Any good starter near field speakers for £299?

[Blujackaal]

Thinking on trying out speakers since I can use my parents room, as extra room. Wanting near field's since I'm not going to be blasting the room with music. Is there any that are single driver since i might add a woofer to that will also be used on my headphones since there music i have that actually makes use of 15 ~ 50Hz like Dark ambient and some Drone metal like Sunn O))).

 

[sweetchaos]

Hi,

300 EUR = 550 USD, let's say +10% = 600 USD / pair to make it simple to narrow down the options.

Here's all Amir's recommended active speakers that fit that criteria (sorted A-Z):
- Adam T8V
- AudioEngine A5+ Classic
- Edifier R1280T
- Fostex PM.03
- JBL 305P MKII
- JBL 306P MKII
- JBL 308P MKII
- Kali LP-6
- KRK Classic 5
- Vanatoo T0
- Yamaha HS5

Here's all Amir's highly recommended active speakers that fit that criteria (sorted A-Z):
- Adam T5V

I suggest you purchase max out your budget for good speakers now.
Save money for subs later. You'll need a studio subs like JBL LSR310S (400USD) or Yamaha HS8S (470USD) with studio monitors.

I'm showing only USD, since that's the market I'm familiar with.

Update:
Whoops, currency conversion screwed up. 300 EUR is 366 USD. Oh well, you have more options.

 

[Noodles]

My first pick would be the Mackie MR624. They are absolutely insane near field.
My 2nd vote goes for the Kali LP-6 or the Adam T5V
The LP-6 are not reaaaaly designed for near field but they do work. The Adams absolutely rock, but they are very sensitive for RF interference - i managed to get into their signal path with a wireless mouse... so yeah.
Close 3rd for me would be either of the JBL's

 

[3125b]

I too bought Mackie, the MR524, after testing several near field monitors at a local store - though I had never heard of the brand before. That was some time ago and I had limited knowledge and experience, I don't know if I'd choose them again. That's not to say that they are bad, certainly not for the money and compared to the direct competition. They have fairly little tweeter hiss compared to many other cheaper monitors (though AMTs are obviously superior in that sense), otherweise they are not too special in any way, I just liked their combination best overall (without EQ anyway).
If bigger monitors are an option, I would suggest listening to the Focal Alpha 65 (or Alpha 80, but those are huge). I went auditioning again to find some speakers for my dad, and the Focals set themselves apart in that they sound a lot better than you'd expect at that price, they could keep up with the competition at twice the price in my book - of course you have to try every speaker out for yourself. They do however have some tweeter hiss, I wouldn't recommend them for very short listening distances.
I don't know if the MR524 or Alpha 65 would measure too well, maybe not, but both brands are certainly worth a look/listen.

 

[Noodles]

Forgot to mention - if you cannot place the tweeters properly on 2/3 - way speakers, i would suggest looking into concentric monitors... ie:
- Tannoy gold 8
- Presonus Scepter S6 (depending on sale price)
- Fluid Audio FX8

 

[stemfencer]

I too bought Mackie, the MR524, after testing several near field monitors at a local store - though I had never heard of the brand before. That was some time ago and I had limited knowledge and experience, I don't know if I'd choose them again. That's not to say that they are bad, certainly not for the money and compared to the direct competition. They have fairly little tweeter hiss compared to many other cheaper monitors (though AMTs are obviously superior in that sense), otherweise they are not too special in any way, I just liked their combination best overall (without EQ anyway).
If bigger monitors are an option, I would suggest listening to the Focal Alpha 65 (or Alpha 80, but those are huge). I went auditioning again to find some speakers for my dad, and the Focals set themselves apart in that they sound a lot better than you'd expect at that price, they could keep up with the competition at twice the price in my book - of course you have to try every speaker out for yourself. They do however have some tweeter hiss, I wouldn't recommend them for very short listening distances.
I don't know if the MR524 or Alpha 65 would measure too well, maybe not, but both brands are certainly worth a look/listen.

How did you find the Mackies vs Focals for casual/enjoyable listening as compared to mixing?

 

[3125b]

How did you find the Mackies vs Focals for casual/enjoyable listening as compared to mixing?

It's not really a fair comparison, the Focals are twice the size, power and price. They play a lot deeper and stay clean at higher SPL.
For music and media I like the Alpha 65 better, they sound more forward if you will (no dip in the upper mids?). However they do have more tweeter hiss, between that and their sheer size (a lot chunkier than other models with the same size woofer) they seem more like midfield monitors that sound like HiFi speakers.
I don't do any mixing, so I don't know. If you want something dead neutral at a budget, the Adam T-Series (whatever you can fit) seem like a good option with some EQ.

