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Suggestions for downsizing B&W CM-7 and CM-Center in super small room?

413 views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  gajCA 
#1 ·
Hi everyone! Looking for some advice here.

I recently moved and now I have to downsize my beloved speaker system to fit into a super small room. The room size is 7.5' x 11.25' and is 9.5' tall. It has plaster walls.

My current setup is a Rotel RSX-1550. It's a 3 speaker setup (w CM-7s and a CM-Center). In recent years, I've been mostly using them for watching movies and really like how natural the sound is (no hugely booming bass, crisp mid range making voices easy to hear, and good fidelity at the high end). Alas, the three speakers are way oversized for the new space.

I'm thinking of replacing them with 3 smaller speakers mounted on the walls high up, and a subwoofer.

Any suggestions on what brands or models to look at?

Ideally we would want the sub to be one of the thinner vertical types...but my experience is that those tend to lose too much fidelity to work out. However, I'd love to be told otherwise!

Thanks in advance!
 
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#3 ·
Budget is flexible...let's say $4k with a little give?

As for size limitations, for the L/R/C, I'm expect to mount them on the wall about a food down from the ceiling so there shouldn't be much of a size constraint there. I'm thinking something like an 8" by 12" bookshelf would be a good target?

For the sub, it'd be replacing 18"x"18"x18" side table. So anything smaller than that would work.

Alternately, if there was a flat sub that could fit under the couch, or a vertical one (18"x 8"?) both those would actually be preferred. I just don't know if stuff like that exists.
 
#5 ·
That's a fair point. I guess somehow I just assumed that if I was going small, I'd want something completely different but that doesn't make sense.

Any suggestions for the sub? I could do the B&W sub, but we were hoping to find something that took up much less space...
 
#6 ·
Any suggestions for the sub? I could do the B&W sub, but we were hoping to find something that took up much less space...
For the sub:
https://rslspeakers.com/speedwoofer10s/
https://www.soundandvision.com/content/rsl-speakers-speedwoofer-10s-subwoofer-review

or this one:
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/subs/l12.html

For the speakers, these are way under your budget but their sealed design would make them great for wall-mounting in a small room:
http://www.nhthifi.com/products/10658-nht-superone-2-1
 
#10 ·
If you consider on-wall, you could look at Totem's Tribe series, or GoldenEar's SuperSat series. The Rhythmic E15HP is a 15" sealed servo-sub that is 17" x 19" x 19" - (20-1/2" D with grille).
 
#16 ·
Thanks for all the suggestions! Spent most of yesterday reading about everything all y'all posted.

I went back to the local shop and tried out the CM6s and CM5s. Both weren't doing it for me. Things sounded muddy in the mid range and the sound just felt flat. After that, the rep pulled out a Linn Majik 109. *That* worked out much better. Note, we were configuring them similar to how they'd be in my home (not much space near the wall) so I think the rear porting of the CM6/5 put them at a disadvantage.

Seems like everyone points at Rythmik for subs, and the F8/FM8 have the right dimensions so will probably go for one of those.

I'm gonna look into the NRT C3, Totems Tribe IIIs, and Ascends.

On the Ascends... HTM-200 SE vs Sierra 2... it looks like the S2s are pretty much the superior speaker (at 5x the price). Am I misreading? If I'm liking the articulation of the Linns...is it worth trying to track down the HTM-200 SE, or should I jump right up to the S2s? :)
 
#19 ·
You should audition a few speakers if at all possible. If you're going to try out Ascend, you should probably go for the S2's since they'd be in the same league as the Linn's. The Sierra 2's are also rear ported though.
 
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