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Best high efficiency bookshelf speakers for low power vintage amplifier?

Pamdalarryum

Pamdalarryum

An old sound dawg learning new tricks
I've acquired a Sansui AU-222 integrated amp and have it scheduled for a full restoration next month. I have been researching high efficiency speaker options for a unique 160 sq ft 12' x 12' space and have just about decided I'll probably have to build a custom solution to meet my needs. Before I go that direction, do any of you fine folks have any speakers you think I should look at?

PS: The space is in a motorcoach living room. Fun!
 
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I have a low-powered Sansui (441) in a similarly sized room and everything I've tried (smaller Advents, Mirage 350, EPI 50) sounded really good... I wouldn't worry about the low power (within reason). My low powered Sansui seems very happy even with 4 ohm speakers, though people will advise against it... And the room size seems good too. I bet any decent speakers will sound fine.
 
!8 watts a channel. Thats what I had when I first started out and my room was 12 by 15 ft. I had a set of speakers originally that had a 12 inch Stevens woofer with a Oxford 3 X 5" tweeter horn in a small 2 cu ft box that was ported that sound very nice. The speaker was about 96 db 4 ft 1 watt. And I listened at about 12 feet. And the sound was great 90% of the time. I then changed to A MCintosh MA 230 which put out twice as much with about 1/20 th the distortion. The sound was much better. I enjoyed that small system through High school. Then cane the Altecs and more Altecs and Bozak and More Bozak. And of course bigger and better Mac. I used M&K satellites with a dual 8 " sub and a NAD HT receiver in my motor Home . And though the speakers were only 90 db efficient and the NAD only had 45 watts per channel the sound was more than adequate for a 12 X 12 space. Had to tone down it down at night as per RV park rules. Plus I didn't want to uspset my neigbors with my windows open.

I liked AR-2a and AR-4 for small spaces. M&K also but you would need a powered subwoofer. Some of the smaller B&O speakers were great in the 70's and 80's. But today I would check out Klipsch first. I owned Herseys at one time when placed in corners sounded just right for a smaller space and didn't need more than a watt 90% of the time.
 
Thanks for your responses. As many of you know, the physical dimensions of a living room in a motorcoach presents unique opportunities for creative solution finding. I've determined the area I need to locate the speakers is a bit unforgivable in its proximity to other essential items built into the rig. Cabinets, appliances, furniture... they are all attached and permanent in nature. Fortunately, I have been planning this remodel and upgrade for quite a while and it has taken time to gather the materials needed to make the dream a reality. I can share that my twenty-year old custom made 12" ported sub sounds amazing placed in the cab area of the coach. The cabinet sits firing toward the windshield atop four acoustic decouplers that I place between the driver and passenger seats. A full length blackout curtain divides the cockpit from the living room. It's like the most amazing bass generator in the forest. Hahah. Clean and detailed. Fully developed and complex lower frequency patterns seem to flourish in the space. This is why I'm concerned about the FOH speakers I choose. I have tight quarters but grand aspirations. Rear ported enclosures aren't an option and breathing/reflecting space behind the enclosures is limited given the physical constraints of the layout I have to work with. Thanks everyone. I appreciate your feedback.
 
Tom Brennan said:
Simpler and better yet was this excellent Klipsch bluetooth speaker: it sounded better than the LaScalas and Heresys I once owned.
Click to expand...

It truly is a nice looking piece too. Since I have an amp that I really want to use, I won't be looking for a BT solution. I really hope to hear this model you have someday soon, though. LaScalas are a part of my history as well. Cheers.
 
I live in a 398sqft tiny house. I have tried a couple current offerings from Klipsch. We use R-51m’s for the TV but they where tried with my 6wpc tube and 10wpc class a SS and sounded pretty good in the small space. Also borrowed a friends RP-600m’s for about a month. They sounded great and could easily replace (for the better IMO) my restored ADS-710’s in my space.
 
Pamdalarryum said:
I've acquired a Sansui AU-222 integrated amp and have it scheduled for a full restoration next month. I have been researching high efficiency speaker options for a unique 160 sq ft 12' x 12' space and have just about decided I'll probably have to build a custom solution to meet my needs. Before I go that direction, do any of you fine folks have any speakers you think I should look at?

PS: The space is in a motorcoach living room. Fun!
Click to expand...
Paradigm Mini Monitors. Realistic Minimus 7. Dynaco A10. AR4.
 
I'd be more worried about bass response than efficiency when you get to real small speakers. Also, if you're going to be putting them tight up to a wall or worse yet in an actual bookshelf remember that rear ported speakers are going to go all weird. Energy has made some good bookshelves although I think the ones I had were in fact rear ported so that might not be the best option. I still have a pair of Madisound Sledglings that are simply amazing to me for their size. I think I prefer them to some larger speakers, even with no sub. If you can fit bigger, you can't go wrong with an EPI 100.
 
Nice dilemma! What fun to be living the ramblin’ life but at the same time getting good sound is a challenge. I would like to recommend a nice vintage speaker but a lot of them gave an elevated bass in the 80-100 hz range which may be a bit much when you are dealing with corner and wall loading. Don’ rule out rear ported speakers if they won’t be doing bass duty, just plug the port. As far as recommendations, I have always been a fan of the small Canadian speakers from PSB, Paradigm, Energy, Mirage. I am a big fan of the long discontinued Energy RC-10. You don’t see them come up often and there may be a reason for that. Excellent in all respects and even come with a plug for that pesky rear port. and they are gorgeous in real wood veneer.
 
I'm going to first say that I'm a crazy person. Just a preface. Then I'm going to say to maybe try a set of Bose or Cambridge Soundworks. One of those Lifestyle's systems may not be the last word in fidelity, but they will be able to be easily made pleasing and enveloping and they won't take up too much space. They are ubiquitous and fairly cheap because of it. The Cambridge may be less common but were supposed to be a higher fidelity version of the type.
 
I have had lots of smaller speakers through the years. I kept the Bowers and Wilkins. Cannot go wrong IMO.
 
NHT speakers are quite good and probably would do the job. There's a bunch used out there quite cheap or you can buy new direct from NHT.
 
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