Any point in a decent hifi in a small room?

commited

commited

commited

Soldato
Joined
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Dublin, Ireland
Hey folks,

I was once a frequent poster in here, I lost my interest when I moved in to a mates apartment. I had to leave all my own hifi gear at home (currently TDA 1545A DAC, slightly broken Meridian 201, 2xMeridian 105s monoblocks, vintage B&W DM7s) due to no space. Now, after nearly 2 years I find I'm no longer listening to music as the Sony Surround system is awful. My only alternative is a £25 ipod dock alarm clock :\

So, I want to get some music back into my life. Good sounding music. I have the stuff listed above, as well as Kef C30 speakers, Mission 732 (iirc) floorstanders, NAD 402 tuner, a Leak valve radio & transistor amp from the 70s, modded T-amp & 2 x DIY Paradise "Charlize" amps all sitting in my old room/ parents attic doing nothing.

I've also started thinking about a valve amp. I've dreamed of owning one since I listened to a 300B based one years ago through BBC monitors. I even listened to the Fleetwood Mac & enjoyed it, it was just that good :p

I also want to buy some "System Audio" bookshelf speakers if anyone on here knows them. Absolutely fantastic speakers, really blew me away.

So anyway, to stop my yammering on...

My bedroom is ~ 2.4m x 2.6m with a lot of the space taken up with wardrobe, storage & a double bed. I'm going to invest in a small flatscreen tv for the room as the 20" CRT monstrosity in there is on it's last legs and takes over a bit.

I will then have space to mount some wall hifi shelves and mount the speakers on the wall too. Not ideal I know..

My main question is - Is it worth it in such a small room or should I just quit music until I get a bigger place?
 
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It is, but aim small with the speakers and you will still have better sound clarity at lower volumes. Avoid big bass heavy systems is all you need to do.
 
Basically avoid large ported speakers, these are tuned low and when combined with the room gain from a small room just create a lot of boom at certain frequencies. Either look for sealed speakers, which could be quite large and still be acceptable (depends on the efficiency so let us know if you find any you like) or small ported ones can be ok if you get them away from corners. Bass is the main issue in smaller rooms, the rest is more easily controlled if need be.

I'm building a large 3 way system and it's currently going to be in a small room, but having a fairly efficient sealed cabinet based bass section it will perform nicely and then allow simple integration with a large subwoofer system when applicable. I also have a long ribbon tweeter which is quite directional so reduces reflections from nearby surfaces. If you can find a system with either ribbon tweeters or horn/waveguide loaded tweeters this may work better for you :)
 
wonko said:
How about a good set of headphones instead of speakers?
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Very good idea, and with headphones you get a lot more sound per pound compared to an equivalent hi-fi setup. Granted they are totally different beasts, but a good headphone setup with amp can be had for the price of entry level speakers from some brands.

But if you want some speakers and an amp then go second hand and as posted before avoid rear ported speakers. Front ports or sealed cabinets will be needed for a small room.
 
Front ports may still be troublesome, it doesn't make much odds where the port is as the frequencies it radiates are low enough to basically be omnidirectional. The problem is the way in which a ported enclosure in general performs in a small space; ported enclosures go lower then roll off fast, sealed rolls off gently but at a higher frequency (all things being equal). Sealed response compliments room gain much better as it's roll-off characteristic is almost inverse to the room gain, giving an overall quite flat response (dependant on the point of rolloff but it's generally going to be closer). Ported can work well in larger rooms where the gain is only appreciable at very low frequencies, below the port tuning.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty set on a pair of system audio speakers. They are small and sound fantastic. I'm obviously going to try the Kef C30s first with the leak amp to get a feel for how things will sound. I've been looking at the room and i reckon I can use my Castle stands.
 
I forget the name, but there is a valve ipod dock on the market, I've heard one in a hifi shop and it sounded amazing with a pair of small bookshelf speakers :)
 
I'd say there's every reason to get a nice set of bookshelf speakers. My Monitor Audio BR2s are in a fairly small room, and they're much more suited to the room than the Logitech Z5500s which were in here before - more controlled bass and much better clarity at low volumes.
 
commited said:
My main question is - Is it worth it in such a small room
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YES....
In a similar situation myself, most of my kit is in storage at present.... but I have knocked up a system in a 12foot square bedroom.... Which is surprising me....
Look for some speakers you like the sound of, perhaps some LS5A style speakers.... Linn Kans maybe.
You can still get a very involving musical sound in a small room, just go for quality not quantity... Then max out the source and amps... Front end first will repair more in perhaps a small room....
 
Add one rack with a source, DAC, amplifier, and headphones.

Add massive soft arm chair.

Add cabinet / fridge with your favourite tipple(s).

Add blackout curtains.

Ignore the world for hours. :D
 
Thanks for all of the replies!

Obviously to start out, I want to try and use my existing kit. For laziness, I want to use my Media box as the source, through my 1545A dac.

Amp wise - I think that the meridians will be way too powerful, and the pre-amp needs a new volume pot (i think), so I'm itching to try the little leak amp I bought. Speaker wise, I think I'll start off with the Kef C30s and see where to go from there. They were highly rated speakers in their day, but I think they may be too bassy for the room.

Headphones are out for me if I'm honest. My girlfriend likes to listen to music too and I prefer to use speakers rather than headphones. I'm odd that way.

Might do it at the weekend and see what sort of results I get :D
 
Update... I have literally just finished setting up the system.

I drove to my parents, picked up a selection of my hifi gear and came home.

I was going to use the Leak Stereo 30 amp I have, but there are a few dry solder joints and it smells of old person, so I decided to fire up the Tripath TA2020 powered "Charlize" amp. Fantastic.

I'm using a dirt cheap Philips DVD player with a Non-Oversampling DAC "Monica2" which was the source I was using before I moved out.

I coupled the pair of these with Kef C30 speakers.

Switched it on, put on Katie Melua and sat there, on the floor in the middle of the kitchen and enjoyed. It's good to be back. Sure it isn't a super expensive Linn/Naim/Meridian set up, but its pretty good and a very cheap system over all - all in about £250.

The speakers are probably the only bit I'd change (before I get a valve amp), but I can't justify spending any money. I won't post up a pic as its currently balanced on an old chair and table in my room :D
 
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