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Corner speaker suggestions for my room

Hey everyone, new here, so hopefully this isn't an "annoying" first post.  I recently picked up some Cornwall IVs and McIntosh MA352 for a large living room/kitchen area.  Should have it fired up second half of this week and can't wait to hear it.  Onto my question - designing a stereo for my basement, which is a largish room, with an entertainment system that necessitates putting speakers on the corners.  I've done a bunch of research on what speakers can go there, and doesn't seem many options.  I would LOVE JBL 43xx series, but everything I see makes it seem like they would be terrible in corners.  I could possibly run another pay of Cornwalls down there, though they'd take up a bunch of space sticking out a bit due to the layout of the entertainment system.  I build cardboard cutouts to see if K-Horns would fit there, and they won't - off a couple inches.  I see Larsen 9's may fit the bill really well, but they are $$$ (like the K-Horns) and I have next to no chance of being able to hear them before purchasing.  Would love to hear any thoughts for my room.  Mostly listen to rock but listen to all kinds of music and do like deep bass to be present when called upon (I added an REL HT1510 to my Cornwalls).

Room is 24' X 24' X 8'.  Pockets where speakers will go on each side of entertainment system are 28" wide and 15" deep (I could go deeper and have them stick out).  If I toe the speakers in, I could go as wide as 34" and 28" deep.  Speaker distance will be about 16' from center to center. Listening distance ranging 10-16'.

Those Larsens would fit in the speaker pockets and allow a 10 or 12" sub next to each of them, that seems pretty cool, but again, that's a ton of $ to spend on a speaker blindly.

Thanks for any input!

 

coconutwax
elliottbnewcombjr
7,711 posts
 

IF you keep your speakers in the corners (rather than moving them out when listening):

I would not start with a sub or subs, until after I played them for a while so the cones are loosened up, then measure with an SPL, then consider sub(s). 

IF subs, I favor a pair of stereo subs, front firing, no ports, (or if ports, front firing) adjacent to the mains, so that the bass overtones which become directional give you the added imaging of bass, i.e. jazz bass player is ....

Sooo, if you really think you will need/want subs, you do need to anticipate their placement as you mentioned above.

btw, I’m 77, I diddled around with ’more bass’ in my youth, I think ’enough bass’ is smarter and as enjoyable. I favor mains with large woofers, done.

audiokinesis
2,798 posts
 

I highly recommend the Pi Speakers 7Pi corner horn.  Very elegant design and very high sound quality. 

Duke

br3098
1,038 posts
 

I will second the recommendation from @kennyc. Larsen speakers will work in virtually any room. When I was a dealer for them I satisfied some guys who were ready to give up. For a room your size I would look for a pair of Larsen 4s. Unfortunately only used since Larsen closed when John Larsen passed away a few years ago.

 

coconutwax OP
4 posts
 

Question on the Larsens, as those are definitely intriguing...seems from what I'm reading they're great against a wall, but not necessarily specifically in corners.  I'm looking at corner placement; any thought on that?

br3098
1,038 posts
 

You can get them relatively close to the corners but they won't sound best smack in the corners of the room. The small Larsen 4s can be placed 12"-18" from the corners.

If you need corner placement I recommend the Audio Notes. I'm using a pair of Js in my living room and they sound great. They do prefer tube gear, IMO. If you want to test it look for a pair of clean, used Snell speakers, preferably the originals (v1). I bought a pair of super clean Snell Ks for almost nothing and was tempted to keep them over the Audio Note Js. If the cones and surrounds are in good shape a simple recap will make them sound really great.

 

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