Hallo all - hope everyone’s staying cool in the runup to yet another heatwave
I’m slowly but surely moving speakers and electronics around in various rooms to re-balance my setup(s) and get some stuff previously in storage playing again. I’m also moving some gear on to potentially make room for some new stuff - notably a set of floorstanders in the media room.
Before I start the process, I’m wondering if there’s a rule-of-thumb / conventional wisdom on speaker size relative to room size. The room is something like 6m x 7m and I’m considering a range of options - Neat Iota Xplorers, ATC SCM40s, Audio Physic Classic 30s, KEF R7s, and a real dark horse in the Klipsch Forte IVs.
I know room / speaker matching is essential and I’ll go through that process. But before I do, I’m looking to see if any of those speakers mentioned above would just be too large for a room that size. I like my music loud and engaging, but I’d prefer not to get blown through the back wall like the guy in the Maxell ads
Unfortunately I haven’t heard any of those speakers so won’t comment on them. Also unfortunately I have found that it really has been a try it and see ( listen) experience with my 4 rooms. Two of the bedrooms are much the same size but one is wider by just 300 mm. What sounds good in one, sounds terrible in the other, so much so that I suspected a damaged speaker at one time. I now have a spare unused set of quite good speakers sitting idle while my very old small Rega el8 are doing sterling service in a bedroom off the end of an hicap/82/140 Olive set. The better speakers just produce too much bass in the same room.
Is the room 6m by 7m, or 6 or 7m2? The former is large, the latter small. If it’s the former you can have speakers pretty much as large as you like. The electronics you use are also critical and it would be helpful for info on that.
No there is not - any limitation is down to space/aesthetics. And a 6x7m room if not reduced by, say, being L shaped is a large room and could easily accommodate, for example, ATC SCM100s, rather bigger than the 40 (N.B. If you want full range sound and go for the 40s you may find you need subs to supplement)
My room is 7.4m long by 3.3m wide. As you can see from the pic below, even a very large pair of speakers don’t really encroach the space all that much. I live on my own though and don’t have a partner to try to keep onside for my little hobby.
Thanks. The challenge you have is that the room is large and the 200 is not particularly powerful. It would have no hope driving the ATC 40 for example. I believe the Klipsch you mention is very efficient, so may be a good solution.
If you like the sound of the ATCs, the active version may be an answer, if affordable. You could drive them with just a 272, or maybe an Atom HE.
Yes, 40s would need a power upgrade; they may be last on my list for that reason and the fact that they’re difficult to find SH here in Germany. But I’m very intrigued nonetheless.
Active ATCs - I’d need to trial that with something smaller first to get a feel for it. I know it’s your thing, but there’s no way I’d go in on that kind of number unless I’d lived with it for a while. It’s like converting religions at this point for me But a really interesting proposition with a 272 which I’d love to have one day.
This is true. But it’s the allure of that green screen. My 172 has become one of my favourite pieces of kit ever. The lack of functionality is an unfortunate downside though.
I think you’ll find that there are plenty of people in the UK listening in rooms that are quite a bit smaller than yours, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.
I recall a conversation with a long standing Naim dealer who had installed large speakers (Shahinians in this case, and Linn Isobariks) in rooms that were far smaller than yours, and reckoned that they could sound very good. It does make for a somewhat different listening experience, a little bit like headphone listening. Conversely, he mentioned that he was at Naim HQ when JV was setting up the new listening room. It’s a large room, and apparently he couldn’t get Isobariks to sound right in it, whereas Kans sounded great.
Out of the speakers on your shortlist, I liked the SCM40s, but to me they are big ugly boxes with ridiculous grilles, otherwise I’d have considered them. I did like the Xplorers and had them on home demo for a while. I could certainly have lived with them, but settled instead on Shahinian Arcs which are not dissimilar in some ways, but by comparison the Xplorers were just a little harsh and less musically involving. Certainly worth a try in my opinion.
Yes, it’s not a small room. I had experience earlier with my Heresy IIIs setup in kind of a near-field-listening environment (moved some furniture so could only make the equilateral triangle 2.5m or so) and it was just too much - could have been the speaker though. They can get shouty at times.
I’d like to give the 40s a try, but HH has reminded me that a step up to a 250/SN3 would be a minimum power upgrade - might be a bridge too far at this point. If I can find a pair of Xplorers to demo, I will definitely do. I had my Iotas in the same room for a week and really liked them - but had to turn the volume way up given the size mismatch.
If you’re contemplating a move to a higher spec amp at some point I would suggest doing that first, as this will open up a much wider range of speakers to suit your room and (loud!) listening preferences. A 250 might be a good option if you can find one for your budget. Earlier (chrome bumper or olive) models could also be worth considering, although they don’t have the power of the Classic (250.2 and 250DR) models.
There is a problem here, of course. A more powerful Naim amp is also more revealing of the source, as are better speakers, so a streamer and preamp that is a match is really what you need here. Realistically that would mean a 272 as a bare minimum, or much better, NDX/282/Hicap.
(Short answer: it’s often much easier to start the upgrade process at the beginning of the signal chain, with the source, then preamp, power amp, and finally speakers.)
But a really interesting proposition with a 272 which I’d love to have one day.