Small room setup - advice needed

[Ivan]

I'm going to set up a HT in a fairly small room (~250 square feet = ~23 square meters).
Actually I expect it to be used for stereo listening 3/4rds of the time (personally I'm into classics, while my wife likes heavy music).
So sound quality matters most, but I'm afraid that the room size will be a bottleneck.
Also I'd like to have zone 2 outputs.

Currently I have the following in mind:
- Rotel RSX-1056 (1057);
- B & W 6xx S3.

Now to the questions:
1. Isn't RSX-1056 too good for such a room/speakers? Would, say, RSX-03 be enough (BTW, couldn't find any opinions on RSX-03)?
2. The other way round: would it make sense to choose better speakers (e.g. Paradigm Studio 100 / 20 / CC 570)?
3. If I opt for better speakers would RB-1070 for fronts make a difference (again taking room size into account)?
4. Any other comments will be appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

[Tha Freak]

16'x16' is not lagre, but not small either!!...

I have a RSX-1055 in a 17'x21' (irregular) and I can say it performs quite well...

and Rotel and B&W are mostly a good match (I have that for my 2ch system)

as of zone 2 I think the 1056 has tat feature, you just need a second amp.

[foeth]

Although the B&W 6's are "nice" (I don't think so), if you like stereo you may want to buy something else entirely. I find that most big brands don't do so well with their sub-reference series compared to smaller and relatively unknown competitors. BTW, where do you live?

Note that for Zone 2, you cannot use digital signals. Somehow there is no A/D conversion to zone 2.

[ICEMAN70]

Hi Ivan,

Paradigms are nice speakers and their Studio series are highly recommended. The paradigm studio 100's might be an over kill for your area. I don't know how much space you have in their with your furniture and stuff but i would look in to maybe studio 60 V3's with the Rotel RSX 1056/57. This will have plenty of power for your speakers. If you think you might need more power for your fronts than you can allways add a 1080 or 1075.

Also the cc570 is a BIG center. Do you have the room for it? Maybe go with the cc470. For the surrounds i would get the Studio 20's.

It is very hard to say how this combo will sound in your room. Have you auditioned any of these systems yet? maybe your dealer can get you to try them out in your room before you make any decisions.

cheers,

[slyther3]

Hey Ivan,
I am a novice at all this too. However I have learned alot from the guys on this forum. Still Learning alot. I went round after round looking for a decent combo for my HT... 60/40 Music to HT. I have finally settled on a Rotel 1067 and I have a 1080 rmb that just got in today to power my Fronts.... I use Studio 100's v3 brand new..... cc570, b&w sub and Studio 20's for the rears all Paradigm.. I freaking love the sound however I might of had a different approach knowing what I know now. My room is 16 x 18 and the sound is solid. I really like B&w speakers and might of bought 803d's and slowly peiced it together. Everyones ear is different. But the studio 60's would have been plenty with a good sub and decent surrounds... The 100's are a little over kill. The 600 series in BW is just okay IMO...... with a good amp sometimes cheaper speakers sound better however.... Anyway you cant go wrong with ROTEL.... I love their Audio equipment.... :T Good luck...... And ;x( To Kevin D. and all the other Rotelio's
Csk

[htsteve]

You can think big

Ivan,

I have a 12 x 15 room with vaulted ceiling. I'm running B&W 804s towers, HTM1 center (a big center) and 705 bookshelfs for rears. Link to Pictures is attached. With good electronics and amplification, a small room can produce very large sound. The soundstage is LARGE and wonderful in my room. Since you are mostly stereo, I would also recommend starting with a really good 2 channel set-up (with a sub, for heavy music) with an eye toward home theater. You may want to look at the 700 series from B&W. These can be run off a quality receiver like the 1057. However, to get great performance out of the any quality towers, outboard amplification is almost a must. A 1057, a pair for 700 series towers and a sub would be a great place to start.

You mention the 1070 amp. Good idea. I had a 1080 driving my 804's. It was sweet. Like you, my objective was sound quality in a relatively small space. I have definitely found it with quality speakers and amplifiers. If you could afford it, get a center. Then you would be most of the way to a HT set-up as well. If you want to do a full HT, the 600 series is a very good series. My original HT had 601's. These are now down in the basement making excellent music. FWIW, here's my order of where to spend your money:

Speakers
Amplifier (consider the 1075 amp, 120w x 5. Excellent performer for the $)
Receiver
Sub

Hopefully, you've found a dealer who will let you demo these. Also, a package like this should warrant a 10% discount.

Finally, getting an outboard amp will free up the front LR amp channels in the 1057. You can then use them to drive a second zone right from the 1057.

Hope this helps.


Link to pictures:

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=8229&page=22

[Ivan]

Thanks to all for the responses.

As for the room, it's not square (more like 13 x 19).

B&W 700 (let alone 800) series would stretch my budget too much (may be I can convince myself about 704's for fronts, but 705's (with stands) are just too expensive to me - I don't really need that good surround sound).

All in all, I'm going to settle on RSX-1057 + Studio 60 / 20 / cc470.
Not convinced that I need RMB-1075, probably I'll go for RB-1070 for fronts while receiver amps should be enough for the rest (plus zone 2).

May be I'll change my mind after listening (not sure if I'll be able to try it in my room though).

Thanks again.

[gd]

Your room is fine... 1057 is fine.

If you've browsed this forum for any length of time, you might get the impression that the favored speaker makes are B&W, Paradigm and Klipsch.

And they're fine.

But if any component should be explored and auditioned thoroughly, it's speakers -- they vary the most in sound characteristics.

The above 3 are fine, but open up the search and include Totem, Monitor Audio, Energy, NHT, Vandersteen... and any others that are available to hear in your area.

For subs, the best value can be had from online manufacturers SVS and Hsu.

Happy hunting.

[CPALIU]

I actually have a 10x13 room with a B&W 603 S3 and Rotel 1057. The combination gets more than loud enough for me.