Big speakers in small room at moderate volume levels

Ohm Walsh 1000 or the Super Sound Cylinder for a small room. No need for room correction just put a good amp in front of them. 

Yysantabarbera man you are all over the place. 

Please consider that you have a difficult room most of your  demos will be  in stores with much larger spaces then what you have. 

A dual concentric speaker is your ideal remedy for less then optimal positioning and work like magic for nearfield listening.

The Kef ls 50 versus  a Kef  Ref 1 vs a Tad Me 1

Is like comparing a Ford Mustang vs a Ford Gt vs a Ferrari.

The Ref 1 are amazing speakers that are a huge improvement over the Ls 50.

I wouldn't worry that you may have a pair of Blades in your future as they are a huge improvement over Ref 1 or Tad Me 1.

If your baseline is Thin Lizzy live then you need a system that will scale and punch with great extension in the treble unless you want a dead electric guitar

We have a client with the Ref 1 with Naim Nac 272 250Dr combo and it is exactly what you crave. The Naim gear has tremendous punch.,

Consider first room size and postioning 

Kef, Tad, and Atc scm 19 are three speakers that are derived from the concepts of what makes a professional monitor. 

Wish you could fly out to our shop we could make it so easy for you to see where we are comming from.

Dave and Troy 
Audio Doctor NJ

On the subject of the 30.2 being much better than the Graham 5/9, I respectfully totally disagree, heard the 30.1, bought the 5/9.
To me the Harbeth projected the midrange too much, too much in my face so to speak, the Graham seam better as a hole, with better bass and for me the voices sounded more realistic, but they have to stand half a meter or more from the walls.

Actually I have been pretty consistent. I stated in the middle of this thread that I have narrowed it down to  3 speakers for the office (in no order)

- KEF Ref1 
- TAD ME1 (4+ good recommendations for this one but $$$)
- Harbeth SHL5+ (something different to break the KEF monopoly, and cheaper)

The following are my integrated amp considerations:
- 3 AB integrateds, Mark Levinson, Hegel H590, Luxman 509x
- Lyngdorf with DSP Room Perfect system

I am trying to avoid buying a separate DAC since this is for my office and I want simplicity and less boxes (though not a deal breaker)

BTW - @audiotroy   your recommendation on the TAD ME1 made me seriously consider spending the considerably more money on this. I had eliminated it from consideration due to price.

The KEF R1 and TAD ME1 are along the lines of what I regularly have been listening to at home, the KEF LS50 + Thiel SCS4 speakers. I took a detour for 11 months to buy the Audience 1+1 V3 dipole speaker. These are all small speakers because, in the past 10 years, I had limited space. I have a dedicated office now in my new home and I only have the LS50 left. I like concentric drivers but I am going to give the Harbeth a chance.

If I did not have my current room issues I would most likely buy the Mark Levinson integrated. Depending on the new speaker's power requirements, either the ML 585 or the new ML 5805. Why this model? I have demoed the ML 585 and found that I liked it and it delivered the specific sound qualities I was looking for, including sounding good at low volumes.

However, I think I may need room correction. So I am holding out on getting an Class AB amp until I buy the speakers. I will test the new speakers with my Class D Peachtree Nova 150 first to see if DSP is needed. If it sounds like the speaker is too big for the room then I will do the following:

1) If I buy the Harbeth SHL5+ I will buy the Lyngdorf  2170 (with DSP Room perfect system). I have been reading Harbeth designer,  Alan Shaw's, post on the HUG forum and have read his views on DSP, near-field positioning, front and back port and rear wall placement, music types suitable for Harbeth. All of these point to suitability for my situation. Only question is whether I will like the Harbeth. People are pairing Harbeth with Lyngdorf.

2) If I stretch $$$ wise to buy the TAD ME1 then I need to see if the TAD ME1 is suitable for the Lyngdorf. Is the TAD warmish or dry. If it is warmish, like the Harbeth, then I will can go with the Lyngdorf.  If the Lyngdorf and the TAD are not good synergy and I need room correction, the Micromega M-One maybe something to revisit. This is based on @audiotroy  statement on the quietness of the Micromega. Another option is not to buy the TAD because it is too big.

I have the opportunity to buy a USED Harbeth with 2 year warranty from a local dealer who will allow me to test this at HOME with my Peachtree Nova 150. I have not decided on doing this because there is another local dealer that has the Harbeth, TAD, and KEF Ref1 all available for demo at his store. Though I already know what the great KEF Ref1 can do. I will decide which local dealer to deal with after I get my treatments in place and test the LS50 with the Peachtree Nova.

A slight complication on the Lyngdorf is that I read somewhere that room treatments are not recommended with the Lyngdorf. This was only the opinion of 1 person (dealer?). Guys on the A'gon Lyngdorf thread say this is not a true statement.  I have contacted Lyngdorf directly today to get their feedback.

BTW - my musical tastes run the gamut. I only mentioned the head banger rock groups because they were what I was enjoying as I was posting on this thread. My tastes run from Jazz, Funk, Soul, Rap, Rock, Electronic, Jayhawk's like Country, Reggae, and recently a lot of music from outside of North America. As I write this, I am listening to Rick James Street Songs Deluxe Edition and loving it (but I need some treatments in this room ASAP).

I used to have the micromega M100. I only sold it because I wasn t using the room correction , hence my recommendation of the Ohm speakers. It was a very nice amp sound wise and I never heard the fan , forgot it even had one.