As for the small room I thought about changing the strategy with speakers - instead of trying monitors I'm looking for floorstanders now - either vintage with 12 inch woofer or modern ones like Vandersteen 3A Signature (which impressed me a lot at the dealer's). The main question is how would Vandies perform in a small room like that? I'm sure that model 2 can play good there but 3A Signature offers a serious leap in sound quality based on what I heard. Can they perform well with only 30-40 cm between them and the back wall? The other question is - how do they mate with 6900? Knowing the rather laid back character of Vandies I'm a bit afraid that 6900 will not make 'em sing...
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