Speakers for small listening room

One of the best sounding small speakers I've ever heard are the Dynaudio Contour 1.3 SE. Someone has a pair for sale on audiogon for $2345. They sell for $3500. If there's anyway for you to hear these speakers, I know you'll be impressed.

The Gradient Revolutions have several unique characteristics that make them especially suited for difficult rooms.

First, the bass is a true dipole, rather than a monopole. This puts much less bass energy into the room's bass resonant modes. The result is, the bass isn't colored by placing the speakers close to a wall (though corners do not work well - they roll off the bass too much).

Second, the mid/tweet module uses a pressure-relief cabinet that gives a cardioid radiation pattern. This once again minimizes the speaker's interaction with room boundaries.

Now, the really cool thing is, the cardiod and dipole patterns mathematically put the same amount of energy out into the reverberant field. So, the reverberant field sounds just like the first-arrival sound! This is almost unique among speakers - most speakers have a much more bottom-heavy response in the reverberant field because the bass and lower midrange is omnidirectional, with the pattern narrowing as beaming sets in. The Revolution's unique radiation characteristics (along with its inherent freedom from boxy colorations) make it extremely relaxing to listen to long-term.

The reason the radiation pattern matters is that the ears derive timbre not only from the first arrival sound, but also from the reverberant sound. When there is a significant discrepancy between the two, the eventual result is listening fatigue. Haven't you heard speakers that were initially quite impressive, but after twenty minutes you had a headache and were ready to leave the room? Often the radiation pattern is to blame. The pattern on the Revolutions is so uniform that you can walk into the next room and the tonal balance doesn't change (except of a softening of the extreme top end). Now, an omni can also do this, but an omni won't image like the Revolutions, especially not in a small or difficult room.

The mid/tweet module of the Revolutions uses a very high quality custom SEAS concentric mid/tweet. This gives the speaker point-source radiation characteristics from 200 Hz up, and so the imaging is superb. There are no lobing or driver integration issues. The focused radiation pattern will give you very good imaging whether you place them along the long or short wall.

Check them out at http://www.gradient.fi/En/Products/Revo/Revo1.htm

My main speaker line is Sound Lab full range electrostats. They have spoiled me for just about all conventional speakers. The Gradient Revolutions are a distinct exception, and I've sold them to customers who've owned electrostatics. They really have a relaxing boxless sound that you can listen to for hours and hours. Many other speakers have more impressive specs, but your ears forget all about specs when you put the music on. However, a few years ago when Stereophile reviewed an earlier incarnation of the Revolution, they reported that it gave the flattest in-room response they'd ever measured - this is an effect of the well though-out radiation patterns.

The Revolutions are priced a bit higher than the ballpark you mention, but if you might be interested let me know and I'll work with you, and possibly arrange an in-home audition.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Best wishes,

Duke

My own speakers are placed on a line drawn at an angle across one corner of the room. That is, the right one is about five feet out from the corner, along the long wall and about two feet away from it ; the left speaker is about eight feet out from the same corner along the short wall and about three feet away from that wall.

Yes, this means my listening couch is at an angle and the speakers are toed towards it.

Long wall placement is out of the question for me. This corner setup is a placement recommended by UHF magazine ( uhfmag.com ) in one of their books ; they say it is often found to excite annoying room resonances less than others. I found it necessary to keep the speakers well out of the corners, and many minor adjustments finally got things exactly right.

My speakers are Meadowlark Shearwater Hot Rods. The amp is a SimAudio Celeste W-4070Se, the source is a Linn LP12 Lingo. My room is 12 feet by 22 feet by 10 feet high.

Hi Pete,
unlike many others here I would suggest that you first spend plenty of time experimenting with position of the speakers and only buy new speakers if this really doesn't help. My listening room is only 10x12 and I use a Cardas speaker placement (approximately) and a near field listening position. See http://www.cardas.com/insights/roomsetup.html
I use floorstanders (spica angelus) which are lean in the bass, and a REL strata sub ... and it works great even in my tiny room.

I'd strongly suggest you use the cardas method (or close to it, as it requires the speakers to be well away from the walls). Also Audio Physic have an excellent web page on speaker placement ..
http://www.audiophysic.de/produkte/aufstellung/aufstellung_e2.html

This blows away some of the old myths (that you must be further from the speakers than the distance of the speakers, that toe-in restricts the soundstage).

If you read both web pages and experiment I'm sure you can be very happy with the sound in your new room without spending a penny. It's worth a try at any rate.

FYI my speakers are 2.5 feet from the rear wall, 2 feet from the side wall, substantially toed in, and spaced about 5 feet apart. I sit about 5 feet from the speaker cones (equilateral triangle). The sub is next to my right foot. It looks wierd, but I have never heard my system sound anywhere near as good, even in much bigger rooms.

For a small room a monitor that has a front port or is sealed is easier to place, as speakers with rear ports are difficult to place next to the wall. For monitor speakers look at the Taylor Reference monitor, which I own and sounds quite nice with the Rogue 88 amp. Dynamic with plenty of bass. Both frequently come up used on Audiogon, the Taylo for about $1200 and the amp about $900. The Osiris speaker stands are for sale now at $240. Preamp--Rogue 66 magnum for sale at $900. Add some Homegrown Silver Lace interconnects and Analysis Plus cables.