Some decent narrow speakers for the lounge

festive

festive

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Looking at setting up my 5.1 system in Lounge, problem is the wife is anti traditional speakers ie anything wider than about 15cm max.

Can anyone recommend any decent speakers ive looked that the tall slim affairs Samsung etc do in cinema packages, they look crap and sound kack im sure.

Same for centre speaker too, something slimline, although i guess im going to suffer the same issue of a lack of a full range of sound potentially?

TIA
 
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In the case of loudspeakers, size matters. There are times when you have to ignore your spouse's aesthetic preferences and go for a decent compromise that will sound good. After all, the whole purpose of speakers is to produce good sound.
 
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I've got a pair of Altec Lansing PC speakers, only about 4" wide, with a subwoofer. They rock with oomph (I've had them running off an electric guitar).

Would Mrs Festive be more amenable to something like the JBL Creature also from Richer Sounds if the satellites were deemed 'ornamental' - perhaps scatter them around without wires first so she doen't know they're speakers :rolleyes:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/ipods-docks-accessories/jbl/creature-iii/jbl-creature-3-blk
 
Aye thanks for the suggestions so far everyone.

Budget.. well im willing to fork out about 250 for the front speakers. I already have those cambridge minx speakers on stands in my bedroom, but hmm theyre ok, maybe with a good sub they work. Im just not convinced they cover the whole spectrum of sound, akin to many bose systems ive seen slated for the same reason.
Ive come from the early nad mission celestion bnw rogers lynn era so im certainly into a good sound. (saying that all i listen to is electronic music now, all my acoustic instrumental taste has died!)

Possibly going to try and stand my ground with the 'nagatron; and go for these:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/floorstanders/mission/mx3/miss-mx3-blk

Anyone own a pair?

only 173mm wide
 
Well of course the Minx and similar size speakers don't cover the whole of the audio spectrum. Have you seen the size of them. How can drivers that small possibly be expected to produce anything but upper mid-range and treble? Isn't it blindingly obvious that deeper bass notes need larger drivers???

If you come from early Linn Rogers Mission etc then you'll know speakers like the Linn Kan and Rogers LS3/5a. They didn't produce anything like the amount of bass of Linn Saras. Similarly Isobariks were much bigger again and produced notes further down the frequency range. It's simple physics and the same for speakers as it is for instruments in an orchestra. A double bass produces deeper bass notes than a violin because it's BIGGER!

If you want thin towers that produce the same bass as speakers like the B&Ws, Linns and Rogers of old then you either need a hell of lot of small drivers....

microsoft-speaker-array-lg.jpg


...or very deep cabinets that can hide a side-firing sub...
99nht331.jpg


and neither solution new is going to be within your £250 budget. Sorry, but it's a fact. If we use £250 bookshelf speakers as a benchmark for bass performance, then the thin towers that will make a reasonable stab at similar bass levels are the Tannoy DC4T (£550 - £600), Monitor Audio Radius 270HD (£650-£700) and to a lesser extent the Audica CS-T1 now discontinued but clearing at around £400. These Audica speakers are more like Kans in the bass though.

For £250 you should concentrate on sub/sat systems instead. As engineer Montgomery Scott said to Captain Kirk "Ya cannae change the laws of physics"
 
Thanks Chris, looks like you've found my centre speaker for the room :p

Yes well that's why i was looking at the Mission MX3's as i posted above as it seems this is the lowest i can go without it sounding too ****, and as stated seeing as im mainly listening to electronic bleeps nowadays im looking for something less than perfect, without the great hole satellites/subs cause.
What do you think of the MX3's they seem to be ok according to WhatHifi.
 
It's no secret that I'm not a big fan of budget floor-standers. The extra bass extension usually comes at the expense of bass accuracy. This is because there is, IMO, a cut off point below which it is impossible to make a large cabinet rigid enough so it doesn't smear the bass timing. £500-£600 seems to be that break point.

However, I have to accept that I'm listening quite critically. My point of reference is the smaller stand mount siblings in the manufacturer's range. It's far easier (read: less costly) to make small rigid boxes. Rigidity is good for bass accuracy. It means that the bass and mid-range notes stop and start more cleanly. So the stand mounters immediately below the floor mounters in a manufacturers range are a good bench mark for measuring bass accuracy. If the manufacturer has done their job right then the floor mounter should sound just as accurate but with greater bass extension.

"Are the MX3s any good?" With the above in mind I'd go have a listen against the MX2 and see what you think.
 
Sam Gangee said:
In the case of loudspeakers, size matters. There are times when you have to ignore your spouse's aesthetic preferences and go for a decent compromise that will sound good. After all, the whole purpose of speakers is to produce good sound.
Click to expand...

Exactly

'NO THE WIFE!'

'Get back in thy kitchen and prepare thy dinner!
 
festive said:
Aye thanks for the suggestions so far everyone.

Budget.. well im willing to fork out about 250 for the front speakers. I already have those cambridge minx speakers on stands in my bedroom, but hmm theyre ok, maybe with a good sub they work. Im just not convinced they cover the whole spectrum of sound, akin to many bose systems ive seen slated for the same reason.
Ive come from the early nad mission celestion bnw rogers lynn era so im certainly into a good sound. (saying that all i listen to is electronic music now, all my acoustic instrumental taste has died!)

Possibly going to try and stand my ground with the 'nagatron; and go for these:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/floorstanders/mission/mx3/miss-mx3-blk

Anyone own a pair?

only 173mm wide
Click to expand...

I had a similar setup in my study, although now i have an onkyo driving my old SB satellite speakers instead and it sounds good. But my lounge is a fair bit bigger, those little speakers n sub would get lost in there thanks anyway.
 
D

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