Speakers on death row?

Apologies for this but i'm off with the (man)flu and have resorted to messing about with the hifi - beats working anyway.

My living/listening room is small (3.5 x 3.8m) with a bay window. The floor is carpeted and I sit about 3m away from the speakers which are Rega ELA mk1's (big triangular floorstanders).

Anyway, my question is this- Are they likely to be overpowering a room this size? I like 'em but find that I'm having to crank up the volume somewhat to get what I would describe as the best out of them. Would I be better off with a pair of standmounts better suited to a small room?

As always your help and advice appreciated,
Yours in ignorance.


My set up:
Rotel RA-04 / Meridian 206b / Rega Planar 3 - DV10x5 / Rega Ela mk1

 

Dos my room is not much bigger than yours 4.3*3.9 and I use a pair of Tannoy GRF Memory speakers which are considerably larger, probably 4 times or more larger in terms of volume than your Ela`s and I find they work splendidly

 

Ela Mk1s are great speakers, but they are quite lean. They are fast and fun ~ often used in Naim systems. It may be that a more 'round earth' speaker would suit better.

It may also be worth trying a different amplifier with them. Your Rotel is OK, but I think the Elas would respond well to an improvement here. Perhaps a Nait2, or even a good used Nait 5i. An alternative to Naim to consider would be an Exposure 2010S.

Having had very many amplifiers in the past (from a couple of hundred quid up to the £3K mark), I'm now very much enjoying (and being much surprised ) what an Arcam A70 can do in to my Rega Ela 2000s. This amplifier is hugely under-rated IMO and is a definite alternative to the Nait 5i (which I found just too harsh for my liking). There are loads of these around at present at very attractive prices. The A70 is definitely 'better' to my ears than the A90.

 

Thks linear man. I like the rega's but have nothing to compare them to (other than a pair of wharfedale 9.1's that they replaced). I think I know what you mean by the leanness though.

RE the naim's. i listened to a naim cd player and didn't really like it so am not too sure about the amps. I guess I should be looking towards a better amp at some point though so any suggestions gratefully recieved, esp 2nd hand ideas.

 

Valves


I had a n**m 72/140/flat cap combo which was ok bu it didn't soundsatge especeally well.

My Dynavox valve amp is much better.

I would try a pair of stand mounters in you room, if you can. Many seem to use floor standers in compact rooms, so you maybe ok.

 

I have a Rga Ela Mk1, can someone share the spec/user manual of this speaker with me?

 

I've heard good things about the Rega Elas and I doubt the size is the issue, but it sounds like you might want a speaker that is tuned to sound better for low level listening.

Be careful though, speakers that sound good and full bodied at low volume are likely to sound overblown at higher level. Our hearing becomes less sensitive to low frequencies at low levels you see, so you can't have it both ways! Well not unless your DAC has EQ built in and you can save presets for quick access, hehe

 

In the good old days we had the 'loudness' contour control.

People laughed but it addressed a real problem, as shown above.

 

People laughed because it introduced distortion for no reason.

 

Lol. Reverse the meaning of that sentence.

 

It introduced distortion for no reason because people laughed