Small Room needing speaker advice
It is time for new speakers!!!!
And since the rest of the equipment is getting a bit old, why not just upgrade the entire system.
Unfortunately, I suffer from small room disease. And that is why I need some advice.
The room is a converted bedroom that is 11' by 13' with 8' ceiling, two windows, a small closet and doorway opening into a hallway.
The room is small, but it only has to seat two people!!
Due to furniture considerations, the ideal placement for the speakers will be on the long 13' wall. This long wall will also be used for TV system. The TV will be placed in the middle of the 13' expanse directly in front of the window (thick heavy drapes makes the room nearly dark even with direct sunlight against the window). As you are looking at the TV, the shorter 11' wall to the left is covered by bookcases, except at the point farthest from the TV which has a small window, again covered with heavy drapes. The wall behind the viewers/listeners is also covered with bookcases, except the far right corner where the doorway is located. The right wall has another book case, and the doors to the small closet.
Yes, somebody has a thing for bookcases. 6' tall bookcases filled with all kinds of ceramics, glass, and surprisingly, quite a few books.
The floor is covered with a very dense high grade carpet and heavy pad.
The question that I have is pretty simple.
What speakers to get?
Musical tastes run from Vivaldi and Handel to Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks, with a smattering of jazz and heavy metal thrown in to confuse the neighbors in the surrounding houses that are trying to listen in.
Movies, "Casablanca" is the finest movie ever made, but I don't think we need to worry about the Dolby sound track. And my second favorite movie is "Mister Roberts", which again suffers from the lack of a Dolby sound track. Oh sure, I watch the Star Treks, Jurassic Parks, and the latest Disney release but my favorite movies tend to actually have a lot of dialogue .
My first choice of speakers are the Polk LSi 15's with the LSiC, and two LSi 7's for surround.
But I have a great concern that I am actually getting too much speaker for my room size. Is that possible? Having too much speaker?
By my computations, I can have the front of the LSi 15's about 30" from the front wall, and the center of the midranges about 72" apart (TV system with LSiC between the LSi 15's), and the seating between 72 and 84" from the front of the speaker, leaving 6" to 18" behind the seating area to the bookcases behind.
Moving down to a smaller speaker, such as the LSi 9, would have approximately the same dimensions.
With the LSi 15's, considering my tastes in music and movies, how important would a sub really be? Especially considering the small room size.
Are the LSi 15's going to be overbearing for this room? Should I move down to the LSi 9's? And then, would a sub be that critical for the LSi 9's, considering the room size?
Electronics haven't been totally decided. The primary selection has been narrowed down to the Denon 3805. Yes, I have read all the comments, pro and con, about receivers and the Polk LSi's, but the bottom line is that I have a 20 year old 2 channel NAD amp laying around, gosh darn, should the need arise.
How serious is the NAD amp? Back in it's day it was rated to 100w/channel into 8 ohms, 200(?)w/ch into 4 ohms, stable down to 2 ohms, and a huge whooping peak power with the soft clipping circuit, and was used to power my old Infinity RS4's... Emit Tweeter, 3" soft dome midrange, dual 8" woofers and 86db of efficiency in a 4ohm speaker. If the NAD could handle the RS4's, I think it can handle the Polks.
Is anybody using the Denon 3805 with the Polk LSi speakers in a small or medium room without using a sub, and can the receiver handle the demands of something on the order of the sonic booms on "U-571" at a volume level that would wake the neighbors? Are you happy with the bass output for music, especially for bass heavy organ or choir works?
Thanks for reading, and I hope I was clear enough in my descriptions and questions to generate some nice responses.
Steven
And since the rest of the equipment is getting a bit old, why not just upgrade the entire system.
Unfortunately, I suffer from small room disease. And that is why I need some advice.
The room is a converted bedroom that is 11' by 13' with 8' ceiling, two windows, a small closet and doorway opening into a hallway.
The room is small, but it only has to seat two people!!
Due to furniture considerations, the ideal placement for the speakers will be on the long 13' wall. This long wall will also be used for TV system. The TV will be placed in the middle of the 13' expanse directly in front of the window (thick heavy drapes makes the room nearly dark even with direct sunlight against the window). As you are looking at the TV, the shorter 11' wall to the left is covered by bookcases, except at the point farthest from the TV which has a small window, again covered with heavy drapes. The wall behind the viewers/listeners is also covered with bookcases, except the far right corner where the doorway is located. The right wall has another book case, and the doors to the small closet.
Yes, somebody has a thing for bookcases. 6' tall bookcases filled with all kinds of ceramics, glass, and surprisingly, quite a few books.
The floor is covered with a very dense high grade carpet and heavy pad.
