June 24, 200818 yr I have a bit of a dilemma with the audio rig at my desk. I had been using a pair of Acoustic Research AR4x's that I pulled out of a dumpster, but with my new monitor there isn't enough room for them to fit properly. I need to get some new bookshelf speakers that are 7" wide or smaller, and don't require a subwoofer crossed over way high to avoid sounding thin. I have no idea what's good on the market right now, which is made even harder to figure out due to the size constraint. So if anybody happens to know some nice speakers that are that small, I'd be very grateful for the advice.
June 24, 200818 yr Author Quad L-ites or 9L. Gorgeous into the bargain. Awesome, I'll check those out. bose acoustimass Fuck you
June 24, 200818 yr Author I don't have pre-out connections on my amp... is there a non-powered version of those?
June 24, 200818 yr Author Totem Rainmaker Wow... I could've sworn those were wider than 6.8", good to know they're an option, thanks!
June 24, 200818 yr The Quad 9L is active. You'll need to be looking at the L-ites if youve no loop out.
June 24, 200818 yr I thought the L's came in both active and inactive passive...? Indeed so, it appears that I was incorrect, theres an active and a passive 9L2, and the L-ite. The L-ite is the home cinema surround speaker and the 9L2 the stereo merket option, although you can buy the L-ites in pairs. The L-ites are smaller. 248 x 152 x 205mm for the 9L2 225 x 135 x 160mm for the L-ite.
June 25, 200818 yr Author Duggeh, any idea how either of those Quads compare to the Totem Rainmaker? I know fuck-all about how any of Quad's speakers sound, and even though I'll be using them way outside of ideal conditions I'm currently leaning towards the Rainmaker.
June 25, 200818 yr There are several of us on this forum who own speakers from Quad's L-range, and we're all pretty fond of them. I don't think any of us have anything as small as the 9 (I don't think anyone here owns anything smaller than an 11). (yeah, yeah, "that's what she said", uh-huh) I have zero experience with the Totems, though I've heard they're good. Just get them both and sell the one you like less.
June 25, 200818 yr Author Bah, try them both, the least cheap method of them all. I'll do some more digging on the smaller quads.
June 25, 200818 yr If you unearth something thats a nice read do post it, I was too lazy to go looking. I mention the quads because they are the sane priced little speakers I'd go for, that decision based entirely on how much I like my 21L, how much I like another pair of 21L in a friends setup and how much everyone in the world seems to like the 11L. The higher budget option is that wacky looking soundlab ministat with the downgrille on the electrostatic driver.
June 25, 200818 yr Author That ministat certainly looks interesting, too bad it's too big. What I've pieced together for the 9L2 so far is not too positive compared to its bigger siblings, and what I'm finding on the L-ite is mostly just in conjunction with the whole surround setup. \ I think I'll keep Quad in mind for the future if I ever need larger bookshelf speakers again, but plan on getting the Totem Rainmaker for now. I don't really have enough in my PayPal balance (which is my hobby fund) to try both right now and still deal with some other upcoming purchases.
June 25, 200818 yr Do let us know the details of yoru adventures. I had to put my fist in my mouth earlier this evening to not impulse buy those Ergo 2s. It'd be my third set but a new monitor is a necessity.
June 25, 200818 yr Looks like the Epos M5 might be another option for me to consider as well. I've got M5's little brother, ELS3, and they sound pretty nice. Didn't realize M5's are that small.
June 25, 200818 yr Author I've got M5's little brother, ELS3, and they sound pretty nice. Didn't realize M5's are that small. Yeah... I'm surprised by how small a lot of speakers are turning out to be.
June 25, 200818 yr On the recommendation of this forum, I picked up a couple of Quad 11L monitors. I just measured them, and they were 7.5" wide. Can you spare the little extra space? They sound fantastic, and are a nice improvement on some Paradigm Atoms. I'll probably add a subwoofer, but I don't feel like bass is wanting. The clean, clean highs are the best feature, in my opinion. Speaking of the Atoms, if you really can't go over 7", they are 6.5" (in version 3, they are up to v4 or v5 now) and inexpensive for good sound quality. Definitely not as good as the Quads, but I was happy with them.
June 25, 200818 yr Author The problem is there's a (wall-mounted) shelf immediately to the right of the desk, which needs to stay where it is, otherwise I would just let the speakers hang slightly past the edge of the desk. Desk is 37" wide, and the monitor is 22.5" wide, so the absolute maximum is 7.25" without shifting everything off-center. 7.5" would only require a small enough of a difference that I might be able to live with it.
June 25, 200818 yr I could always measure up my Kef iQ3 for you If that is too big, the iQ1 should fit great.
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