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Help choosing bookshelf speakers


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Hey everyone, thanks in advance for your help! 
I’m in the process of building a new house. It has an upstairs music room/library where i Hope to find time to read and or listen. Ideally I’d love to get some bookshelves that actually can be placed in the bookshelves! Although I understand this may not really work. If not then i can always get stands. 
 

the book shelve is being custom made so it can be designed to aid in speaker placement if that helps. 
 

the room is 5m by 5m, carpet, curtains and 2.8m ceilings. I currently have a cxa81 and cvn v2. Both Cambridge. 

budget is flexible but preferably under 5k
 

thanks again for any advice!

 Adam

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1 hour ago, Tasstronic said:

I’m in the process of building a new house. It has an upstairs music room/library where i Hope to find time to read and or listen. Ideally I’d love to get some bookshelves that actually can be placed in the bookshelves! Although I understand this may not really work. If not then i can always get stands. 


For outright sound quality you're better off avoiding placing the speakers within bookshelves. Dedicated stands allow much greater flexibility regarding speaker placement and resulting sound quality re: soundstage width and depth, and also tweaking bass response (i.e. via the distance to wall). 

 

If you decide to ditch the bookshelf placement approach, it's worth considering that there are some excellent floorstanding speakers which take up no more real estate than a set of bookshelf/standmount speakers and associated stands.

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Could not agree more with @pete_mac.

 

The absolute worst thing one can do for a nice quality pair of small speakers is to place them in a bookshelf.

 

They should always and without fail, be placed on good quality stands, but better still, a pair of compact floors standing speakers take up the same amount of room space. Your room sounds like it would be ideal and with the CXA 81 you also have a very nice amplifier which won't limit your choice.

 

 

Good luck.:)

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5K is a very good budget for speakers - and you should be able to get a high quality one for that money, especially if you are open to buying slightly used speakers.

 

Have a look at this example below - fantastic speakers, and will leave you spare cash. 

 

Another one worth looking at:

 

As other have mentioned earlier, slim floorstanders should also be considered since they will take up similar real estate

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Thank you everyone for the replies!

 

Seems like I really need to have the speakers on the floor/stands. I'd prefer that- it is just the usual wife/ aesthetics conversation.

 

If the book shelf itself is 40cm deep (just deep enough for the amp to rest on) and the speakers are, say,  70cm (to the rear of the speaker) in front of that and they are 50cm deep then that would leave about 3.3m to the rear wall and perhaps 3m to my ears. Does that all sound reasonable?

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21 minutes ago, Tasstronic said:

 

 

If the book shelf itself is 40cm deep (just deep enough for the amp to rest on) and the speakers are, say,  70cm (to the rear of the speaker) in front of that and they are 50cm deep then that would leave about 3.3m to the rear wall and perhaps 3m to my ears. Does that all sound reasonable?

 

It's not that dissimilar to my setup in some ways. My room is longer but narrower (6m x 3.5m) and I have about 50cm from the rear of the speaker to the rear wall, and about 2.5m from the face of the speakers to my ears. I have some room treatments behind my head to help mitigate reflections from the wall immediately behind the lounge. 

 

It's almost akin to a nearfield listening setup, but I really like the sound - the soundstage width and detail is excellent, and depth isn't too bad considering the constraints of my setup and room.

 

 

room1.jpg

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2 hours ago, Tasstronic said:

Thank you everyone for the replies!

 

Seems like I really need to have the speakers on the floor/stands. I'd prefer that- it is just the usual wife/ aesthetics conversation.

 

If the book shelf itself is 40cm deep (just deep enough for the amp to rest on) and the speakers are, say,  70cm (to the rear of the speaker) in front of that and they are 50cm deep then that would leave about 3.3m to the rear wall and perhaps 3m to my ears. Does that all sound reasonable?

3 m is about 10 feet - a decent distance from the listening position. You should be good with 3 m.

 

How wide is your bookshelf? You want the speakers to be around 6-8 feet apart, with some room between the speakers and the bookshelf (at least 1 feet)

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5 hours ago, anandpkumar said:

3 m is about 10 feet - a decent distance from the listening position. You should be good with 3 m.

 

How wide is your bookshelf? You want the speakers to be around 6-8 feet apart, with some room between the speakers and the bookshelf (at least 1 feet)

The bookshelf will be built in. So corner to corner,perhaps even up the side walls too. (so about 5m wide).  

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7 hours ago, pete_mac said:

 

It's not that dissimilar to my setup in some ways. My room is longer but narrower (6m x 3.5m) and I have about 50cm from the rear of the speaker to the rear wall, and about 2.5m from the face of the speakers to my ears. I have some room treatments behind my head to help mitigate reflections from the wall immediately behind the lounge. 

 

It's almost akin to a nearfield listening setup, but I really like the sound - the soundstage width and detail is excellent, and depth isn't too bad considering the constraints of my setup and room.

 

 

room1.jpg

Well,If that is working well then we should be ok.  Add an extra metre or so to the speakers and that is where we will end up.

 

Thanks!

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Hi Adam

 

I wouldn’t disagree with any of the comments above but I have had some great sounds from the following reasonably inexpensive setups in an IKEA Kallax bookshelf (each compartment 33cm W, 33cm H, 40cm D). The $300 second hand Wharfedale Diamond 121s (downfiring bass) sounded great in the room (about 3.5m x 4m) but are bettered by the (nearly 3x the price) JBL 4312s. Neither of those speakers are rear ported.
 

