Recommend small speakers for my B system in the workshop

[P1NBA11ER]

I'm looking for an inexpensive pair of small(ish) passive speakers (not much more than $200 ideally) for a fairly large workshop space. I will connect them to a class D amp with Bluetooth streaming as well as a cassette deck and turntable. The speakers will not be optimally placed and not for "critical" listening (I have a proper system set up in the living room for this purpose) and so something that can project a reasonable amount of off axis room filling (but not particularly loud) sound over would be ideal. New or used works for me. Having trouble sorting through the 100s of options and most bookshelf speakers are pretty bad off axis IME.

 

[Brian Hall]

What are you going to use for a preamp/volume control and input selection?

Take a look at the Sony SSCS5 speakers. Most class D amps will be able to drive them great. I got them for $125, but the price goes lower than that and also higher sometimes.

 

[P1NBA11ER]

I currently have an old NAD integrated in the space but I plan to replace it with a Loxjie A40 which can handle everything that does and has Bluetooth. Current speakers are some terrible vintage Pioneer's that I really really hate or a set of Zenith "circle of sound" speakers that I restored/modified with 2 way car speakers for fun like 15 years ago. They make sound that doesn't offend me like the Pioneer's but they also don't sound good.

 

[SloPoke]

I'm looking for an inexpensive pair of small(ish) passive speakers (not much more than $200 ideally) for a fairly large workshop space. I will connect them to a class D amp with Bluetooth streaming as well as a cassette deck and turntable. The speakers will not be optimally placed and not for "critical" listening (I have a proper system set up in the living room for this purpose) and so something that can project a reasonable amount of off axis room filling (but not particularly loud) sound over would be ideal. New or used works for me. Having trouble sorting through the 100s of options and most bookshelf speakers are pretty bad off axis IME.

A member has done a great deal of work compiling and maintaining a list of speakers grouped by price: Thread with Erin's speaker recommendations

Maybe some ideas (?)

 

[P1NBA11ER]

A member has done a great deal of work compiling and maintaining a list of speakers grouped by price: Thread with Erin's speaker recommendations

Maybe some ideas (?)

Thanks for the link. I'll spend some time reading through.

 

[Sillysilly]

Old B&W CM1 or 600s3 are both small, look nice and can be picked up cheap. Won’t measure perfect but for second system do the job.

 

[Timcognito]

Just a thought. Nice table at the bottom.

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[P1NBA11ER]

I bought a pair of the Dayton MK402X as they seemed to have the best off axis performance (based on the Erin's Speaker Rec thread linked above) in the inexpensive categories. Should arrive next week.

 

[Hanson]

I bought a pair of the Dayton MK402X as they seemed to have the best off axis performance (based on the Erin's Speaker Rec thread linked above) in the inexpensive categories. Should arrive next week.

May I know why you chose it? I did a comparison on the spinorama and I found the tonality for this one to be pretty good (on a similar budget). Is that why you chose it?

 

[P1NBA11ER]

I was looking for something that would perform well (enough) without the need for precise positioning and it seemed like this fit the bill. The speakers are in my workshop space kinda up on a high shelf, about 6-8” from the back wall and maybe 15’ apart. I quite like them. My subjective opinion is they do seem to present a wide soundstage and they have quite a lot of bass energy for something so small. After having looked for a few months off and on, Murphy’s law being what it is, the day after they arrived I found a set of Polk T15s in nice shape at the thrift store. These have a very different, more forward presentation and I’ve swapped them out a couple times trying to get a feel for which I prefer in my space. The Polk’s feel to me like they have a fuller midrange and less bass. If I’m closer to on axis, I think I prefer the bass and sound from the Dayton’s but counterintuitively the Polk’s seem to roll off lows and highs a bit more naturally if I make it around the corner to my workbench area. Another thing is the Polk’s look much nicer and since my shop space is on the bottom floor of my loft style home, it is a consideration. Hope this is helpful in some way.

 

[olds1959special]

I use ELAC Debut 2.0 b6.2, ELAC SUB1010 and Fosi Audio BT20A Pro amp with 48V 5A PSU as a near field setup. The front firing bass ports on the speakers allow me to position them close to a wall, on my desk.