Downgrade bug

[n3philim]

I was wondering what thoughts you guys could give in terms of compatibility.

I'm going to be moving to a condo soon, and I will have to downgrade my HT system. Yup, you heard right, a downgrade. I currently use an RSP 1066 and an RMB 1066. My question is which speakers would match the RMB 1066? The room will be small so I'm looking to get bookshelves that won't be driven too loud. Also, I don't want to spend too much.

My options are:

- keeping my Dynaudio Audience Center and getting two pairs of Dyna 42s (but I'm worried the RMB 1066 may have a hard time driving these)
- keeping my B&W LM1s and getting a pair of B&W LM1s and a VM1 as the center
- getting JM Labs Sib speakers, or the Chorus 706s and the cc 700s
- getting Klipsch ref speakers
- getting a Magnepan MMG-C and 2 pairs of MMG-W

Needless to say, they must have the "wife appeal" factor.


TIA

[DrJRapp]

You didn't say how small the room would be, but my vote would be for the Klipsch Ref Bookshelves or floor standers. I have a small setup in my master bedroom consisting of RB15 left and right mains, RCR4 center and RSX4 surrounds. These are being driving by a Panasonic RX25 100wpc receiver. (Your RMB 1066 will have no trouble at all driving a similar setup). I also have a small Energy esl10 sub and set all my speakers to small to redirect anything below 100hz to the sub. The overall sound is much better than you would expect out of such small speakers in a decent sized room (20x14). It actually doesn't give up as much as one would expect to my Reference 7 series system and RSP1066 RMB1075/RB1070 7.1 system in my theater.

Needless to say, the WAF had to be good, it is the MBR after all, and this system is very visually unobtrusive. You could also go with the RF 15s (floorstanders) or RB25s if you want better bottom end.

[n3philim]

Thanks for your reply, Jerry. The room is roughly 4x3 meters. A friend of mine likewise recommended the Klipsch. I haven't heard that combination though. There are just so many other choices that its confusing.

I've heard the Magnepans but not with the Rotels. Matched with a good sub like a REL, the maggies sound awesome for HT. As to dynaudios, I still am a fan. I do have a pair of Contour 1.8 mkIIs and those I will keep for sure. I used to use B&Ws all around and those definitely mesh well with the Rotels.

I guess I do have to audition all of them. Thing is, stores here in Manila seldom allow home auditions.