[Piffle]

Ok need some advice from the braintrust.  I am living in a rowhouse (renting) for the next 2 years or so, then plan on buying a house with room for a dedicated audio room, but I would like to get my stereo started now.  I'm tired of subpar audio quality.  I would love to get the HT2-TLs, and they are in my budget, but I don't know if they will be listenable in the room I have for them currently.  This room is the loft.  Here are some visual aids.



This is the wall that will have the TV and speakers, hopefully.  It is 7 feet wide.  All of the furniture you see will be going away, and only the TV on its stand will be there.  The TV is exactly 4 feet wide, so there will be a foot and a half on each side for the speakers, maybe a bit more if I creep out into the hallway a bit.


An added problem is the back wall. Here is a picture.



All of this will also be going away and replaced by just a couch, with my head about where the laptop is in the picture.  The distance from the TV wall to the loft railing is 12 feet, so the room itself is about 10x12, but the hallway takes up some of the wallspace. The actual wall with the windows is about 3-4 feet behind the rail, so I assume this is going to screw with my acoustics.  Below is the living room/dining room/kitchen, all of the first floor in one big open area.

My listening habits are 70/30 music/movies, and the sound quality for music is much, much more important than movie sound.  I listen to a lot of heavy music (every kind of metal and a lot of prog rock), but also a good amount of classical/opera and lighter stuff.  I actually listen to pretty much everything except rap and not much electronic or country.  Thundering bass is low on my list of important items.  Vocals are probably the most important. 

So my question is, will I be able to get good sound out of the HT2-TL's in this room or am I wasting my time even looking at them?  I know this room isn't close to ideal (I am particular worried about the speakers being so close together and one being basically in a corner), but I am buying for the long haul so if I can get them to sound "pretty good" in here, then that is probably good enough (and will be miles, miles better than what I'm listening on now) if I know that I will get a big improvement once I get a better room.

Thanks for any advice you guys can give me.

[ratso]

you ever seen the average japanese sized apartment? and they buy at least half of the audiophile speakers made. welcome to "nearfield" listening! you will be fine with whatever speakers you get as long as you keep the volume reasonable. and remember, it's just temporary 

[ratso]

oh and i should add the HT2's sounded pretty damn good in a real small hotel room at rmaf.

[Piffle]

oh and i should add the HT2's sounded pretty damn good in a real small hotel room at rmaf.

Hey that's actually some helpful info and makes me feel better!  Thanks!   

I should also probably add that I usually listen at pretty moderate volume levels and this will be my first audiophile level equipment purchase.

[mchuckp]

oh and i should add the HT2's sounded pretty damn good in a real small hotel room at rmaf.

That is a great point.

I think you will be thrilled with these speakers. As long as you are ok that you aren't fully taking advantage of their capabilities (and sounds like you are). I bought some Song Towers and used them in a temporary apartment set up with a 7' triangle. I love my much larger set up I have now but as long as you set it up reasonably well I think you will be happy as a clam. Depending on your acoustics you may want to consider a few acoustic treatments. Made a world of difference in my set up.

Good luck!

[Kris]

For a 12x10' room i would get some good standmounters and a sub to be flexible with room bass nodes.

[Big Red Machine]

Typically the Song Surrounds would make most sense here.  I use my HT2TL's in a 13.5 x 17 room in a 8 x 9 x 9 triangle to great effect.

[eclein]

Get the ones you want and enjoy them, the time will go by quickly and even if it takes longer you'll still have smokin good speakers!!

[newzooreview]

I agree with the above. You'll likely want some sound absorbing panels at the reflection points off of the side walls and the wall behind. But you'll enjoy them immensely in any case, and it will save money and time to get what you want now vs. swapping out later.

[TJHUB]

If the HT2-TLs are in your budget, get them.  Do not compromise your speaker purchase because of your temporary situation, you will only regret it later. 

Your temporary room certainly won't be ideal, but I can't imagine why you wouldn't be able to get absolutely great sound with a little setup effort and some acoustic room treatments.

 

[mchuckp]

If the HT2-TLs are in your budget, get them.  Do not compromise your speaker purchase because of your temporary situation, you will only regret it later. 

Your temporary room certainly won't be ideal, but I can't imagine why you wouldn't be able to get absolutely great sound with a little setup effort and some acoustic room treatments.

 

I concur.  Not sure why anyone would recommend going any other route knowing it is temporary and he has plans for a much bigger and better room.  Get them and make the best of it.

[davidrs]

Piffle,

Discuss with Jim. He will give you his take on what might work best, given your room. He is in the best position to know which of his products will work best for you.

Your room is going to be challenging in many ways, as you've mentioned.

My foremost concern would be the closeness of the right speaker (I believe it is going to be the right speaker) to the wall and the open environment around the left speaker.

If your exact room was my room and I had to make the decision for myself, I would choose monitors over floor-standers. Specifically, monitors that go to about 40Hz or so and bypass the sub. But that is me. Great thing about this hobby is you get to do what works for you and learn along the way.

