I’m picking up the HE and 250 this week hopefully. To save money I was going to keep my KEF LS50’s which I’d listened to with the HE and 250. However, I know I need better speakers and if I don’t get them now I probably won’t be able to afford them for a long time. I’ve seen an ex-demo pair of ProAc Response D2R’s and Tablette Ten Signature’s as well as some PMC Tewnty5 22i’s. Which of these might be best suited to a small room (3.5x 4m) where they could be no more than 30cm from the wall. Cheers Paul.
Budget is £2-3k. Room size is more like 5 x 3.5 m.
FWIW I had better results with LS50 rather than Tablette 10 in my room - similar size.
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@PerF, that’s interesting. I’ve had my LS50’s paired with a Peachtree Audio Nova125 for the past 10 years and I’ve been very happy with them. However, with my impending change to an Atom HE and a 250DR I I’ve been wondering whether a change of speaker may be advisable. What are your LS50’s connected to?
PMCs are good for a small room as they can be fairly close to the rear wall.
@HungryHalibut runs s pair of PMC loudspeakers.
DG…
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Thanks @DiggyGun, I’ll be listening to the PMC Twenty5 21i‘s for sure (may be better suited to my small room than the 22’s). I think a short list of three will be sufficient so two more.
Standmounts are what I’m mainly considering but, aesthetically, I do like the look of the Neat Iota Alpha Floorstanding Speakers - anyone have any thoughts on these.
Cheers
Paul
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I’d really advise hearing things first, ideally in a home demo but if not at least try to get an in store demo. Pro ac midrange didn’t do it for me personally I was really surprised. I know many other people love them also room interaction makes it an inexact science, for example when I decide on Harbeth speakers one of the shops I spoke to said they could only demo one speaker at my home and based on my room suggested the c7’s. In the end I was able to demo 3 models in my room and the c7’s were the worst of the 3 
. Don’t get me wrong they still sounded good but in my room with my equipment they weirdly emphasised parts of the music that are meant to be subtle and in the background and they just didn’t have the magic of the p3’s or what I eventually went for m30’s.
Hope whatever you end up going for brings you joy.
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I have a pair of Metas and moved them to a different room (slightly larger than normal) a few months back and have been really happy with them. Yes, an upgrade would be good, but don’t categorically throw them out of contention before listening. You might be surprised.
I’m not sure the room is that small; it seems pretty typical for most U.K. sitting rooms. Mine is 4.5m long and 3.6m wide and it’s accommodated Naim SL2s powered by a 552/300 very happily. We have a concrete floor, solid walls and very heavy fire doors, and can turn the volume up to deafening levels with no problems at all.
Anyway, that’s by the by. These days things are more modest, with PMC twenty5.21i speakers driven by a Nova. Previously it was ProAc Tablette 10 Signatures, with an NDX2 and Supernait 3. Both speakers are excellent, but the PMC/Nova setup works better in the room and gives a more room filling sound. The speakers sit on the long wall and the rear top edge is only 9cm from the wall. The sound is really fast, with good bass extension and no overhang.
Active versions of the 21i appear next month and in your position I’d be keen to compare those against the passives with a 250.
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@HungryHalibut, thanks for that. The 21i’s are definitely on the list. Good that they can go close to the wall.As I’ve only just got the 250 I’ll be sticking to passives.
I’m grateful for your thoughts. Thanks
Paul
I have been very happy with the LS50’s and I took them down to the dealers to listen to them with the Atom HE and 250. I thought that set up was good but my dealer suggested my next upgrade should be the speakers. I’ve not heard better speakers so don’t know what I’m missing.
I’ll maybe select a couple of different speakers for demo and take my LS50’s down again for comparison. Not sure if I’ll be able to home demo but will ask. Cheers
if you like them, it’s worth trying a demo of the Metas - it’s a pretty big upgrade
that said, I had my eyes on the ATC SCM19s, ProAC Tablette/Response bookshelves, or Neat Petite Classics or Motives…
5x3.5m is above average suzefor a UK lounge, certainly not small! At one time my music lounge was that size, in which I used IMF RSPM speakers - large speakers by many people’s standards - and they worked very well. (Nearest equivalent in modern production is probably PMC Twenty- or Twentyfive-26.)
As all speakers sound different, you have to find what best suits your ears within your budget - and if nothing does better than the Kefs, keep them. I recommend auditioning as many as you can, importantly taking your Atom and 250 if seller doesn’t have, AND your speakers, listening first to your speakers in the demo room to give you a baseline for comparison. In my experience dealers haven’t batted an eyelid at the request, and nor a private seller in his own home. Icing on the cake would be audition at home as final confirmation or to choose between final contenders, though not always possible.
And to maximise buying power with your modest budget I’d look secondhand ex-dem ir better still secondhand.
I am going to be that guy that suggests something out of your requested price range. Just because the result is pretty amazing.
I also have an Atom HE and 250 DR and using a set of Boenicke W5 SE+ speakers with them. The result is pretty astounding in terms of room filling sound and sound stage.
The base level W5 should be approx 4700 for a set.
If your budget in any way can stretch this far you should really see if you can demo a pair with what you have. Don’t let the size of these speakers fool you, they are quite mindblowing.
If your budget cannot stretch, my apologies for being “That guy”!
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I am not in the UK, so take what I suggest with caution. I am very impressed with the Spendor range. I would imagine they would be cheaper in the UK, as you are not paying for implicit import cost. I have a room that is acoustically challenged to say the least and my A4 speakers work superbly in our space.
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Hi @Kryptos, I’d love to hear those speakers but I fear even the base level ones may be out of my budget at around £5K. You obviously love yours and they certainly appeal to me. I’ll maybe look around for used or ex-dem.
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Hi @Jaybar, how close to the rear wall do you have your A4’s. I’ve only got 30cm behind my current speakers and I can have them no further from the wall. I see that What HiFi gave the A4’s a five star review in 2017.
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