BoredErica
Addicted to Fun and Learning
I want to make sure my setup makes sense and the parts are the best for my needs. Suggestions for alternatives to what I've planned would be nice.
Goal: Accurate setup for nearfield listening (19in away) with my computer. I only listen in front of my computer and I can't form an equilateral triangle. Speakers are near the wall with only several inches of space at most. (Might get a new desk later on that buys me a little more space between ear to tweeter or speaker to wall.) Either get cheap speakers that are accurate (like Neumann KH80) or get speakers that look good but end up costing a ton (KEF LS50 Meta). Looking for 2.1 or 2.2 setup, starting with 2.1 for now. Hiss must be avoided, even at 19in away from tweeter with speakers close to wall and corner, even in a quiet room. I only listen at 65db. My computer has EMI which should get fixed with balanced signal chain. Therefore, sub and amp need to be balanced.
Room looks like this: (All measurements are in inches)
Main speaker options:
I am pretty set on these three options:
Neumann KH80 is my top contender for 'cheap but accurate' speaker. Their dip has more to do with reflections while I'm mostly listening straight on, and should be EQ-able. Small, relatively cheap. Problems: Too small, requires 3 yoga blocks to raise to ear level. Acceptable but may be hard if I use standing desk later. Power indicator is too bright. Can mask with tape (ugly). Small size means I can move it back more to make hiss inaudible and drivers more coherent. No amp required!
KEF LS50 Meta are very pretty but cost a ton more. $1150 to be more exact, due them being passive. (Amp is $500.) Coaxial driver means great for nearfield, even at 19in. Can't go loud, bass can have issues. With sub and listening at 65db, adding 5 db for EQ headroom and 10db for peaks, I'm still 6db below Amir's 86db distortion test. I don't expect audible distortion issues with my usage.
KEF R3 are close runner up. They look just as nice but they are larger. Not only coaxial so loses the benefit of point source. Min distance from wall as outlined in page 9 of the manual is 9 inches. Right now most I can do is like 3-5in from the wall. Maybe if I get a new table, I can put it further from the wall, though I'll continue to end up sitting very close to the speaker.
Options I considered and rejected:
DAC:
Motu UltraLite Mk5. Powers microphones for room EQ. SINAD is good. Accepts 2 balanced subs. Should be able to adjust volume with volume knob, yet still keep speakers and subs at the right volume level. Subs are powered so on paper it would be tricky but Motu is supposed to be able to handle that, without me having to buy a preamp. Motu will do the crossover, set at 80hz. Maybe 100hz if I get 2 subs.
Amp:
Buckeye 2 Channel NC252MP. The only other peer this has is March P122 which performs... 3db better or something? This would be down to implementation since modules on spec sheet don't say P122's module has lower noise. (The other March amp which has higher power measured worse using similar modules so maybe the low power unit got lucky?)
I don't know what other option there even is apart from Buckeye/March with good noise performance that's sub $1k. Downside is it's fixed gain, so I'd be adjusting on my DAC which makes things tricky (again, because sub is powered, speakers are not).
Subwoofer:
Rythmik f12. Looks great if it's the SE version. Looks way better than the HSU Research sub. Smallest option out there that's not insanely expensive.
Hsu Research ULS-15 Mk2. Looks terrible, have to cover up with dust cover which also has their logo on it. Unsure if it delivers more power or not. One source says yes, another says maybe no. Price is maybe $60 less. Larger.
I decided to get ported because the Rythmiks look nice aesthetically, and I just don't want to deal with a port. This entire setup is already incredibly complicated and I don't want any more confounding factors.
Room EQ:
iSEMcon EMX-7150. I really dunno much about measurement mics, but this one is supposed to be really good. And expensive.
Audiolense XO. I heard Dirac doesn't have a module for dealing with subs? ...Isn't that kind of crazy?
So the setup would look like this:
Tally:
Does any part of my setup make no sense? Are connectors correct? Do I expect Motu to be able to do things it cannot? Will Motu + Buckeye's fixed gain end up with audible noise in a quiet room so close to tweeter? Which sub placements are good out of the 3 with only 2 subs? Which would be the best with only 1 sub? Will the R3 work even though there are no minimum listening distance specs for any KEF speaker, and with me violating the speaker 9in from wall minimum distance?