For me, 2 plus years of having the same room is a long time. I would certainly not choose speakers based on a future room that I have NO idea of, nor know if it will even come to fruition in the time period you have mentioned. If your time frame is set in stone and if you are building the home and have the plans in hand and are committed to them, then maybe, maybe.

Otherwise, maximize the speakers for this room. Let me say that again, maximize the choice and fit of the speakers and your system to your current room.

All the best with your decisions and setup.

[ZENTISH]

Hi Piffle,   If you could put the system on the diagonal in that corner I think it might work out better sonically.
Just a thought, Tish

[Piffle]

You guys are awesome.  Thanks for the replies so far.

So the opinions seem divided between going ahead with the HT2-TLs and getting something like the SongSurround.  My question to you guys that recommended monitors is, do you think the monitors will actually sound BETTER in this space or did you make that recommendation because you think they will sound the SAME for a lot less money?  I am resigned to doing at least some acoustic treatments, if that matters.

[Piffle]

Hi Piffle,   If you could put the system on the diagonal in that corner I think it might work out better sonically.
Just a thought, Tish

That's an interesting thought, but the room is too small for me to pull that off.  Just out of sight on the right hand side of the second picture there is a staircase up, so putting a couch diagonally there would block it off.

One thing I forgot to mention, if it matters for the acoustics, is that the corner in the top picture behind the lamp isn't a 90 degree corner, it is more like 100 degrees.

[Big Red Machine]

You guys are awesome.  Thanks for the replies so far.

So the opinions seem divided between going ahead with the HT2-TLs and getting something like the SongSurround.  My question to you guys that recommended monitors is, do you think the monitors will actually sound BETTER in this space or did you make that recommendation because you think they will sound the SAME for a lot less money?  I am resigned to doing at least some acoustic treatments, if that matters.

I think the surrounds will sound best with the least monkeying around with a small room.  If you go surround sound later then you are on your way if you buy Song Surrounds and a Songsub now.  Then a bigger room later is perfect to expand by moving the surrounds to the back and getting larger mains.

What you will most likely get now is frustration with the big bada$$ HT2TL's probably causing some bass boominess and possibly overwhelming you in that small space.  With the Song-sub you can move it around to optimize the bass response for now while leaving the Song Surrounds in the ideal listening spot.  Ideally you need the HT2's brought out into the room several feet and that leaves a very short near-field triangle. 

[jd3]

I think the surrounds will sound best with the least monkeying around with a small room.  If you go surround sound later then you are on your way if you buy Song Surrounds and a Songsub now.  Then a bigger room later is perfect to expand by moving the surrounds to the back and getting larger mains.

I'd agree with Pete.  How about SongBirds though?  You won't need stands, and can use them later as surrounds.  They are really a gem of a speaker; they image like crazy and provide a surprising amount of detail and bass. 

[newzooreview]

Yeah, if you're going with a smaller Salk because of room size, SongBirds make sense.

And if you are definitely going to setup a home theater when you get a bigger space, then they will make great surrounds.

However, if you're going to focus on a two-channel system in the bigger space, I would still go for the HT2-TLs. I have the HT1-TLs in a 15x16 room and they are not a problem. I would have gotten the HT2-TLs if they hadn't been too deep for the spot the speakers needed to go in and if they hadn't been a bit more than I wanted to spend at the time.

Happy listening! 

[Carl V]

his room isn't small...that open loft & the 1st floor space changes the sonics.  His problem will be room symetry.  So ultimaltely he needs to see how an equlateral 7' triangle can be accomadated.  And if it's at all possible back the speakers up to the Loft Railing.  I had such an arrangement once & the Soundstage & depth were scary good.  Years ago I had DQ10s then then Tympanis set up in an open loft then flanking
and open archway into another room.....depth of the soundstage was awesome.

AS for which model...ah, hard choice.  HT series or Songbird series.
I'd go for the best you can afford. HT1TL or HT2......

[Piffle]

Hmm backing the speakers up to the loft railing is an interesting idea.  I had discarded this idea earlier, but how would this sound?  If I did this, I would have more floor space in the room because I could back them up pretty near the rail instead of needed an extra foot or two behind them and the wall, right?  Would this cause less boominess in the bass potentially?  It seems the openness to the area below would "swallow up" some of the bass (in a good way).  I could also spread the speakers out a bit more and have them about 6 or 7 feet apart, instead of 5 feet apart from the inside edges.

Going with something smaller and then eventually turning them into the rear speakers is something I had also thought a bit about before, but I am hoping to have in-wall speakers as the rears eventually.  And as I said, I am really tired of compromising my stereo quality waiting for an unknown tomorrow.  I have done way too much of this in my life.  I have a 10k budget for the entire system, and I want to get the best musical quality I can for that price today.  And I also want something that I won't feel the urge to upgrade in a year or two, whether I am here in the same house or in a new one.