The best speakers for small rooms
The best speakers for small rooms
The Audiophiliac considers best options for small rooms.
Totem Arro https://totemacoustic.com/product/arro/
Klipsch RP600M https://youtu.be/4rQgSzyjq6U
Magnepan LRS https://youtu.be/4rQgSzyjq6U
Dynaudio Evoke 10 https://youtu.be/a4skh-yGdKo
Dayton Audio B 652 Air https://www.cnet.com/news/dayton-b652-air-dirt-cheap-speakers-arent-supposed-to-sound-like-this/
Harbeth P 3ESR https://www.harbeth.co.uk/hifi-speaker/11/Harbeth-P3ESR-loudspeaker
Zu Dirty Weekend https://www.zuaudio.com/loudspeakers/omen-dirty-weekend-2
Amps:
Outlaw RR2160 https://www.cnet.com/news/outlaw-audio-rr-2160-the-audiophile-choice-for-stereo-receivers/
Rogue Sphinx 3 http://www.rogueaudio.com/Products_sphinx.htm
Equalizer:
Schiit Loki https://youtu.be/94Nr6JR_Whg
#bestspeakers #audiophile
I still love using Royd Minstrels for my smallest room.
Another great option for a low budget small room speaker is the DIY Overnight Sensation kit…love mine in my pc gaming/office desktop setup
I have a 15’ x 15’ room, a pair of Monitor Audio Radius 90, a pair of REL T/Zero subs, a ProJect turntable, some Schiit Audio Modi, Mani and the Loki, and a Linn Classic. My dream speakers are the Totem Arros,, I almost bought a pair, not now but in the future, then I’m set👍🏼
The Mcintosh XR50, three-way bookshelf speakers are amazing sounding in a small room.
Hi Steve,
Just curious how about throwing Bose companion 5 in this list. Let me know how do they fare in this list.
A trick fro integrating bigger speakers in a small room, put them on a wall with a large window, it will take a big part of the bass away and the base room modal will be weaken by half.
Hi Steve from Italy, my cave bedroom is 5 meters x 5 and i am searching for speakers for my LG 65 GX Wall mounted TV and for music.The speakers will be 3 meters from where i sit and i like watching TV with good quality at reasonable volume. What do you suggest me? I was thinking Emit 20 or the Sixes. Do you think Emit 30 or Elac Debut 2.0 F.6.2 would be too much for my room?
I have a room that is 9′ by 12′ and I’m considering the Buchart S300 MKII or the S400’s…
Hi does a 6.5 inch speaker / woofer qualify as a big speaker in this context. Thanks.
kef q100 can be a good choice
recommend totem dreamcatchers.
I still own a pair of large Accustat Model X e/stat (now stashed away in present house) & 15 yrs-ago i had them set-up in a 12′ x 18′ ft room of the flat i previously lived in, at 4′ 6" high & nearly 3ft wide, they utterly dominated it but being a full-range e/stat …didn’t swamp the room with bass but they sounded like wearing giant headphones with tons of (kinda ‘too-much’) detail & while i still enjoyed them, the design was stifled by small rooms & they had "live-in girlfriend" acceptance factor only on a "tough-shite" basis & they now have zero wife-acceptance factor in a much larger room) Before the Accustats, i had (& still have, stashed away) B&W DM70′ e/stat hybrids playing in that small room & they swamped it out with ridiculous hi-bass power (i had to quell it’s bass section with added wire-wounds in x/over) My main speakers are now Tannoy 15" monitor gold D.C. in re-enforced Lancaster cabs & they sounded great in that small room & still sound ok now in a very-much larger room. Guess i’ll sell eventually sell the vintage Accustats (or not …with their dedicated transformer-less anode driven valve power-amps, they were & are the best full-range e/stat panels i’d ever heard) & the B&W hybrids …i still have plans for them (wife-depending!)
I have DLS XL on walls and love them.
what about B&W 607s2, also a small 5inch speakers suitable for nearfield? I thought it was considered as best product in your review. 😉
i think jbl sucks for small rooms…too boomy
Small room=LS3/5A nearfield. Wow.
