Mellow speakers

Well...I've had the KEF 104/2s in the house all weekend, and it just goes to show how great it is to have a good shop to do business with, so that you can take stuff home and give it a good listen.  The KEFs are going back to the store.  In short, they're simply too much speaker for my room!  Both physically and sonically.  Sonically, they have a pronounced low mid bump...really over emphasizes the bottom end of snare drums and causes a honky, muddy, ringy sound in the room.  I'd have to do some serious room treatment to control it...I'm game but I suspect my wife would resent me throwing out all her furniture and replacing it will room treatment stuff!

After all the reading and wondering, I'm disappointed they are not going to work out for me.  Now that I've placed a floor stander in the room, I better recognize the limitations of my small living room. I may be stuck with stand mount monitors, because they stick up over the tops of the two chairs in front of them.  A floorstander has to go closer to the center of the room so as not to be blocked by the furniture...and that makes them too close together, seriously affecting the sound stage.  I suppose a floor stander whose drivers start about 28 inches above the ground would work. 

The same shop currently has some Audio Physic Tempo III...but no Harbeth, Spendor, OHms, or Vandys.  Maybe I'll give them a listen.  Thanks again for all the helpful comments.

educeus,

The sound you describe is common with most any speakers if your floors are suspended plywood or anything designed to have some give like that.

If so relatively  inexpensive isolating stands or pads solve the problem easily and make a huge difference in sound.

You might want to determine if this is your case or not and address it up front in that most any good fuller range speaker is susceptible unless designed out of the box to provide the isolation needed.

Also note that OHM speakers are sold factory direct only these days (no dealers now for many years) so you have to order direct and take advantage of their extended in-home audition period or find someone local with a pair to sell. Return shipping costs would still apply. OHM is located in Brooklyn NY.

I realize that a 'mellow' speaker might sound more pleasing than a neutral/resolving speaker, but you should realize that this is due to a relative deficiency in the design of the mellow speaker. If a well-designed, neutral/resolving speaker sounds harsh, it is most likely due to a harsh recording. If you listen to a better recording with the mellow speaker, you will not have the benefits of neutrality and high resolution that a better speaker could provide. So, its better to focus on neutral equipment and better recordings, rather than trying to use a mellow speaker as a correction for a poor recording.

http://legacyaudio.com/products/view/classic-hd/

The ribbon tweeter offers extended highs, but without excessive harshness.

Also consider Sonus Faber Olympica II.

Mapman. 

Good to know about fullranges on my 1926 wooden floor.  My PSB Imagine T2s sit on a concrete floor in my basement (AV), and they sound fantastic with their associated gear.  My PMCs are on sand filled stands on spikes/discs.  I can definitely feel the room vibration, even without the sub. 

And, I'm a little embarrassed to say that I'm back to where i started with my PMCs.  After all the great information from this forum, I've switched things around a little (and questioned assumptions!), and right now I'm really enjoying the setup.   What did I do?

Well, first of all, I had set my Rel Stratus III sub using Room EQ Wizard. I had it crossed over at about 35Hz, so as to blend with the 40Hz lower limit of the PMCs.  Resulted in a fairly smooth transition according the room analysis.  I bumped up the Rel crossover significantly...maxed out in fact...95 db, I think, and I turned it up!  Way too much bass....and I love it!  Seems to have leveled out the room, perhaps.  Female voices backed off a bit, it seems.  I'm backing off the bass now, to see where I miss it. 

Second,   I borrowed a pair of 6 meter XLRs interconnects... Tara Labs RSC Master Gen2s from my local shop, Echo Audio.  Ran them around the corner to the Red Dragon Class D amps and put them next to my speakers.  i found some old heavy and short copper speaker cable, and voila!  I think the balanced Tara Labs might have taken some of the edge off.  Or perhaps it's the old cheap speaker cable.  Now, I think the sound is "warmer" with this set up than with the tube amp running through 6m speaker cable.  I'll have to spend some more time with it, but if I'm feeling satisfied all of a sudden. 

I'm going to turn The Dead Weather up a bit now, and have a listen....