The dac does a lot, and the amp is cheap for the performance, but is there a better option? I know very little about room EQ but my friend says he has it on good authority that the mic and software will work well for my needs.
If I spend 3.5-4.7k on audio and it doesn't work out I'm gonna cry, lol.
Goal: Accurate setup for nearfield listening (19in away) with my computer. I only listen in front of my computer and I can't form an equilateral triangle. Speakers are near the wall with only several inches of space at most. (Might get a new desk later on that buys me a little more space between ear to tweeter or speaker to wall.) Either get cheap speakers that are accurate (like Neumann KH80) or get speakers that look good but end up costing a ton (KEF LS50 Meta). Looking for 2.1 or 2.2 setup, starting with 2.1 for now. Hiss must be avoided, even at 19in away from tweeter with speakers close to wall and corner, even in a quiet room. I only listen at 65db. My computer has EMI which should get fixed with balanced signal chain. Therefore, sub and amp need to be balanced.
Room looks like this: (All measurements are in inches)
Main speaker options:
I am pretty set on these three options:
Neumann KH80 is my top contender for 'cheap but accurate' speaker. Their dip has more to do with reflections while I'm mostly listening straight on, and should be EQ-able. Small, relatively cheap. Problems: Too small, requires 3 yoga blocks to raise to ear level. Acceptable but may be hard if I use standing desk later. Power indicator is too bright. Can mask with tape (ugly). Small size means I can move it back more to make hiss inaudible and drivers more coherent. No amp required!
KEF LS50 Meta are very pretty but cost a ton more. $1150 to be more exact, due them being passive. (Amp is $500.) Coaxial driver means great for nearfield, even at 19in. Can't go loud, bass can have issues. With sub and listening at 65db, adding 5 db for EQ headroom and 10db for peaks, I'm still 6db below Amir's 86db distortion test. I don't expect audible distortion issues with my usage.
KEF R3 are close runner up. They look just as nice but they are larger. Not only coaxial so loses the benefit of point source. Min distance from wall as outlined in page 9 of the manual is 9 inches. Right now most I can do is like 3-5in from the wall. Maybe if I get a new table, I can put it further from the wall, though I'll continue to end up sitting very close to the speaker.
Options I considered and rejected:
Revel F208 are too ugly. No point ponying up for amplification when it's no better looking than Neumann KH80.
Genelec 8030c has too many complaints of hiss so I am DQing this.
Genelec 8030c has too many complaints of hiss so I am DQing this.
DAC:
Motu UltraLite Mk5. Powers microphones for room EQ. SINAD is good. Accepts 2 balanced subs. Should be able to adjust volume with volume knob, yet still keep speakers and subs at the right volume level. Subs are powered so on paper it would be tricky but Motu is supposed to be able to handle that, without me having to buy a preamp. Motu will do the crossover, set at 80hz. Maybe 100hz if I get 2 subs.
Amp:
Buckeye 2 Channel NC252MP. The only other peer this has is March P122 which performs... 3db better or something? This would be down to implementation since modules on spec sheet don't say P122's module has lower noise. (The other March amp which has higher power measured worse using similar modules so maybe the low power unit got lucky?)
I don't know what other option there even is apart from Buckeye/March with good noise performance that's sub $1k. Downside is it's fixed gain, so I'd be adjusting on my DAC which makes things tricky (again, because sub is powered, speakers are not).
Subwoofer:
Rythmik f12. Looks great if it's the SE version. Looks way better than the HSU Research sub. Smallest option out there that's not insanely expensive.
Hsu Research ULS-15 Mk2. Looks terrible, have to cover up with dust cover which also has their logo on it. Unsure if it delivers more power or not. One source says yes, another says maybe no. Price is maybe $60 less. Larger.
I decided to get ported because the Rythmiks look nice aesthetically, and I just don't want to deal with a port. This entire setup is already incredibly complicated and I don't want any more confounding factors.
Room EQ:
iSEMcon EMX-7150. I really dunno much about measurement mics, but this one is supposed to be really good. And expensive.
Audiolense XO. I heard Dirac doesn't have a module for dealing with subs? ...Isn't that kind of crazy?
So the setup would look like this:
Tally:
The dac does a lot, and the amp is cheap for the performance, but is there a better option? I know very little about room EQ but my friend says he has it on good authority that the mic and software will work well for my needs.
If I spend 3.5-4.7k on audio and it doesn't work out I'm gonna cry, lol.
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