Hi Steeve i intend to buy a wharf
The Totems remind me of JM Labs (Now Focal) Daline 3.1 I owned back in 2000. Paired with Arcams A65+ integrated amp, they were magical in my condo!
My WALLS SHAKE… what’s wrong with that? – m
Totem oh Hello Speakers from Canada
Arcam Muso v1 or v2 – 3.5 inch woofer, not too much money to boot. Can always be partnered with Arcam Logo subwoofer when you go to a larger room…
I used to sell the Arro – FANTASTIC speaker!
Hi Steve. I actually disagree with you on woofer size for a smallish room, but I guess it depends on the individual speakers. As you know, from other comments I have made, I have 1979 Tannoy T145 speakers, with 10 inch dual concentric drivers. I sit approximately 112 inches away from them, and they sound great. My room is wider than it is longer, and like a very fat L-shape, due to having a dining area off to the left, and an under-stairs cupboard, making the L, but the speakers are placed to be part of the living room square part, and toed in by about 25 degrees, such that their sound paths cross before the sound gets to my head. I don’t have hard floors, etcetera, so the room doesn’t have a "boom" at all, and the Tannoys deliver. One of the things I love about them, is they are very versatile to different room sizes. I have used them in a 20′ by 20′ room before, with equally pleasing results, and they were originally used in a theatre, before I got them, and still sounded great in there! They are flat to 40Hz, and 6 dB down at 30Hz (I’ve tested them), which is better than their quoted frequency response, as I’ve mentioned before. I never really noticed any loss of bass in music, but when I changed to a surround amplifier (with Mission centre & rear speakers) it came with an active Yamaha subwoofer, which I set for frequencies below 40Hz, and I can really make the windows shake if I turn up an action movie! I leave the sub on all the time, so it’s even present when I listen to music, and I haven’t noticed much difference, but there is a little, and still my smallish room takes it well.
Hey Steve, I hit you up a while back re a tiny monitor out of Germany made by a company called Abacus. The model in particular is called C-Box 3 and are by all accounts VERY tiny! Here’s the thing though. They supposedly go down to 35hz with them right in front of you, in super close desktop mode- if there is such a thing! These monitors also seem to be a closely guarded secret that only the Germans seem privi to! Apparently they are a regular mainstay in a bunch of German studios and mastering houses. There’s hardly any up to date reviews on these little units to the point of what I’d call anti-marketing! The only review I’ve ever read is one from a good few years back of the previous model(C-Box 2) with the 3 being the updated version. The review was via that hifi site 6moons. They seem to gush about them being super hi end for the size, performance and price- currently at around €590 per pair.
There is another model- C-Box 4 within the range which is more of a standard sizes near field monitor in comparison to the tiny 3’s. Would love for someone like you to review these Steve..!! I mean 35hz from such tiny units and all within a closed box design. So no ports or passive radiators. Apparently they use these special little amps of Abacus’s own design, under the title name DOLIFET, which is an acronym for the technology- or more precisely- the circuit design used.
Eitherway, and getting back to the subject at hand, I’m certain these would go down a treat in a small room! There’s a few pics up on line if you search C-Box 3 but because they are so perfectly formed- as in they look like ur normal or averaged size monitor, it’s hard to get a sense of size and scale from any of the pics! The only real sense of scale I found was via a web page run by this French dude under the name of Magic Mastering. On his page their is a clip of him reviewing said units- in French of course. But with the monitors on the bridge of his mastering console and boy do they look dinky! So yes, would love to hear your thoughts on these Steve? Eitherway, I think I may just be tempted to take the plung! More so, as an alternative to say the astronomically priced Amphion One12 and as a means to be able to take my recording rig with me:) Heres the web address- https://www.abacus-electronics.de/produkte/aktivlautsprecher/c-box.html
I have a pair of small speakers in my "Entertainment-Room" but the of course I even have 5 big ones & a sub.
