Very small speakers for kitchen

[Billss]

I have a Sony DE545 receiver, a pair of Polk R16 speakers and a SA WM40 powered subwoofer in our family room. And we are very pleased with them, which should indicate the level of our sophistication about sound systems (not very). We want a pair of very small (~4 inch x 4 in x 4 in) speakers for our kitchen, so we can continue listening to music when we move from family room to kitchen to start preparing dinner. ~$100-150/pair.
Suggestions?

 

[markw]

If you go to garage sales, cruise Craigslist, do ebay, or rumage sales or the like, keep your eyes open for a pair of Radio Shack Minimus 7's. They haven't made them new for years but they sold (almost literally) millions of them and they pop up more often than you can imagine used for <$20.

They are about 4x4x6, are generally found in black, white, or silver metal cabinets and sound much better than their size would indicate when driven within their limits. A little bass boost helps, though

 

[bikemig]

There are a number of very reasonable bookshelf speakers in your price range; finding one that is 4 by 4 by 4 is a challenge. It sounds like you are either trying to squish them into a tight space and/or keep the spouse happy by not cluttering up the kitchen. You'll have more and better choices if you give up on those dimensions and just look for small bookshelf speakers in your price range.

 

[bikemig]

I like the NHT super zero mini monitors (they're 9 by 5 by 5). They are somewhat outside of your price range but you can pick up a pair for sale at $170 from the NHT website (they're factory direct speakers). They're sealed so they'll be very tolerant of where you place them which is going to be a plus given the constraints you will have in a kitchen.

 

[ImcLoud]

How about Bostons Soundwares, I heard them at Bernies they had a bunch of different colors, sounded way better than bose cubes, plus you wont need bass blockers... bernies had them mounted on the floor to show that are good at any angles, they projected well...

normally $100 each though and a little larger than 4x4x4 they are more like 5.5x5.5x5.5 and heavy for their size, but A4L has them on sale for $30 each !!!! not too shabby... they have espresso, white and black still in stock, my original thoughts were nice for a kitchen or bathroom, since they are indoor outdoor so moisture wont be an issue, where some normal speakers it would...

BOSTON ACOUSTICS SoundWare 4.5 in Indoor/Outdoor Coaxial Speaker Each | Accessories4less

Anthony gallo bstock is another option but still over budget and not in US but they will ship... £200.00 / pair for some Nucleus Micros http://www.anthonygallo.co.uk/clearance/

Good luck and welcome to the forum...
I cant think of anything that small that wouldn't need some sort of bass blocker and would sound decent, you figure a 4" cube may have a 2.75 driver in it, thats not going to make much for mids and lows, if any...

 

[Billss]

Orb Mod1? Even though more than I want to pay.

I like the NHT super zero mini monitors (they're 9 by 5 by 5). They are somewhat outside of your price range but you can pick up a pair for sale at $170 from the NHT website (they're factory direct speakers). They're sealed so they'll be very tolerant of where you place them which is going to be a plus given the constraints you will have in a kitchen.

Just learned about Orb Mod1 ($239/pair). Quite a bit higher than I have in mind, but they are very small. Are they worth the extra bucks? (You're right on about the spouse not wanting speakers in the kitchen!)
(Thanks to MarkW for the Minimus 7 suggestion)

 

[bikemig]

I don't know much about the orbs but I'd stick with the NHT super zeros. You get to try them out at home and you can ship them back if you don't like them. Plus they'll work well pretty much no matter where you stick them. There are a lot of reviews of them online; here's one from this site, NHT SuperZero 2.0 Mini-Monitors First Look &mdash; Reviews and News from Audioholics.

 

[zieglj01]

The NHT SuperZero and Boston Soundware will have more bass.
The ORB speakers, have a -3db around 190 hz.

HT Labs >
The Mod1’s listening-window response measures +4.48/–2.13 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz. The –3dB point is at 191 Hz, and the –6dB point is at 160 Hz. Impedance reaches a minimum of 7.44 ohms at 656 Hz and a phase angle of –50.94 degrees at 254 Hz.

 

[Billss]

How about Bostons Soundwares, I heard them at Bernies they had a bunch of different colors, sounded way better than bose cubes, plus you wont need bass blockers... bernies had them mounted on the floor to show that are good at any angles, they projected well...

normally $100 each though and a little larger than 4x4x4 they are more like 5.5x5.5x5.5 and heavy for their size, but A4L has them on sale for $30 each !!!! not too shabby... they have espresso, white and black still in stock, my original thoughts were nice for a kitchen or bathroom, since they are indoor outdoor so moisture wont be an issue, where some normal speakers it would...



Good luck and welcome to the forum...
I cant think of anything that small that wouldn't need some sort of bass blocker and would sound decent, you figure a 4" cube may have a 2.75 driver in it, thats not going to make much for mids and lows, if any...

Just ordered a pair of refurb Boston Acoustics Soundware 4.5 for $67 including shipping.
Thanks to the many helpful, thoughtful replies. Visiting this site was a very pleasant, reassuring experience. Sort of sitting around after dinner asking family/friends for advice.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Seems like in-ceiling would be the way to go on this one...

 

[ImcLoud]

Just ordered a pair of refurb Boston Acoustics Soundware 4.5 for $67 including shipping.
Thanks to the many helpful, thoughtful replies. Visiting this site was a very pleasant, reassuring experience. Sort of sitting around after dinner asking family/friends for advice.

I think you will be very happy with them and the service from A4Less, obviously the 4.5" driver is a much better option for filling a room with sound over anything half its size. Let us know what you think after you spend some time with them, and I'm glad you had a good audioholics experience...