Floorstanders for small room?

Haven't kept up on models, but I've always been a fan of totem speakers. They make some nice narrow floorstanders. 

P.s. my harbeths are "polite", rather than boring 

Why would you necessarily go floorstanders? You most likely will suffer bass resonances in such a small room. In any case I would consider close speakers. Naim speakers of long gone ranges such as the Intro, Allae or SBL should be considered if you have a solid bearing front wall. ATC is a well appreciated brand on this forum. Don’t however exclude some great ported speakers such as those offered by PMC and ProAc. Personally I would check the D20R as I am found of Tyler’s designs. ????

Chag -

There are some very small (thin) floorstanders on the market that work in small rooms. But they are from Japanese brands at a fairly low end of the market. You might get more mileage from a decent standmount. 

That said, I don't find it necessary holds true that a floorstander won't work in a small room. 

 The older PMC Twenty range is more small room friendly than the current Twenty5 range by quite a bit. Albeit only available in black ash.

I second the Totem speakers, full of excitement.

Why floorstanders? I’ve got a 20 month old and a 7 yr Old. They’re not getting any gentler. Also, I don’t want the speakers to be a source of tension/stress - rather damage to speakers than to the kids. 

Thinking of Totem Sky towers. Not sure I’d theyre an improvement over the X2s. The X2s are at the Nait 5i/XS level I feel.

i had the PMC 20.23 and liked them - maybe it’s time to compare the pmc 25.23 and Totem Sky’s...

ATC SCM40s too much..

or maybe just lose the naim stack. I’ve got the Totem Kin Minis at work and like them. Can get those back home to go with the subwoofer.

I have Totem Hawk floorstanders in my media room 3.5m by 5.0m with a Uniti2 and are very happy with them.

Check out dynaudio excite range

X3 maybe?

Second Dynaudio excite range I had the X32 in a room not much bigger than yours. 

Recently had a similar issue in setting up in a new room which is a little smaller than desired. Leaving some PMC GB1i's behind in a 10 x 16 ft room for a 9.5 x 12 ft room with a bay window.

Tried the GB1i's for a fortnight thinking 2 small dogs may mean avoiding stand mount speakers. Sound was just a little too much of a 'wall of sound' as actual listening position was 8ft ish with almost 1 ft behind each speaker. interestingly, had to turn the Atom up 20% more to gain full range - still not sure why!

Sampled a few different speakers thanks to very helpful local dealers in Yorkshire - each looked after me well with no previous relationship with any of them. Tried B&W 705 S2, B&W 706 S2, PMC Twenty5 21 and also some cheaper options from Revel M1's and Monitor Audio (both of which surprised me with their finish).

Honestly, maybe my heart ruled over head as the B&W 705 S2 impressed me the most (liked the look of the tweeter as well) but the PMC's rallied to be the less risky choice with front porting and sounding familiar.

The issue re floor v stand mount was solved by watching how the two dogs wafted around the floor standers at home and checking the pivot point for toppling. Checked this during demoes and the inset of the vertical element of the stand meant likelihood of being toppled was so much reduced as there dogs avoid the base completely so I gained confidence in using them.

So ended up with piano black PMC Twenty5 21's and waiting to do an A:B in both rooms but so far no wall of sound effect and very happy with outcome.

Deliberately no detailed listening opinion as it is too individual so concentrated here on practical matters mostly. 

I currently have a pair of Dynaudios and the issue I think the OP will have in looking at any of their models is the amount of room they need around them to perform. Too near rear and side walls and there'll be bass boom and a reduction in imaging and soundstage based on my own experience. If space is at a premium the last thing anyone would want is a pair of speakers eating into a valuable listening space.

If it has to be a floorstanders, then smaller designs which are less fussy about placement, such as the PMC Twenty5.23's or if on a budget, Neat Iota Alphas might check the box. I can't comment on Totems but they get a lot of praise from Forum Members so have to be worth an audition if they're within budget.

If it were me I'd be on the phone to a good dealer with a budget to ask for recommendations with a view to getting 2-3 pairs in for a home demo, it's the only way to buy speakers IMHO.

If I could choose a big or small room for my hi-fi I would within reason always go small, as long as I could set it up precisely how I needed and as long as it was a one-man listening room. 

In a small room, I set up the speakers firing across the width, positioned well into the room,  with the listening position hard against the back wall and the majority of the back wall comprising diffusive elements. Ideally, the rest of the room should be quite reflective and quite lossy....i.e. carpeted floors over floor boards, plaster board walls over slats (the term for this is dot and dab which I always remember as slap and dash)....a typical shoddily build UK house.  The speakers I buy are always sealed non-ported, which are far easier to position.

So what does this bring?

