speakers for a large room

[skypickle]

Although the room is 45' x 15' , it is separated into an eating area, a sitting area, and a listening area(15'x15'). However, the ceiling is slanted and high and the separations between the areas is achieved with partitions only. The listening area is well damped with curtains and thick carpet.

Currently I have a pair of magnepan 3.7i driven by a pair of sanders magtech mono block amplifiers. These amps are rated to 2000w into 4 ohms and I have to be careful not to blow the fuses on the maggies . Preamp is a Schitt Freya +. The sound is superb. Until I set this system up, I really didn't know what people were talking about when they said they could 'see the instruments'. Positioning the maggies 5' away from the back wall is no problem but they cannot fill the room. I added a pair of rhythmic subs and the lower end is better. The imaging does require proper positioning and seating. You cannot really have a good listening experience unless you are in the sweet spot. That limits the experience to two people sitting really close. In addition, they are big and now with the subs, I am getting dirty looks from the boss of the house.

So I am looking for a pair floor standing speakers that can stand up to this room but that might be less imposing. The walls have heavy curtains, thick rug on the floor so echo is very well controlled. I listened to the B&W 802D but found them harsh (I don't remember the amp that was driving them) I have looked at (but not listened to) the Golden Ear Triton reference as well as the Triangle Magellan reference and the Gershan avant garde. I would like to keep my amps and preamp.

I mostly listen to vocals, jazz standards, and folk acoustic although I also put on some ambient when I am reading, cooking, etc. I am getting on in years and have noticed fall off in my ability to perceive the upper frequencies but still enjoy listening.

Which speakers would work well with my amps and this big room? I am looking for a bigger sweet spot (soundstage?) , more presence to fill the room a little better without losing the clarity, the realism and the quick response (articulate?) of the maggies.

 

[vader540is]

JTR 215RT

https://www.jtrspeakers.com

 

[lovinthehd]

The size of the room more relates to distance between you and speakers, except for the subwoofer where the whole volume becomes a part. Lots of speakers, up to you to distill what you like.

 

[Verdinut]

What is your budget for your speakers? There are quite a few options at various costs as you know.

 

[little wing]

I've heard the revel F208 is a great sounding speaker that works well in large rooms.

 

[DigitalDawn]

Yes, budget please. Also what is the percentage for Movies/Music?

 

[highfigh]

Speakers at one end of a large room don't sound good at the other end because of the sound reflections. If you'll watch from farther away, install additional speakers and make sure the sound is delayed enough to prevent lip synch issues.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

Personally, I would keep the magnepan 3.7i and maybe add a second pair or adjust placement to improve the size of the listening area. I would ask the boss what she would like. Sometimes getting the spouse involved is helpful?

I have my gear in the basement and it's pretty much my space so I don't really have an issue... but anytime I want to bring anything into the living room it needs wife approval.

 

[ski2xblack]

Maggies just don't have the dynamic range to fill such a large room, as you've discovered, even driving them with copious power. Fortunately for you there are many more traditional speakers that can provide greater dynamic range and more broad coverage with a larger sweet spot.

I was going to suggest the recently reviewed JBL HDI speakers as candidates to audition (@gene @shadyJ I can't find the review on the main site to link to, where is it?), as an example of a speaker that will image well over more seats and have the displacement to rock the whole room if desired. Perhaps counterintuitive, in such a large room you may find that speakers with controlled directivity like the JBLs (or JTRs previously mentioned) to throw a more convincing, enveloping soundstage, across more seats, than even the maggies from the sweet spot. Done right (proper placement and orientation in the room), they really put you "inside" the music.

Also, be sure to audition before you buy if at all possible. Coming from speakers that inherently lack any box and associated boxy resonances/colorations, you want to pick something that also lacks such tells. That will typically limit you in the realm of the Revels, high end JBL, and other well engineered speakers.

Despite the fact that you have gobs of watts on tap, you probably should aim for more sensitve speakers to fill such a large space, to avoid audible tells associated with overpowering less sensitive speakers.

 

[skypickle]

The budget is 10k. I have seen a couple of revel salon2 or ultima studio2 (used) and these are the upper limit of price. The boss thinks less imposing objects than maggies are needed. Adding boxes (more speakers) was floated but promptly torpedoed. Half this big room has a small sofa and a chair 12' away from the maggies in an almost equilateral array. The maggies are 5' away from the back wall but that is not so much the issue as they look like two of the monoliths from 2001. The golden ear reference 0ne has met the seal of approval for exterior size from the boss. But anything bigger (sonus amati) are not. The listening area therefore constitutes about half the room but the sound carries everywhere due to the open design. The slanted roof, large volume, treated surfaces really does a good job preventing reflections. But when you sit off axis, the sound can be 'seen' coming from one of the maggies. When you are in the sweet spot, the speakers disappear and you can close your eyes and imagine clearly the individual instruments and performers. I need more sweet spot and less speaker. I thought about ohm but those omnidirectional designs seem not to image .

