Desktop Speakers ~$2000 (Active & Silent)

[Bengineer]

Looking for something powered/active for my desk.

Biggest thing is that they need to work in nearfield and that I can't hear hiss from the tweeter sitting close (80cm).

I disconnected the analogue inputs and assessed a bunch of studio monitors at the store, all had hiss audible enough I'd hear it at 80cm in a quiet room. These included the Genelecs, Adam, Neumann and a few other cheaper.

I have previously owned the LS50W II and found them to be sufficiently silent.

Coming up empty with ideas. KEF LSX II maybe, though bass output will be fairly small. Don't want to go back to using a sub.

Any option will get measured and corrected either in REW/EAPO or Dirac.

Also have a decent chain if said speakers can accept that, Qutest into a HPA4.

 

[lowkeyoperations]

Which Neumanns did you try? The KH120S I had were inaudible at that distance. There is an input sensitivity switch on the back. The lower the gain, the lower the hiss.

 

[Bengineer]

KH120

Noisy environments but I could hear it at about 30cm. Would easily hear at 80cn in quiet room id feel

 

[stevenswall]

I had hiss issues with several monitors. The Kali IN-8 V2 was sufficiently quiet for me. Perhaps slightly quieter than my class AB Genelec 8260 monitors.

Curious what Genelec monitors you listened to... and Neumann's are very quiet too.

 

[Bengineer]

8030 for the Genelec. They usually quiet?

 

[lowkeyoperations]

I’m very sensitive to hiss. I could hear my KH120S 10cm away with the sensitivity right down. Not when sitting at arms length. I was using them in a semi treated music studio and would have noticed if it was there as I hate hiss.

Maybe the input gain was turned right up on the ones you listened to?

I tried quite a lot of monitors before I bought the Neumanns and found them better than the competition around the same budget and higher. Maybe see if you can get a demo where you can check the input switch on the back.

That said my Amphion One15s are dead silent. But obviously passive.

 

[stevenswall]

8030 for the Genelec. They usually quiet?

Not sure. I've only heard the SAM ones. (82xx, 83xx) Not sure if DSP capabilities and converting the analog to digital would help hiss.

 

[Eetu]

According to this, Neumanns are one of the least hiss-y brands out there. The KH120 should be very quiet, probably an input gain thing.

 

[Berwhale]

I disconnected the analogue inputs

Doing this will often make the monitor hum or hiss more, I don't think its a great test (better to test as the monitor with actually be used).

My experience with the active monitors i've owned (listening distance 80cm)...

Tannoy Reveal 402 - Very low hum, almost in-audible
JBL 305p MKII - Extreme hiss, I had to send them back (the hiss was worse with input disconnected)
iLoud MTM - Small amount of audible hiss/hum. Nothing like the JBLs, probably on par with my acoustically treated PC (which is very quiet) in terms of background noise. I can leave these on all day and don't really notice the hum until I turn them off.

 

[Bengineer]

Doing this will often make the monitor hum or hiss more, I don't think its a great test (better to test as the monitor with actually be used).

My experience with the active monitors i've owned (listening distance 80cm)...

Tannoy Reveal 402 - Very low hum, almost in-audible
JBL 305p MKII - Extreme hiss, I had to send them back (the hiss was worse with input disconnected)
iLoud MTM - Small amount of audible hiss/hum. Nothing like the JBLs, probably on par with my acoustically treated PC (which is very quiet) in terms of background noise. I can leave these on all day and don't really notice the hum until I turn them off.

Really? Why is that? Figured its purely a internal amp to tweeter interference, best take the input out of equation.

The store setups are dreadful, 50 monitors all hooked to a mixing console.

 

[txbdan]

My 8030Cs hiss a bit. They're on my desk so fairly close. It's not too annoying, but when they go to sleep its a bit of a relief.

Its nothing like the hiss on 305Ps though. I hated that.

 

[AnalogSteph]

The store setups are dreadful, 50 monitors all hooked to a mixing console.

With unknown output noise level and speaker sensitivity settings no less. Not necessarily the most reliable environment to judge what you are looking for.

In typical Neumanns, inherent hiss should be disappearing shortly after 0.5 m, give or take depending on acoustic treatment levels. The best Genelecs will come close to that but they're often hampered by fairly high input sensitivity with limited adjustment range and non-intuitive control (you'll probably be stuck at the minimum setting of +6 dB [sic!] with any interface that can output at least +10...12 dBu, of which there are very many these days).
2nd gen Kalis (v2 models + IN-5) should be very good (though I would check for the issue with buzz caused by midrange wiring that was uncovered recently, a fix seems well within the realm of DIY). Mackie MR524s and 624s have a good reputation but transformer hum/buzz can be an issue.

 

[Bengineer]

What if I go passive for say $1000? What works really well nearfield for that money?

 

[Digby]

What if I go passive for say $1000? What works really well nearfield for that money?

Beyond not wanting hiss, your specs aren't obvious. How big can the speakers be, will you use subs also or just speakers on their own, any other things...

Don't want to go back to using a sub.

Edit, I see you don't want a sub.

 

[Bengineer]

No sub.

Max size of about a LS50. Can go taller, maybe hint wider/deeper.

Stuffed in corners but I'll be correcting them.

 

[Digby]

There are so many options. Do you prefer coaxial speakers, the sound from them might change a fair bit at high frequencies moving around at a desk compared to something with a tweeter & waveguide.

 

[Peluvius]

Looking for something powered/active for my desk.

Biggest thing is that they need to work in nearfield and that I can't hear hiss from the tweeter sitting close (80cm).

I disconnected the analogue inputs and assessed a bunch of studio monitors at the store, all had hiss audible enough I'd hear it at 80cm in a quiet room. These included the Genelecs, Adam, Neumann and a few other cheaper.

I have previously owned the LS50W II and found them to be sufficiently silent.

Coming up empty with ideas. KEF LSX II maybe, though bass output will be fairly small. Don't want to go back to using a sub.

Any option will get measured and corrected either in REW/EAPO or Dirac.

Also have a decent chain if said speakers can accept that, Qutest into a HPA4.

My Genelecs are entirely silent from listening position when they are on, like I put my ear up to the tweeter and I hear a faint pink noise. My hearing is failing above 16kHz so if its above that and louder then maybe it would be annoying. I wonder if this varies from speaker to speaker?

 

[Bengineer]

There are so many options. Do you prefer coaxial speakers, the sound from them might change a fair bit at high frequencies moving around at a desk compared to something with a tweeter & waveguide.

No preference.

I've had both. LS50W II, AE1, P3ESR etc

 

[JSmith]

What if I go passive for say $1000?

These would be worth a look if you can you stretch to $1500;

Revel M105 Bookshelf Speaker Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Revel M105 Bookshelf/stand-mount speaker. A member was interested in it so I decided to buy it through our company. The retail cost is US $750 each for a total of $1,500 for a pair. NOTE: my company, Madrona Digital is a dealer for Harman and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

 

[Buck Dutt]

After almost 6 months of research I recently made a purchase with similar requirements (nearfield, small size, no sub, on a desk) with a requirement on no hiss/buzz (as many of my previous monitors were noisy and it drove me crazy). I ended up getting Abacus C-Box 4 and they are dead silent—and work great with Sonarworks. Amazing bass output for a small speaker as well. The Geithain RL-906 are also supposed to be dead silent—but well out of my budget.