Bookshelf speaker that produces best bass?

Not heard them but if they are anything like the 109’s I imagine they are very special.

Are you actively thinking of changing speakers? I’m listening to NHØP and Michel Petrucciani right now through my PMC twenty5.21i and the bass is excellent. My speakers are active, though with your 52/135s the passive version should sound great. They have their own dedicated stands which are very well made and match the sloping speakers perfectly.

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These PMCs are so tempting for my UQ2 system. But I need to put them in a bookshelf and it’s 34,1 cm high with the PMCs being 34 cm… that’s too tight … sad. So tight - even if they fit, they might do too much bass.

So unlike the OP you are seeking actual bookshelf speakers. There is nothing to stop you lying speakers on their sides. Whether bass would be boosted excessively you’d only find by trying!

And have you considered on-wall designs like ATC HCS series, or PMC Ci series?

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My experience is that they are definitely not “bass shy”

Bare in mind I actually own ATC’s (19’s) but I would have been totally happy with the 11’s also…it’s just that I found the 19’s to give me more of the ATC sound

The ATC 7’s measure: (HxWxD): 300 x 174 x 215mm / 11.81 x 6.85 x 8.46″ (grill adds 28mm depth) and weigh 7.5kg

Yes ATC’s are quite heavy because they have very high quality drivers

I would still recommend you take a listen to them

Honestly drago it’s a myth that ATC’s need powerful amps

I’d be quite happy running any ATC with a good 50wpc amp

There are some posters using ATC’s with the Nait 50 very happily

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Exactly Oleg

I believe the Nait 50 is rated at about 25wpc and it’s plenty to drive the SCM7’s

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The 7’s do require a bit of power to work well - yes they will work with lower power amps but if you want to go loud or you have a large room then more power is desirable and I suspect with low power low volume listening would be impacted as well.

In my tricky room (round in shape and 5m diameter ATC’s passive 20’s were a massive fail with an Atom but sounded good with a NC 250.

I also found my 11’s were lovely with an Atom but again fell apart with volume.

I would be surprised if a unitiqute could “ wake up” ATC 7’s and in my experience ATC’s do like a bit of power - my dealer said the same when I was experimenting.

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Yes, I concur, they produce plenty bass for me for near field listening :+1:

Probably the PS Audio FR5….I use the little Vivid S12 this has very fast tight bass..and in my room goes down to around 40hz…and is quite even to this point. To get…much more balanced bass…with real impact I think you are looking at active either the Kii or Devulait Phantom Extremes…. On a more cost effective note the PMC Prodigy 1 is very good … but in my experience these need to be pretty loud to come alive… In my opinion with small speakers synergy and funky fast pace are what to aim for….as ultimate slam can never match bigger speakers…

There were several editions of ATC 7 if memory serve.

I had an early pair back decades ago, used in a high ceiling 4x5M room, powered by a Nap 250.

It was no success.

The later curved models should be less difficult.

Yes I believe that to be the case and new ATC speakers are less power hungry.

That said they do improve with more power and if want the full ATC experience at loud and low volumes or if you room is big then more power certainly helps.

I also found them quite sensitive with source and the better the source the more pleasure they give - same as most speakers I guess but I found it more so with ATC.

Three currently. The big change was between versions 2 and 3: new in-house built tweeter, new crossover and new curved cabinet. I think the mid/bass driver stayed pretty much the same as did the sensitivity. If they really are easier to drive that may be the newer crossover.

Roger

Back in 1999 I had ATC A7. That model was power hungry.

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The OP hasn’t responded to anything after the first couple of hours of this thread two days ago, so we have no idea which way he/she might be starting to lean (also didn’t clarify own budget), so no idea if s/he might be considering any of the options so far suggested, from the lowest budget standmounts right through to slim floorstanders like the PMC Fact 12. Some of the speakers will do bass properly, with others only diminished towards bottom end.

To reproduce cello naturally an uncoloured fairly level response down to 64Hz is needed, unless a 5-string in which case down to 43Hz before any sognificant rolloff, while double bass would be down to 41Hz standard, or 33Hz with a C extension, or 31Hz if 5-string. Speakers that roll off significantly by then might appear to be “doing bass” but likely it is the first or higher harmonic people are hearing as the dominant note rather than the fundamental as it truly should be

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Agree with your advice, when limited floor space is a concern slim towers are a better option than large stand mounters, when it comes to proper bass reproduction. Floor-standers able to dig down in the mid-30hz region are going to be big, none of the speakers mentioned so far, perhaps with the exception of the larger Harbeth models, can comfortably achieve that. It doesn’t mean they are not capable of providing excellent sound, but only that they won’t deliver the lower registers from most acoustic instruments, a sin of omission many people seem to happily live with.

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Seems the OP got bored and wandered off so we are left to discuss his requirements in absentia.

My take thus far. Yes Totems may be Canadian (like Rush) but they are superb speakers. The Signature Ones seem to handle bass pretty well compared to speakers of similar size but they need a bit of space around them.

When you start to look at the bookshelf options pretty much all of them are dimensionally within 1 or 2 cm of each other in terms of HxW with the biggest difference being the D. Bigger boxes = better bass usually but then the bass ports and transmission line ports can emulate a pseudo bass response. You really need a floorstander for proper bass though. Nobody yet has suggested pairing bookshelves and a sub. That’s what I’d be doing.

Yes, and also the power supply to the amp. But, bass comes from (mainly) the source as well!

Upgraded all that before the standmount speakers and no lack of bass whatsoever.

I will nominate these. They fit inside a large book shelf. JBL4350.

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