infomercial for Many years always a gear slinger, 20% info .. Never any measurements
Paradigm Prestige 15b is a relatively small bookshelf speaker that will suprise you in a small listening
room. built with pride in canada and luxurious finihes in under 2000 canadian
10′ X 10′ listening room + 5′ towers with 10" woofers up top, 12" woofers on the bottom + rule of thirds. 40" from the front wall
I’m 40 " from the speakers and the back wall is 40" behind me = musical BLISS! NO boom, NO room effect. NEAR FIELD HEAVEN :O)
Btw, of course, I see NO reason on God’s green earth for small speakers. I like the symphony IN my listening room.
I have a 15 x 15 room, walls are concrete. I have a pair of older model Monitor Audio Silver S1 on a Yamaha DSP-AX8. The Bass and sound stage is incredible. Clarity is great too. I set them approximately 2.5 FT from the wall.
4" or smaller i would say computer speakers not stereo speakers
I heard KLIPSCH pays Steve’s rent
I’m looking for bedroom speakers for streaming (room size 12×18). I listen mostly to classical, jazz and folk. So I don’t want a boomy bass. Can someone recommend which of the speakers he mentioned, would be good? I have Wharfedale Diamond 220s in the living room and like them (for the price…..least to mid expense, no money for expensive ones). Thanks very much!
I have a pair of polk rti 28 bookshelf speakers with a denon amp and a boston cr 400 sub in my room. Amazing match😍👌🏽
My room is 11ft by 10.5ft but is well damped with soft furnishings and books. I am using Horns FP10 which are a 96db horn loaded two way stand-mount with ten inch woofers. With the right room treatments they are fabulous at a distance of 1.8m.
Using the KEF Q 150’s and I’m more than happy.
Audio Physic Spark.
Hi Steve, I love to learn a lot from your videos. What is the current opinion regarding the Wharfedale Diamonds III speakers, specifically in this small room context (and mostly for Jazz listening, if that is in any way relevant)? Thanks!
really surprised that the LRS made it to the list. Putting it 3 feet away from the wall is like putting the speaker in the middle of the way in a small room. I was really interested in it, but gave up the idea due to the room is quite small.
Would it be an exaggeration to say that this video changed my life? Maybe not.
I decided to treat myself to new speakers. With my income plummeting because of the pandemic, the time just seemed right. But what to get? After much consideration, I decided on the Tekton Mini Lore. I thought it was time to step up to tower speakers. I couldn’t listen to them, of course, so I largely relied on reviewers and a generous return policy.
And I very much wanted those speakers. I liked the size, the looks, the small company in Utah . . . all good.
My listening/all purpose room in an apartment in Fort Greene might not officially be small but it ain’t big. And decorating concerns, that I was not ready to sacrifice for audio reasons, forced the speakers into a fairly lousy position. Too close to the wall behind them, with one firing directly into a big leather chair. But I calculated that the bottom of the Tekton woofer would just peek over the arm off the chair and decided to go ahead. I bought a pair that afternoon and settled into a 4-6 week wait for delivery.
Then I saw your video. I’ve seen enough Guttenberg to know that you weren’t kidding when you warned about big speakers in a small room. My worries that the M-Lores were too big could no longer be ignored. That night I cancelled the order. The next day I started looking for a pair of LS50s. I found a couple in Trump country in Pennsylvania for $600.
Saying that I love the LS50s would be damning them with faint praise. I was expecting "accuracy" and "transparency." What I got, in my smallish room, was a rich, full sound that I could listen to all day. I have no doubt that I will look back from my nursing home and consider them one of the bargains of my life.
Show idea: The connection of visual to aural impression. Those tiny metal drivers look like they sound hard and metallic and I’m not surprised that many people hear them that way. Personal experience: One day, I walked into Sound By Singer on the pretext of buying a CD player. After I had spent sufficient time with the salesman, I said, "C’mon. Let’s listen to something really pornographic." He took me into a listening room containing a pair of Wilson Alexandria. (At least I think they were Alexandria. They were over 6′ tall, whatever they were.)