 

[stemfencer]

It's not really a fair comparison, the Focals are twice the size, power and price. They play a lot deeper and stay clean at higher SPL.
For music and media I like the Alpha 65 better, they sound more forward if you will (no dip in the upper mids?). However they do have more tweeter hiss, between that and their sheer size (a lot chunkier than other models with the same size woofer) they seem more like midfield monitors that sound like HiFi speakers.
I don't do any mixing, so I don't know. If you want something dead neutral at a budget, the Adam T-Series (whatever you can fit) seem like a good option with some EQ.

Thank you for the response. Agree not fair comparison, I'm currently weighing up MR524 and Focal Alpha 50s for desktop speakers and rather rare to come across someone with both for casual listening/enjoyment (not mixing), so appreciate the feedback. Also we similar set-up with JDS Atom (I run with the Atom DAC but was looking at E30 as well)! I have excluded the Adam T5V as heard the ribbon tweeter can be fatiguing and looking for something more casual.

One on the things I've read is the Mackies are very good at low volumes. Does the hiss from Alpha's prohibit low volume listening, what would you recommend if need something that works at night at volumes not upsetting person in room next to you?

Also thinking if worth the money going for Focal Shape 50 and calling it a day. Completely different budgets...but do it once do it right mentality if the jump in price is worth it!

 

[Moonhead]

Why not some Neumann KH80,
prices closely to focal shape.

 

[3125b]

I'm not sure how far the Alpha 50 are comparable to the 65, they seem to have the same tweeter, but they do have different amps - wich may or may not result in different levels of tweeter hiss.

Does the hiss from Alpha's prohibit low volume listening

I'd say yes, in the near field at least. Doubling the distance reduces the SPL by 6dB. So if you sit only 50cm from the speakers, a say 20dB noise might be very audible, but from 2m away, the same noise would only be 8dB and not audible with the noise floor in the room.

what would you recommend if need something that works at night at volumes not upsetting person in room next to you?

AMTs seem to have an advantage. For low to medium listening levels I liked the Adam A3X (nice and compact too) quite a bit, but they don't have that much power for loud listening levels.

Neither I nor my dad liked the Focal Shape series, in fact to me the Alpha sounded better, but that might be very different for you. The Shape aren't ported, so that might be an advantage depending on placement in the room.
At 500€/piece I'd go for either Neumann or probably (because they are a little bit cheaper here and come with the clever Iso-Pod) Genelec. They're hard to beat, very well engineered speakers. If you can spend the money it would probably be a good idea to do so (buy once, cry once), if you keep them for 20 years the cost benefit ratio starts to look really good
You can always add a sub later, I was thinking about that too, unfortunately I'm not aware of any measurements of cheaper (<400€) studio subs.

 

[stemfencer]

I'd say yes, in the near field at least. Doubling the distance reduces the SPL by 6dB. So if you sit only 50cm from the speakers, a say 20dB noise might be very audible, but from 2m away, the same noise would only be 8dB and not audible with the noise floor in the room.

Thank you for the feedback as will indeed be nearfield (~60cm). Will need to find store to demo the 50s, hopefully smaller amp reduces in less noise.

Neither I nor my dad liked the Focal Shape series, in fact to me the Alpha sounded better, but that might be very different for you. The Shape aren't ported, so that might be an advantage depending on placement in the room.
At 500€/piece I'd go for either Neumann or probably (because they are a little bit cheaper here and come with the clever Iso-Pod) Genelec. They're hard to beat, very well engineered speakers. If you can spend the money it would probably be a good idea to do so (buy once, cry once), if you keep them for 20 years the cost benefit ratio starts to look really good
You can always add a sub later, I was thinking about that too, unfortunately I'm not aware of any measurements of cheaper (<400€) studio subs.

Interesting feedback on the Shapes, appreciated as majority of feedback on this speakers are by audio professionals/mixers and they are looking for different characteristics. I am a big believer of buy once, cry once, however also aware there is diminishing returns and trying to identify that value sweet-spot. Additionally this will sound silly to most, but I'm living in France temporarily so the idea of getting some French made monitors would be nice souvenir from my time here, so have a bit of bias towards Focal if their performance is similar to other brands at price point (Alphas made in Asia though). Looks like I need to find some Alpha 50s or MR524s to sample if doubling the budget isn't giving something significantly more enjoyable.

 

[3125b]

(Alphas made in Asia though)

They are, though I'm not sure where the drivers are made (their more expensive ones are all made in France, wich is nice to see). They certainly are custom for Focal. I know that at least sometimes the Focal passive speakers can be had a lot cheaper in France than elsewhere, maybe that goes for the pro-series too?
If at all possible these days, sample as many different speakers as you can. Of course they will sound different in your room since most sellers in the pro market have optimized rooms, but room correction will always be an option.