The question that I have is pretty simple.
What speakers to get?
Musical tastes run from Vivaldi and Handel to Billy Joel and Stevie Nicks, with a smattering of jazz and heavy metal thrown in to confuse the neighbors in the surrounding houses that are trying to listen in.
Movies, "Casablanca" is the finest movie ever made, but I don't think we need to worry about the Dolby sound track. And my second favorite movie is "Mister Roberts", which again suffers from the lack of a Dolby sound track. Oh sure, I watch the Star Treks, Jurassic Parks, and the latest Disney release but my favorite movies tend to actually have a lot of dialogue .
My first choice of speakers are the Polk LSi 15's with the LSiC, and two LSi 7's for surround.
But I have a great concern that I am actually getting too much speaker for my room size. Is that possible? Having too much speaker?
By my computations, I can have the front of the LSi 15's about 30" from the front wall, and the center of the midranges about 72" apart (TV system with LSiC between the LSi 15's), and the seating between 72 and 84" from the front of the speaker, leaving 6" to 18" behind the seating area to the bookcases behind.
Moving down to a smaller speaker, such as the LSi 9, would have approximately the same dimensions.
With the LSi 15's, considering my tastes in music and movies, how important would a sub really be? Especially considering the small room size.
Are the LSi 15's going to be overbearing for this room? Should I move down to the LSi 9's? And then, would a sub be that critical for the LSi 9's, considering the room size?
Electronics haven't been totally decided. The primary selection has been narrowed down to the Denon 3805. Yes, I have read all the comments, pro and con, about receivers and the Polk LSi's, but the bottom line is that I have a 20 year old 2 channel NAD amp laying around, gosh darn, should the need arise.
How serious is the NAD amp? Back in it's day it was rated to 100w/channel into 8 ohms, 200(?)w/ch into 4 ohms, stable down to 2 ohms, and a huge whooping peak power with the soft clipping circuit, and was used to power my old Infinity RS4's... Emit Tweeter, 3" soft dome midrange, dual 8" woofers and 86db of efficiency in a 4ohm speaker. If the NAD could handle the RS4's, I think it can handle the Polks.
Is anybody using the Denon 3805 with the Polk LSi speakers in a small or medium room without using a sub, and can the receiver handle the demands of something on the order of the sonic booms on "U-571" at a volume level that would wake the neighbors? Are you happy with the bass output for music, especially for bass heavy organ or choir works?
Thanks for reading, and I hope I was clear enough in my descriptions and questions to generate some nice responses.
Steven
Do I really look like I know what I am doing?
Say Hi to you wife for me.
I see said the blind man as the deaf mute hammered the nail into his thumb.
Say Hi to you wife for me.
I see said the blind man as the deaf mute hammered the nail into his thumb.
Post edited by sjdgpt on
Comments
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Hi SJ. Welcome to the club!
It sounds like you have it all figured out. I say go for it. My livingroom is about 12x12 with 8 ft ceilings. I was going to get the 15's myself but once I got the Parasound amp I decided to keep my 15 yr old Polks (see signature). Since you already have the separate amp you won't have any trouble with powering the 15's.
I personally don't believe that it's possible to have too much speaker (with the possible exception of bass) If your room can fit it, DO IT!
The only thing I would add would probably be a monoblock for the LSiC.
Have fun shopping & let us know how you like it!
CathyMarantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2 -
Welcome and 2nd Zero's opinon on the 15's...
The 9's for mains and rears (you are going to look into SACD I presume...) would be money better spent than the 15's. 7's as rears might do as well. Even with the 9's up front that lil ol' NAD should be pressed into service. Can use it to bi-amp the 9's in parallel with the 3805's mains' output.
With HT in the mix, I also 2nd the motion to grab a sub. I mean you do want to feel that T-rex walking don't you? For your size room SVS's new little PB-10 ($429) should do nicely, but SVS Customer Service will confirm that for you.More later,
Tour...
Vox Copuli
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb
"Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
"It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
"There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD -
with the closeness of your listening position, one thing you might keep in mind when you demo the 25's, 15's and 9's is speaker height.
my room and listening position are similar to yours except that my room is deeper and i only do 2 channel. and, though i don't know much about the 15's and 25's, i do know with the 9's placed at the heights of those two, i notice a big difference in tonal balance, impact and image height. fwiw, i like the 9's at a height similar to the 25's by a wide margin.
i like 9's fine for my music without a sub and i've also played with dvd's a little. they'll give you a taste of theater but based on what you've written i think you'll end up wanting a sub if you go with them. pretty much the same with power, i think you answered your own question, you'll probably want more than the 3805 alone.
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