Need replacement advice for Speakers and Amp/AVR

djdube525 · « **on:** 5 Jun 2018, 01:06 am »

We had an incident at our home. It's a long story, but someone drove through a Ford Crown Victoria through our office and adjoining bedroom that we were using for our media room. While everyone is fine (thankfully), there's been some significant damage that's been done to home and contents. Insurance covers replacement cost.

The bedroom/media room is roughly 12'x12' (layout attached). The current speakers are AV123 Onix Mini Stratas. I loved these things, but they are much too big for this room. I was actually debating on replacing them, but held off due to potential shipping.

They are primarily being driven from a Marantz SR7000, and I'm leaning on staying that route for ease and simplicity with another Marantz SR70XX. HDMI switching is a must, but I don't need so many darn channels. We're primarily running 2.1 in that room. Open to other suggestions, but there aren't a whole hell of a lot of stereo AVRs that also have an HDMI switch built in. The one "benefit" of sticking with Marantz, it's harder to argue against the latest and greatest 7K series as that would be the current replacement.

So... we want to go smaller. Not opposed to monitors. I tend to prefer warmer, but "airy" speakers that accentuate female vocals (think Norah Jones), indie folk/rock, etc... depending on size, will also be looking at replacement sub, so they don't have to punch super low. I expect insurance pushback at anything approaching 2.5k... probably limited to something in the 2K-2.2K shipped range.

Thoughts on speakers or AVR?

Any suggestions?

Room layout:

djdube525 · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 Jun 2018, 01:14 am »

You can kind of get an idea on room constraints here. The Strata Mini's are much too big.

Monitor wise... Would love the Tempesta's... but I can't swing it with everything else going on. The Anniversario seems like a possibility. Height needs to be contained though. The minis stand ~47" tall which you can tell is a bit high given the configuration. ~38"-40" is more ideal.

Any thoughts are very much appreciated.

Rick Craig · « **Reply #2 on:** 5 Jun 2018, 03:40 am »

Quote from: djdube525 on 5 Jun 2018, 01:14 am

You can kind of get an idea on room constraints here. The Strata Mini's are much too big.

Monitor wise... Would love the Tempesta's... but I can't swing it with everything else going on. The Anniversario seems like a possibility. Height needs to be contained though. The minis stand ~47" tall which you can tell is a bit high given the configuration. ~38"-40" is more ideal.

Any thoughts are very much appreciated.

Would you be open to integrating a sub into the left and right speakers?

djdube525 · « **Reply #3 on:** 5 Jun 2018, 08:31 am »

Hi Rick,

A lot of it depends. Given the situation, free cash flow is a bit tight. I would like to replace our sub (HSU Research TN12220 Tube sub), but not sure what the insurance funds will be like.

Whatcha thinking? Are you thinking front or side firing?

JLM · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 Jun 2018, 11:34 am »

Seems that with your current setup the goal is to maximize the open floor area in this rather awkward room which results in almost ignoring the top 48 inches of the room (opposite the door) which makes the room function like a 100 inch wide by 167 inch long space (squeezing the gear into that 100 inch wide alcove and shoving the sofa into the corner). As a speaker guy the amp is secondary, so whatever you like. It's best for you to pick speakers based on auditions.

Questions:

- Are the speakers damaged? (Not clear from your posts.)

- What do you mean by 'the current speakers are too big for this room'? (Is the room bass overloaded? If so, why the sub? Agree that they probably too big with the current setup.)

- Do you usually or always listen/watch alone? (If so trade the sofa for a chair and regardless turn the setup 90 degrees clockwise to take full advantage of the room's width/space. This would 'open up' the soundstage and remove bass boom from speakers/listener being so close to walls (keep chair/sofa away from back wall). Pick speakers so tweeter height matches ear height. Screen seems plenty high too.)

- Do you do more movies than music? (If so, look for efficient speakers that would be more dynamic.)

Rick Craig · « **Reply #5 on:** 5 Jun 2018, 02:36 pm »

Quote from: djdube525 on 5 Jun 2018, 08:31 am

Hi Rick,

A lot of it depends. Given the situation, free cash flow is a bit tight. I would like to replace our sub (HSU Research TN12220 Tube sub), but not sure what the insurance funds will be like.

Whatcha thinking? Are you thinking front or side firing?

Dave,

Still in Clayton? Sorry to hear about the damage to your home. Front or side-firing subs could be added to the Anniversario for a nice combination.

djdube525 · « **Reply #6 on:** 5 Jun 2018, 03:39 pm »

Quote from: JLM on 5 Jun 2018, 11:34 am

Seems that with your current setup the goal is to maximize the open floor area in this rather awkward room which results in almost ignoring the top 48 inches of the room (opposite the door) which makes the room function like a 100 inch wide by 167 inch long space (squeezing the gear into that 100 inch wide alcove and shoving the sofa into the corner). As a speaker guy the amp is secondary, so whatever you like. It's best for you to pick speakers based on auditions.

Questions:

- Are the speakers damaged? (Not clear from your posts.)

- What do you mean by 'the current speakers are too big for this room'? (Is the room bass overloaded? If so, why the sub? Agree that they probably too big with the current setup.)

- Do you usually or always listen/watch alone? (If so trade the sofa for a chair and regardless turn the setup 90 degrees clockwise to take full advantage of the room's width/space. This would 'open up' the soundstage and remove bass boom from speakers/listener being so close to walls (keep chair/sofa away from back wall). Pick speakers so tweeter height matches ear height. Screen seems plenty high too.)

- Do you do more movies than music? (If so, look for efficient speakers that would be more dynamic.)

I didn't show the damage... one of the speakers (far right) got whacked by the car bumper - so yes... damaged.

We err more on the TV/Movie side of things than music, but would be nice to focus on music

The set-up was primarily dictated by what we had, and the step up in COL moving from NC to CO (needed to keep finances in check, and it's what we had).

djdube525 · « **Reply #7 on:** 5 Jun 2018, 03:40 pm »

Quote from: Rick Craig on 5 Jun 2018, 02:36 pm

Dave,

Still in Clayton? Sorry to hear about the damage to your home. Front or side-firing subs could be added to the Anniversario for a nice combination.

We moved from Clayton about 4 years ago to be closer to family.

Front firing might be interesting... I'm assuming passive? As a floor standing speaker? I'll PM you for more details. Thanks Rick!

-DD