Help choosing the right speaker size and price point of diminishing returns [pics + room size inc]

[bishbashsplash]

I’m about to kit out my new apt and I would love peoples opinions on the right speaker size and how people think about the point of diminishing returns with respect to budget. I'm sure you'll appreciate I'm focused on kit prior to any furniture
For context:

• The room dimensions are attached, if you find metric easier it’s 4.26m (w) x 5.18 (l) - according to most resources puts it in the medium room bracket
• No kids / pets - 2-Chn critical listening (33%), movies 5.2 (33%), gaming (33%) 5.2 — will use a 2-chn amp with HT pass thru to a AVR to drive the front two speakers
• I’m going to treat the room with acoustic panels / bass traps etc - I’m working with GIK to give me list of recommendations, I’ll be pretty generous with allocating money to a.treatment

Question A - speaker size

How would you think about choosing between

1. Book shelf vs Tower
2. Types of tower, e.g. I’ve been told that the speakers like Kef R11 or Focal Electra 1038Be may overwhelm a room like this

I've been auditioning speakers but I'm confident they are going to sound entirely different in my room vs the listening room

Question B - point of diminishing returns

After a ton of reading and some listening I’ve narrowed down on something like: Kef R3 / R7 or 11s or equivalent Focals / B&Ws - still auditioning options + matching center & surrounds -- powered by a Rega Elicit R -> Denon x4500h: [Xbox / PS4 / Apple TV (steam) / Nvidia shield / Bluesound] -> LG 77C8 77inch OLED TV

Now to be blunt and I say this a little sheepishly I’m not super budget constrained - I could quite easily look at the Blade Two or Kef Reference 5 type budget and kick everything up a few notches - I'd be worried about room size so maybe the Kef Reference 1s (?) but you get the point. I know, even for audio, this is an insanely subjective question and you start getting into silly questions about what is the value of money, it’s all relative etc - and yes I will demo the Blades and Kef Reference 3/5s et al.

That said, no one in my personal life is even remotely into audio or AV gear and garnering other enthusiasts opinions is really helpful as I think this through. I know myself and I know I’ll enjoy these toys more if I feel like I’ve tried to be thoughtful about it, e.g. the Denon would be a refurb buy. For folks that have been into this hobby for a long time I'm guessing people have upgraded and downgraded over their life and I'd love people's opinion on if they found a sweet spot or where people think diminishing returns start to kick in. e.g. in the PC gaming community there are some pretty well agreed upon price/performance ranges, (I know it's more measurable). Maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way but it's been a thought that's been stopping me from pulling the trigger...

 

[Leemix]

The open kitchen adds a lot to the room size.

 

[Leemix]

Since you have money towers are generally better and blend well with subs. But that doesnt mean a great bookshelf speaker pluss subs wont be a very viable option.

Where you think diminishing returns are significant is very hard to say. It changes from person to person, and also depends on how important looks is to you.


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[ryanosaur]

If you are not costrained by budget, talk to Jim Salk at Salk Sound.

Otherwise, I would say by about $1250 per tower, you start to see diminishing returns vs cost. Of the main companies, I found the Monitor Audio Silver 500s to be my favorites.

I think large horn loaded speakers will be too much, but towers with regular drivers should be fine if you are inclined to pursue them. That said there have been more than a few threads debating the efficacy of Standmounts with a subwoofer, and the consensus seams to suggest that such is more than adequate for great SQ.

 

[Verdinut]

If you decide not to get towers for your front L & R speakers, bookshelves should have at least two small woofers or a single 7 or 8 inch driver. There is a lot of audio energy sent to speakers up to frequencies around 400 Hz.

 

[Kingnoob]

These are high quality speaker choices I don’t think you can go wrong either way . I only have low level speakers these are like my dream speakers haha .
Doubt you will find bookshelves with 8” woofers my only two sets of towers only have 6 1/2 or 5” woofers I don’t have anything too good .


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[HTfreak2004]

I’m about to kit out my new apt and I would love peoples opinions on the right speaker size and how people think about the point of diminishing returns with respect to budget. I'm sure you'll appreciate I'm focused on kit prior to any furniture
For context:

• The room dimensions are attached, if you find metric easier it’s 4.26m (w) x 5.18 (l) - according to most resources puts it in the medium room bracket
• No kids / pets - 2-Chn critical listening (33%), movies 5.2 (33%), gaming (33%) 5.2 — will use a 2-chn amp with HT pass thru to a AVR to drive the front two speakers
• I’m going to treat the room with acoustic panels / bass traps etc - I’m working with GIK to give me list of recommendations, I’ll be pretty generous with allocating money to a.treatment

Question A - speaker size

How would you think about choosing between

1. Book shelf vs Tower
2. Types of tower, e.g. I’ve been told that the speakers like Kef R11 or Focal Electra 1038Be may overwhelm a room like this

I've been auditioning speakers but I'm confident they are going to sound entirely different in my room vs the listening room

Question B - point of diminishing returns

After a ton of reading and some listening I’ve narrowed down on something like: Kef R3 / R7 or 11s or equivalent Focals / B&Ws - still auditioning options + matching center & surrounds -- powered by a Rega Elicit R -> Denon x4500h: [Xbox / PS4 / Apple TV (steam) / Nvidia shield / Bluesound] -> LG 77C8 77inch OLED TV

Now to be blunt and I say this a little sheepishly I’m not super budget constrained - I could quite easily look at the Blade Two or Kef Reference 5 type budget and kick everything up a few notches - I'd be worried about room size so maybe the Kef Reference 1s (?) but you get the point. I know, even for audio, this is an insanely subjective question and you start getting into silly questions about what is the value of money, it’s all relative etc - and yes I will demo the Blades and Kef Reference 3/5s et al.

That said, no one in my personal life is even remotely into audio or AV gear and garnering other enthusiasts opinions is really helpful as I think this through. I know myself and I know I’ll enjoy these toys more if I feel like I’ve tried to be thoughtful about it, e.g. the Denon would be a refurb buy. For folks that have been into this hobby for a long time I'm guessing people have upgraded and downgraded over their life and I'd love people's opinion on if they found a sweet spot or where people think diminishing returns start to kick in. e.g. in the PC gaming community there are some pretty well agreed upon price/performance ranges, (I know it's more measurable). Maybe I'm thinking about this the wrong way but it's been a thought that's been stopping me from pulling the trigger...

Nice looking room!

 

[Alex2507]

the Denon would be a refurb buy.

That's something I wouldn't do.

I think the Salk ST RTs go for around $3k/pair and they're easy on the eyes

But given the budget, the only reason to stop there is neighbors, maybe.