 

[skypickle]

I forgot to add the there is no movie watching in this room and I also thought of klipsch but never heard them.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

I was going to suggest the recently reviewed JBL HDI speakers as candidates to audition (@gene @shadyJ I can't find the review on the main site to link to, where is it?), as an example of a speaker that will image well over more seats and have the displacement to rock the whole room if desired.

JBL HDI-3800 Floorstanding Speaker Review

The JBL HDI-3800 84lb beast of a floorstanding speaker features triple 8" bass drivers and an advanced compression driver and waveguide. We review it to determine if it lives up to the JBL heritage.

www.audioholics.com

 

[everettT]

You can probably get a dealer to do the JBL M2 for 10k, a little smaller then the JTR.

The Legacy Audio Focus SE would be another.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

You need Towers of Power.

Towers of Power: A Look at the Best Super Speakers

This article is a small roundup of some big speakers with good design and high quality components though not inexpensive. But, life-like sound demands life-size speakers. Check out what made our list.

www.audioholics.com

The boss doesn't want too many boxes laying around town. She allows only 2 towers. But you want real subwoofer bass, awesome Dynamics, and accurate +/-2dB response?

Something like the RBH SVT towers. The top cabinet handles the mids and treble, while the bottom cabinet is actually a TRUE big a$$ subwoofer. So owning two SVT towers = two SV-1212 subwoofers.

They come in shiny piano gloss finishes and curvy cabinets.

 

[SimplyEpic]

The good news about the Klipsch is they are ridiculously easy to push to high volumes. I believe their speakers from the RF 7 III series on up are all rated for 100db sensitivity or better.

The downside is many do not like the sound of the horns they use and can find them a bit sharp or bright. They do work well for movies and Rock and more aggressive style music and maybe not as warm as people would like for things like Jazz. Best bet would be to see if you can audition them as they have a very dedicated fan base and they are mostly either loved or hated due to their horns.

 

[Danzilla31]

The budget is 10k. I have seen a couple of revel salon2 or ultima studio2 (used) and these are the upper limit of price. The boss thinks less imposing objects than maggies are needed. Adding boxes (more speakers) was floated but promptly torpedoed. Half this big room has a small sofa and a chair 12' away from the maggies in an almost equilateral array. The maggies are 5' away from the back wall but that is not so much the issue as they look like two of the monoliths from 2001. The golden ear reference 0ne has met the seal of approval for exterior size from the boss. But anything bigger (sonus amati) are not. The listening area therefore constitutes about half the room but the sound carries everywhere due to the open design. The slanted roof, large volume, treated surfaces really does a good job preventing reflections. But when you sit off axis, the sound can be 'seen' coming from one of the maggies. When you are in the sweet spot, the speakers disappear and you can close your eyes and imagine clearly the individual instruments and performers. I need more sweet spot and less speaker. I thought about ohm but those omnidirectional designs seem not to image .

I think the JBL 3800's as mentioned are your best bet

They also look very nice for a JBL come in several finish options and might just pass your boss's approval Lol

Good luck!!!

 

[ski2xblack]

I think the JBLs measured better than the Klipsch RP 8000 (or whatever the model is). Maybe the new forte III would be more competitive. (I have an old pair of f II, and they're remarkably open, airy, and unboxy sounding, which is something I think will be of critical importance to @skypickle. But they also required some work-eq-that I doubt the JBLs require. HERE are some measurements of the fIII, and indeed, it appears that they could use some careful eq to match what other speakers give out of the box.)

I still think the JBL HDI should be on the short list, they check the boxes the OP gave quite effectively. Visually understated and tasteful, sonically glorious, and a better match for spl and imaging to @skypickle 's room.

His budget and available watts, and SWMBO aesthetic considerations, maybe the larger models from Salk are worth checking. The SS8 are in budget and probably have the displacement to fill that room.

 

[lovinthehd]

You can probably get a dealer to do the JBL M2 for 10k, a little smaller then the JTR.

The Legacy Audio Focus SE would be another.

Really? Including the amp/dsp setup? Wow....tempting.

 

[everettT]

Really? Including the amp/dsp setup? Wow....tempting.

For the two speakers, a single amp would come in at around another 3900 with discount if you want to use the M2 config file/dsp.

 

[lovinthehd]

For the two speakers, a single amp would come in at around another 3900 with discount if you want to use the M2 config file/dsp.

I thought it would be at least $14k from what I'd read before.....