Recommend small speakers?

[Ron S]

In my library, I have the predecessors to this NHT speaker:

http://nhthifi.com/current/products/speakers/three.html

They provide phenomenal sound for bookshelf speakers (our fearless leader, Jim Alfredson, raved about the sound when he first heard them in my house). They're acoustic supension, as opposed to the more common bass reflex design, and as a result the bass is very tight (great for jazz and classical). The current model has bass frequency response down to 45hz, which is generally unheard of in anything smaller than a tower or large floor-standing speaker (the older models that I have go even further--down to 39hz). Bottom line, they sound much larger and more detailed than most speakers of comparable size.

[Jim Alfredson]

Soundproofing is also something to consider. You can go crazy with professional soundproofing equipment, but I actually have had success with a homemade "solution": I purchased pre-stretched canvases from an art supply store, and then backed them with one-inch thick dense foam. Maybe I'm just convincing myself of "better" sound, but I do think it focuses the mid-range noticeably. A painter friend of mine, when he saw the canvases up on the wall, joked that the "paintings" must be from my "minimalist" period. (I don't even paint.)

Not to nitpick, but you didn't really soundproof anything. What you did is acoustically treat your room to minimize certain frequency dependent reflections, which would clear up your imaging, phasing, and sound stage. Basically, you made some mid-band acoustic absorbers, like they have in recording studios.