The room is reflective AND diffusive AND lossy, which means it can take realistic sound pressure levels without overloading.  A listener within the room benefits from the precedence effect or ‘law of first wavefront’  where he/she does not hear the early reflections but perceives a single auditory event where spacial location is dominated by the location of the first arriving wave. The reflected waves are summed together with the direct waves and are heard as a single event with increased intensity and spacial location intact...thus the music has much of its original intensity while imaging like a demon.  Reverb time RF is near ideal based on the carpeted floor, huge diffusive area relative to room volume which together prevent multiple reflections of Hf waves while bass control is maintained by the lossy floor and walls...(bass energy is converted to work as the pressure waves try to cause the floor and walls to move), the walls and floor acting like a huge bass trap to prevent LF wave reflection or storage. 

In summary, the listener is provided with the intensity and directivity of live instruments and can clearly hear the full acoustic of the recording, with no additional reverberant echon from the listening room.  As the live acoustic is heard, the listener perceives the acoustics and therefore size of the original recording venue or if a studio recording, the soundstage and reverb provided by the sound engineer. With ones eyes closed, this can be quite a stunning experience, where music is fully immersive and heard coming from locations way beyond the small room’s dimensions

Regarding children, what worked incredibly well for me was sitting down quietly with my 2 years old, showing her how the system played music then explaining in a very non threatening way how the system was very delicate and easily broken and shouldn’t be touched.  I actually witnessed her giving the same message to friends who visited. As I remember I showed her the tweeter and the stylus so she understood just how delicate and why it couldn’t be touched

Fully agree

Children should be instructed carefully and also made aware there are concequences...

You could consider the Monitor Audio Silver 200s which are excellent, and compact too.  I have the previous version of these, the RS6s and they work wonderfully in our small listening room up here in the Pennines in our small cottage. For some reason there is quite a bit of snobbery about MA products and I don't understand why.  MIne sound wonderful with a deep, yet taut bass that are truly rewarding to listen to.

I disagree with the contention that smaller rooms are unsuitable for floorstanding speakers.  In fact I dislike standmount speakers as they lack the scale and authority (not to mention the bass) that you can get from the larger enclosures.

Hi again....meant to make a point on floor vs stand mounted loudspeakers. 

The differentiation is in some ways irrelevant. What is important in a small room is that speakers have very little distance to integrate the outputs from their different drivers.  A 2 way speaker will generally have its drivers mounted quite close together, while in a 3 way the distance is greater.  In a small room their is very little to differentiate a 2 way floor standing from a 2 way stand mount, whereas a 3 way floor mount may sound less well integrated.

Jonners posted:

If it has to be a floorstanders, then smaller designs which are less fussy about placement, such as the PMC Twenty5.23's or if on a budget,

Having owned both Twenty.23 and Twenty5.23, I can't recommend the latter in a small room. Unfussy about placement they may be but despite their size, their bass response will blow the roof off even a medium sized room. 

I still find the older Twenty.23  a superb speaker and at it's new price is a steal. They have a more gradual low end rolloff than the newer model which may be helpful in a tight space.  The Twenty range has a more sharp laser focus on the soundstage (especially hanging together at low volumes). The Twenty5 series is more about scale and thrives in a large room with decent distance to the listener.

Neat Iota Alpha?

Had forgotten about the Neat Iotas. Thanks - looks like it's the usual suspects.. :-) 

Neat Iotas would be my first choice to demo in your room. They are not boundary designed speakers but can be tucked away a bit and still perform well. I heard them at Axpona last year and was pleasantly surprised! Plus the tweeter is more accepting of finger poking than most Good luck on the journey Mango....

ATB,

Mark

Totem Tribe Towers, pricey, but the best I have ever heard for the tiny size. 

MangoMonkey posted:

Why floorstanders? I’ve got a 20 month old and a 7 yr Old. They’re not getting any gentler. Also, 

 

The only reason I never cocidered the Totem is because they sit on 3 points and can topple easily. I have dogs running around the house and could see that being an issue.

I have a 10yo, 7yo and 20 month old yet  I still have stand mounts with no issue. That said I have have large floorstanders toppled by a visitor that may have had a shot or seven too many. Not to mention the base on my current Dynaudio Stand 20 are rather large and stable. Dyn Stand 20 with S40 or Contour 20 sitting on them will give more than the X2s ever thought about giving you.  Plus the C20 can be bolted to the stands with optional top plates. 

Definitely make sure you listen to the Sky Tower.

sunbeamgls posted:

Definitely make sure you listen to the Sky Tower.

you like it?

MangoMonkey posted:

sold my harbeths (boring) today.

Hurrah! Congrats on finally giving up the Harbeth ghost.