I settled into the listening chair while the salesman started turning things on. This was a long process. Pre-amp, monoblock, monoblock, maybe three or four more devices doing God knows what. Meanwhile, I couldn’t shake the feeling that these restaurant-grade refrigerators were going to fall on me. Finally, probably $500,000 worth of gear is ready to go. If ever a system should disappear, this is the one, right? Not even close. Even with my eyes closed I couldn’t shake the feeling that a battleship’s artillery guns were pointed at me. I suppose you would get used to the sight if you lived with them, but it’s hard to imagine them ever disappearing.
Back on point: If an existential crisis ever leaves you staring into the abyss thinking that you’ve wasted your time on this earth, I hope you’ll remember this story. Thank you.
Proac response 1sc
The Totem Signature One works well in my small room of 15x13ft. It helps that I have plenty of clean power to control them, and they tolerate being very close to the rear wall. Totem publish min and max distance from a rear wall recommendations which is pretty useful to give you an idea.
I have the klipsch rp160’s with a big sub. I turn the sub way down but I like the bass in some music. Some music doesn’t need the sub but some do.
I just got a pair of Triangle wireless… for my small bedroom. My dream speakers.
Big speakers tend to be rather useless for very small rooms but still can sound very good. I did this for several years. The lowest frequencies, well, other people in the house noticed, but at the room itself they seemed to lack.
Acora Acoustics SRB speakers are amazing!
Totem Mani2 on filled Target stands driven by a Mac 7200 controlled by Krell KRC-HR.
Magical
If I may add some speakers here… It would be great if you could review a few more of them 👍🏽😊
Joseph Audio Pulsar2 Graphene
Wilson TuneTot
Tad Labs ME1
Sonus Faber Guarneri Tradition
ProAc Response D2
B&W 805 D3
Polk Audio Legend 200
Monitor Audio Apex A10
Legacy Calibre
Marten Oscar Duo
Buchardt S400 SE
Dali Epicon 2
Legend Isobaric Small Reds
Triangle Theta
Wharfdale Elysian 2
KEF Reference 1 (Grill extra £75)
Elac Vela BS403 (Grille extra so that’s what BS stands for)
Dynaudio Confidence 20
Harbeth P3ESR
Revel M126Be
Q Acoustics Concept 300
Technics SB-C700
Quadral Aurum Sedan 9
Fyne Audio F1-5
Definitive Technology D11
Pylon Diamond Monitor
Piega Coax 311
PSB Imagine B
Jamo C 93 II
Totem Signature One
Pioneer SP-BS22-LR
_
Imma stuff a 9ft tall set of speakers in my 10×15 room 😂😂 just kidding would you recommend a subwoofer in a small room?
"NEIGHBOUR PACEMAKER"
If you live in a apartment/flat and have considerations to think about then look no further than the REL t5i high-performance subwoofer, for quite a while I had been receiving throwned expressions from my lovely neighbours 🤨 it was only after I changed my 12" sub for a RELL T5I 8-inch down firing subwoofer that the expressions turned upside down! 🙂
Just like Steve guttenbueg mentioned bookshelfs / standmounts would probably be the best way to go for a small room! My room is only 13×11.5-ft (4×3.5meter) so therefore towers are out of the question. The RELti series subwoofer is so fast and accurate that they have to do things a little bit differently, as well as the 0.1 input you also connect a supplied cable (high level input) from subwoofer to stereo speaker binding posts! (Nothing ventured nothing gained) I never knew the low-end could sound so good with music 😄
It’s a win-win situation not only am I experiencing my music with astonishing low-end but I’m also able to keep my neighbours sweet! (Click on the red dragon twice to view)
I’m really interested in buying a pair of Magnepan LRS speakers.
I have an Onkyo A-8190 integrated amp from 1990 that delivers 235 WPC at 4 ohms with a damping factor of 50.
Wondering if this would be compatible with the LRS’s.