SpeakerTalk

[Jim1975]

Please excuse the likely points of ignorance in my question. New to the technical realms of audio, and this is the first forum I've ever posted on.

I bought a pair of KEF Coda III speakers, to run from a Panasonic SG-5090 music centre (an heirloom I'm attached to). The KEFs are in a large kitchen (about 16ft square). They handle the base output from the Panasonic nicely, (which I understand to be quite low frequency, as things go? Is that even the right way to put it?). I'm looking for suggestions as I'm struggling to find a pair of small bookshelf speakers that I can attach to the B channel that match well with the Coda III, either KEF or otherwise would be of interest.

The small speakers I need are to go in a kind of ante-room to the bigger room, where we've crammed in a home office, so you hear both if they're both on. I bought a pair of old bookshelf Warfdales (Diamond III) for the small room that sound great on their own, but they are way more basey than the KEFs, so I can't get a good setting on the tone controls of my Panasonic that suit both. At any given setting the base from the Wharfdales will tend to dominate while the KEFs sound thin, or the Wharfdales are over basey when the KEFs sound good. I feel like the KEFs often sound better with loudness on at the lower volumes we often listen, but the Wharfdales then sound far too basey.

I've tried a pair of Sony APMs we had in the family instead of the Wharfdales, and they crackle and pop, which my old man tells me is because they can't handle the base from the Panasonic. Does this sound right? Loudness is out of the question!

So, I'm hoping for recommendations for a pair of small bookshelf speakers (max 380mm tall) that would pair well with my KEF Coda IIIs and handle the base output from the Panasonic without crackling and sounding like they'll turn inside out. The aim is to try and get a pair that will sound good at the same bass, treble and loudness settings, as most of the time it's run A+B. Played at quite a range of volumes depending on whether the wife is in at the time!

Can anyone tell me what elements of a speaker's specification I should be looking at in assessing candidates, when this is my issue?

Thanks in advance!