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Small speakers recommendations... on a budget?

RunOutGroove

RunOutGroove

Addicted Member
I was just thinking (obsessing, really) about my audio gear, as I so often do whenever I have a free minute and considering replacing a set of speakers that I have. For my main room, I pretty much have everything the way that I want it (at least for the time being) but I have a set of remote speakers in a bedroom office and though I've had a few different things here, and even though they've all been pretty good, none of them have been 100% satisfying. I've had a set of, Wharfedale Diamond 10.1, Elac Debut 6.2, and currently a pair of Quad 12L/2 speakers. The Quads are the most transparent/detailed, which I like and they have really nice imaging to where the music really seems to have depth, but they can also come across as a bit anemic and lacking punch/texture in the bass (but they can sound really nice for more plaintive acoustic type music). The Wharfedales had a really nice bass sound, which I liked better than these Quads, but the treble was less refined... the Elacs are maybe somewhere in the middle.


One important criteria is that they need to be small, as I have them on either side of a desk between two doors so if they're too large, I run the risk of running into the and knocking them off the stands. The Quads are a good size at just 8" wide, but 10" is probably the max. Also, I'd like to not spend too much on these things. I figure that I can probably sell the Quads for about what I paid for them, $200 and I don't want to spend a whole lot more than that on a replacement... maybe up to $250. They'll be powered by a Marantz 2270 receiver.


I wonder what are good options that I'd be likely to find used (I don't think that there's anything new at this price range that I'd want) and would check all of the boxes for small size, transparency and a bit of bass heft (though I'm certainly not expecting really fat bass at this size or budget)?
 
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Try a pair of 1970-1972 Sansui AS-100 acoustic suspension speakers & they have AlNiCo magnets and a really fine adjustable tweeter with 10 inch woofer per cab. 1 capacitor crossover per cab - so easy. No subwoofer needed, required, or desired, they handle it all, & they like to be played fairly loud if you like loud music, but don't blow em up.

You can pick up a nice pair for $60 used usually (yeah, I know) but never more than $70 and they are pretty bullet proof.

Kinda hard to find but not impossible - they can be found, just don't be in a hurry - get a 'nice' pair. It will cost $60-70 to mail if purchased online. They are 'heavy' 23 inch high box speakers. They sound wonderful, just like the old days! It will blow you away.

Parts for the AS-100s are easy - just buy another pair for spare parts!!! :thumbsup: That's what I did... and never have needed the spare parts.

They also made an AS-200 and AS-300. Both these are impossibly hard to find parts for. The 300s are collectors speakers - ZERO spare parts. I found that out the hard way. 7 Years searched, no joy.
 
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I second the NHT Super one's.

I have three pair spread throughout the house and they never fail to satisfy. Sealed(acoustic suspension) cabinets provide accurate bass that goes lower than a cabinet this size should. Soft dome tweeter is smooth ands detailed and never fatiguing. Easily found for $200 or less.

Fairly compact and available in Piano black or white so WAF is almost guaranteed.
 
wmgwizard said:
I second the NHT Super one's.

I have three pair spread throughout the house and they never fail to satisfy. Sealed(acoustic suspension) cabinets provide accurate bass that goes lower than a cabinet this size should. Soft dome tweeter is smooth ands detailed and never fatiguing. Easily found for $200 or less.

Fairly compact and available in Piano black or white so WAF is almost guaranteed.
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Funny that you should mention that as I actually have a pair of these hooked up to a little class D amp that I use with my computer. I really like these things, particularly for the $30 that I paid for them, but I feel like they're not really in the same league as the other speakers that I've had in the spot where I want to use them. To be fair, the bass is fuller than the Quads, but not really a tight kind of bass and the treble less transparent. Still, maybe I need to do a swap and hear how they sound with the bigger amp. They may be better than I gave them credit for. They're certainly very well made for inexpensive speakers....
 
These originally retailed for $1800, came in gloss white or black and real mahogany wood grain. The mahogany seem to be the most rare but I see a pair now on eBay.

Not that small but maybe small enough, so still awesome punch and bass response. Imaging is superb if that's important, and as you can see in the picture they look great too.

Jamo C-103
06-IMG_1393.jpg
 
Grenadeslio said:
These originally retailed for $1800, came in gloss white or black and real mahogany wood grain. The mahogany seem to be the most rare but I see a pair now on eBay.

Not that small but maybe small enough, so still awesome punch and bass response. Imaging is superb if that's important, and as you can see in the picture they look great too.

Jamo C-103
View attachment 2084179
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Wow.. Just looked and you have recommended those speakers over a hundred times just in this forum... Do you own the company?
 
The SuperOne's will definitely come alive with more power.

I run mine off of various amplifiers/receivers from 75wpc to 125wpc.

The highs can seem a little "soft" or rolled off, thus is the nature of a soft dome tweeter. The upside is they never become harsh or fatiguing.
 
Grenadeslio said:
These originally retailed for $1800, came in gloss white or black and real mahogany wood grain. The mahogany seem to be the most rare but I see a pair now on eBay.

Not that small but maybe small enough, so still awesome punch and bass response. Imaging is superb if that's important, and as you can see in the picture they look great too.

Jamo C-103
View attachment 2084179
Click to expand...
Ha... that's funny. This is the second pair of speakers that were recommended in this thread that I already own! I use these in my main room and am really happy with them. I paid $350 for my pair, in the same finish. If I can get a good enough deal on Ebay on a second pair though, I'll get 'em and run these speakers in both rooms. For my taste, they really do sound good. Smooth but very transparent high end with a lot of midrange presence. Kind of "round" sounding, with really great imaging; certain instruments really seem to pop forward in a 3d way. I don't know if they'd really be a contender for what they retail for, but they're certainly great speakers for what I paid for them (and likely even twice that much... or more!). I don't anticipate replacing them...

I won't be mad if one of you folks outbid me, but it would be nice to get a second pair for a steal. Something tells me that these things are going to be bid up to a lot though. Maybe they're just a well enough kept secret that they won't, but judging from what folks are saying here that doesn't seem very likely.
 
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OK... as I said, I already own a pair of the NHT Superone speakers. In fact I have them on my desk (as a computer speaker type thing) with the Quads that are hooked up to my main system in the other room, on stands set to either side of that same desk. One is of course for listening to anything on the computer and the other set is for listening to LPs, CDs or the radio that I have on my main system in that other room. If I were to go with the Superone speakers, it would seem odd to have two sets right next to each other and I wonder if there's a good way to hook everything up so that I could have the one set of speakers switched to use on either my little SMSL amp that I have hooked up to my computer or my Marantz amp in the other room? I've used a speaker switching box plenty, but I'd be looking for something that would be more of an amp switching box..? This might actually be a nice solution, as it would reduce some clutter...

It would be kind of amazing if I end up liking the Superones hooked up to the Marantz more than I do the Quads. The Quads, though I paid just $200 for the pair, I know retailed for $900 (some 8-10 years ago when they were being made) and the NHTs cost me all of $30 and I think went for just a couple of hundred. To be fair the Quads seem more like a one trick pony, like for someone that listens mostly to stuff like to solo acoustic guitar or chamber music.
 
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Blue Devil said:
Wow.. Just looked and you have recommended those speakers over a hundred times just in this forum... Do you own the company?
Click to expand...

you apparently need to find something to fill your free time

And what a great contribution to the thread, I'm sure it really helped the OP.
 
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