New small listening room, please suggest speaker size

[Apichai]

Hi,
I need to move my 2.0 listening system from the big room to a small room with full of built-in furniture. Also, all the furniture are built-in except couch and chair. The two cabinets run from floor to ceiling. TV stand is 1.4m wide and about 0.4m from floor.
I was shopping for new set of speakers, which I narrow down to elac DBR62 originally. Now, I'm not sure if it is too much for the new room or not. Maybe I should get something smaller, like Dali Spektor 1/2, and put on the TV stand? Please see the layout and comments.

Thanks,
AP

 

[TLS Guy]

Hi,
I need to move my 2.0 listening system from the big room to a small room with full of built-in furniture. Also, all the furniture are built-in except couch and chair. The two cabinets run from floor to ceiling. TV stand is 1.4m wide and about 0.4m from floor.
I was shopping for new set of speakers, which I narrow down to elac DBR62 originally. Now, I'm not sure if it is too much for the new room or not. Maybe I should get something smaller, like Dali Spektor 1/2, and put on the TV stand? Please see the layout and comments.

Thanks,
AP

View attachment 57014

That room is not terribly small. Just because a room is small, does not mean the speakers have to be, within reason.

What are your current speakers? You make no mention of a sub, so you certainly want speakers large enough to have a decent bass response. Small, or actually any bookshelf speaker really need a sub in any room. Speakers that can't get down at least into the forty Hz range, get tiring to listen to after a while, as the sound is not correctly balanced for obvious reasons.

The Elec speaker measures reasonably well, especially in its price range. The Dali measures like a real dog and will not sound good. In fact it has the measurement characteristics of a really irritating speaker, so avoid that one.

I note what I think are your speaker positions. So if you do use bookshelf speakers, then you will need stands. So you might as well use that footprint to get better bass response with slim towers. What is your budget?

 

[Apichai]

Thanks. This is my secondary system so I'd like to keep it 2.0 for simplicity. Also, my family doesn't like too many things on floor due to safety reason with kids. I originally was requested to put the speakers on the TV stand but I negotiated LOL. The floorstanders will be in HT downstairs.

I'm actually moving so no speakers in the room before but I have a pair of old Bose 301 III which were used for background music in the old house. I thought they are not suitable for more serious listening. My budget is around the Elac DBR62 but pricing of gears are quite different here (in Thailand) than the US. For instance, many European brand are quite competitive and even cheaper than US brand. Let's say under $1000.

I was looking at Polk R200 before but after A-B them, I kinda like the Elac a little more. My buddy also suggest looking at Totem and Dynaudio but they are quite pricy here.

 

[Apichai]

Also, forgot to mention that this will not be played very loud. Mostly at lower to mid listening level, hardly exceed 80dB. Typically 70-75db.

 

[TLS Guy]

Also, forgot to mention that this will not be played very loud. Mostly at lower to mid listening level, hardly exceed 80dB. Typically 70-75db.

In that case I'm not at all sure where you plan to place those speakers.

 

[Apichai]

In that case I'm not at all sure where you plan to place those speakers.

I will put them on stand. I want them to further apart to get better image and soundstage. Rough position is in the layout (two grey boxes), which is around 5-6 feet apart. What do you think? Do I need to go wider?

 

[TLS Guy]

I will put them on stand. I want them to further apart to get better image and soundstage. Rough position is in the layout (two grey boxes), which is around 5-6 feet apart. What do you think? Do I need to go wider?

I would try and get the speakers 8' apart. Can you get KEF speakers in Thailand? If so, I would look seriously at the KEF coaxial speakers.

 

[Apichai]

I would try and get the speakers 8' apart. Can you get KEF speakers in Thailand? If so, I would look seriously at the KEF coaxial speakers.

Yes, we can get KEFs. R200 and DBR62 are priced between to KEF Q150 and Q350. The ELAC is on sale right now and at the same price as Q150.

 

[TLS Guy]

Yes, we can get KEFs. R200 and DBR62 are priced between to KEF Q150 and Q350. The ELAC is on sale right now and at the same price as Q150.

I would get the KEF Q150 then. For your room, in your price range, then that speaker is optimal for you. In that room you likely will be fairly close to the speakers, and the coaxial driver will be a big bonus.

 

[WookieGR]

I just built a listening room almost this same size using full range tower speakers by Philharmonic Audio and it's fantastic. 3 parts of the video series are complete and ready to view on youtube if there's any interest.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

 

[witchdoctor]

JBL A130

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