Remember:

 

1. you need to run power, interconnects and speaker wire between compartments so you need to factor that into your build - and don’t forget the size of the plugs n the ends;

 

2. many bookshelf speakers are quite large, so you need to also factor this into your build; and

 

3. it might be best to avoid rear ported speakers if you are going to put the speakers in the bookshelf. 
 

Good luck and look forward to seeing a post on what you decide on and a picture of the final setup.  

2451CECF-2565-4ED4-8BD8-ED68343AADC8.jpeg
 

9131697D-8E41-4FF8-AB56-2951D8AFF266.jpeg

Edited by KRSDarwin
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Guest niterida

I have no experience with this but how about using in-wall speakers and making 2 compartments of the shelves into enclosures ?

With your budget you should be able to get some higher end in-walls that will sound great

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12 hours ago, Tasstronic said:

The bookshelf will be built in. So corner to corner,perhaps even up the side walls too. (so about 5m wide).  

okay.....then the speakers will have to be in front of the bookshelf, with a bit of space between the bookshelf and speakers for moving around.

 

Consider slim floorstanders too - something like the PMC below. They are very 'decor' friendly!

https://www.lifestylestore.com.au/pmc-twenty5-23-floor-standing-speakers.html

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38 minutes ago, niterida said:

I have no experience with this but how about using in-wall speakers and making 2 compartments of the shelves into enclosures ?

With your budget you should be able to get some higher end in-walls that will sound great

This idea had occurred to me, although it doesn’t seem to be the “done thing “. Which made me think there must be a reason?

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30 minutes ago, anandpkumar said:

okay.....then the speakers will have to be in front of the bookshelf, with a bit of space between the bookshelf and speakers for moving around.

 

Consider slim floorstanders too - something like the PMC below. They are very 'decor' friendly!

https://www.lifestylestore.com.au/pmc-twenty5-23-floor-standing-speakers.html

That was the exact product I was thinking of!

 

 I think at this stage I’ll plan for some small floor standing speakers (in regards to wiring). Once the cabinets are done I’ll try that out. If my wife doesn’t approve then I can always retreat back to some bookshelf placed speakers. I have access to some speakers I can try positioning for aesthetics. 
 

I’ll post images as things take shape.

 

 Thanks again everyone

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1 hour ago, Tasstronic said:

This idea had occurred to me, although it doesn’t seem to be the “done thing “. Which made me think there must be a reason?

It's a good idea, just those in wall/ceiling speakers are quite new thing. 

Something like 

KEF Ci200RS-THX In-Wall Speaker 

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Guest niterida
2 hours ago, Tasstronic said:

This idea had occurred to me, although it doesn’t seem to be the “done thing “. Which made me think there must be a reason?

There are a lot of mediocre in-wall speakers out there :(

They need to be installed properly - which in your case is easy - if you go this way get a set that the manufacturer specifies a certain size back box and you can build the shelves to suit.

One issue with this is that you won't be able to get any toe-in unless you build it in to the shelf but then you also won't be able to experiment and move them.

But they will look good and contrary to the old advert : "Image IS everything" ;)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey everyone, thanks again for all the replies and advice. 
At this stage I’ve gone with the cxa81, cxn v2 and a pair of 805 d3 with stands. 
cables are being run under the carpet (flatter cable with the underlay channeled out). The intention is to have the speakers positioned on stands and hope they look ok but the fall back option is to try them in the book shelves and hope they look ok. 
 

I was very impressed by the 805’s albeit in a showroom environment. Preferred them to the pmc and the 700 speakers. Preferred the pmc to the 700’s. 
 

i will report back (with photos) once we are up and running.

 Thanks again

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On 29/06/2020 at 11:27 AM, Tasstronic said:

Hey everyone, thanks in advance for your help! 
I’m in the process of building a new house. It has an upstairs music room/library where i Hope to find time to read and or listen. Ideally I’d love to get some bookshelves that actually can be placed in the bookshelves! Although I understand this may not really work. If not then i can always get stands. 
 

the book shelve is being custom made so it can be designed to aid in speaker placement if that helps. 
 

the room is 5m by 5m, carpet, curtains and 2.8m ceilings. I currently have a cxa81 and cvn v2. Both Cambridge. 

budget is flexible but preferably under 5k
 

thanks again for any advice!

 Adam

Not sure if these sold but a total bargain. And better than a whole lot of floor standers too.

 

Too big and heavy to sit in a bookshelf though but not really recommended anyway. 

 

When new I read they reviewed closer to $30k pairs from the big name international brands. 

 

 

Edited by DrSK
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I used to have similar concerns from my boss. So I keep the bookshelf speakers with stand against the wall when boss is around. Then move the speakers to away from back wall a few feets when situation allows. Same principle can be applied to floor standers and be better so.

For bookshelf speakers, my favourite is ProAc Response 1SC. 

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Apologies for the off-topic slant; but I find it fascinating that folks have partners who are more interested in aesthetics of how a living space looks than supporting their partners pursuit of a hobby and/or better audio performance.   

 

I'd just make it clear that the speakers (and positioning of them) is not a negotiable thing.  No doubt there are other things in the house that are of equal importance that your partner will be equally non-negotiable about and that's the give and the take!

 

 

 

 

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51 minutes ago, POV said:

Apologies for the off-topic slant; but I find it fascinating that folks have partners who are more interested in aesthetics of how a living space looks than supporting their partners pursuit of a hobby and/or better audio performance.   

 

I'd just make it clear that the speakers (and positioning of them) is not a negotiable thing.  No doubt there are other things in the house that are of equal importance that your partner will be equally non-negotiable about and that's the give and the take!

 

 

 

 

I showed my wife your advice. She didn't really appreciate it. Now I am sleeping on the couch ?

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