What to do?


I have had the luxury of living with a large dedicated listening room for the last 20+ years. I have Acoustat speakers (2+2's, 3's, 4's, and 1+1's) driven by Sanders Magteck power amp. My wife and I have decided to "downsize" and my new room size is 15' X 12' a far cry from 20' X 24'. Realizing I need to sell the Sanders amp and the all the Acoustat's my question is what will work in a 15' X 12' room? Thanks in advance........Bob
128x128bmotorcycle2003
I don't have experience with single driver speakers, but no or minimal crossover is one thing that drove my search when replacing Acoustats. Definitely can have a positive effect, but implementation is everything.
Thanks all, I will follow advice and try my setup in the much smaller room with fingers crossed.

As far as selling the Sanders amp, should the electrostatic speakers not work I would sell the Magteck amplifier. I'm sure it would perform fine with other types of speakers but it is designed for electro stats and/or electro magnetic speakers. I've owned these acoustats for 10+ years and have tried several different amplifiers on them including higher powered tube amps. About three years ago I heard the Sanders amplifier on electro stats at CES and was quite amassed at the results. Sold the tube amp and bought the Sanders amp and again amassed at the results.

Back to the smaller room, should my existing system not work I am curious about a single driver speaker with a single ended amp. Like the acoustats there would be no cross over with a single driver handling the full range. Any thoughts, again thanks for all the imput. Bob

Why would you think that you'd have to get rid of your Sanders amp? I have a Spectron amp in a 10' x 12.5' room.

Chuck
I have a pair f magtechs and sanders 10d in a 12 x 16 room and am in heaven. Remember - room treatments can make a room bigger.
Same issue here. Had to sell Acoustat Model III's, after a costly divorce and downsize to a much smaller room. I was actively bi-amping the panels with a pair of transmission line woofers, built just for them. Still using the woofers, but- with a modded pair of Magnepans. You can probably get away with using the 1+1's. One nice thing about narrow dispersion speakers: less sidewall issues. If you can make it a dedicated listening room, kill any echo, from the wall behind the listening position. I installed treatments, from two feet from the floor, to my ceiling and LENRDs, in the corners. Auralex makes some great treatments, for the purpose: (http://www.amazon.com/Auralex-Acoustic-Absorption-Charcoal-8-count/dp/B0002G10QU) (http://www.amazon.com/Auralex-Studiofoam-Acoustic-Absorption-Charcoal/dp/B0002D05KA/ref=pd_cp_MI_0) There are now less expensive knock-offs, on eBay: (http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-Pack-of-2-x-12-x-12-Charcoal-Acoustic-Studio-Foam-Wedge-Tiles-/121375790877?pt=US_Acoustical_Treatments&hash=item1c428f971d) (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Soundproofing-Foam-Acoustic-Bass-Absorbers-Traps-SP8-/321457224077?pt=US_Other_Pro_Audio&hash=item4ad857f98d) (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2055119.m570.l1313.TR9.TRC1.A0.H0.Xacoustic+foam&_nkw=acoustic+foam&_sacat=0&_from=R40)
or even diagonal placement. There are wayyyy to many suggestions and all anyone of us is going to share with you is what we personally own. We don't have your ears. Are you close to a dealer or two? If so, that's where you start. Let them tell you what goes best in that size room and what they like together workign as a system. Too big a decision to leave to us IMHO, lol.
I downsized to a similar sized room, and there was no way my four-piece full-range system could fit in the room. I'm very happy with Nola Micro Grands now, they work very well in my 15x12 room. I agree with Onhwy61 and Xti16, though, try the various Acoustats first in your new room to see if they can work. Also, experiment with long and short wall placement for the speakers, if possible.
Before changing any equipment try what you have in the new room. The new room could work wonderfully.
+1 Start with the smallest speakers and work your way up. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Hi Bob,

Tough one. Having had 2+2s myself for lots of years and in several locations, I know they like room to sound best. But good advice to try them first if you don't mind moving them.

My ex-Acoustat odyssey included a couple of pairs of early Sonus Faber stand-mounts that had good top to bottom coherence and didn't do anything aggravating. Still have the smaller ones but use Wilson Benesch Curves in my main system. Again, reasonably good top to bottom balance and never harsh or tiring. They're still not electrostats, though.

Have you considered the JansZen hybrids: JansZen Speakers? I haven't heard them but they do look interesting.
Before changing any equipment try what you have in the new room. The new room could work wonderfully.