Good quality desktop music speakers for a small room

[naaitsab]

I'm currently using a Marantz SR5005 with a Mordaunt Short Premiere 5.1 setup. Which have served me well over the years. But I'm planning on swapping my desk with a slightly smaller standing desk model. So the amplifier needs to go and the speakers need to move from the wall to the desk. I have 2 27" monitors so the space is quite limited on the planned 140cm wide desk. So I already take in account 2 side desk clamps for the speakers. Also the amp can get quite warm which is not ideal in summer and I also guess it takes quite some power.

The room is about 2.75 meters wide and about 4m wide. With the desk situated on the longitudinal wall so there is about 1.5m of room behind my chair. And any acoustic paneling will not survive the approval factor. Ceiling is about 2.5m high. Wall behind me is covered in thin carpet and the others are just drywall covered with paint. So to summarize, acoustics are not great.

For my HD660s I got a Schiit Asgard 3 with the built-in DAC. So I don't require a headphone option in all this. This setup is a bit too neutral to my taste as it lacks a bit in the lows, it does sound amazing with instruments and vocal. But that's another story. I do require a extra USB DAC as I want to remove my dedicated soundcard from the PC and if possible stay clear of any modified driver crap.

I mostly listen to pop, electronic and sometimes classical. I game on the system and watch movies. Low-end does not have to be that loud as the house is quite noisy so I want to limit nuisance. So I'm planning to reuse my current sub as it's more than powerful enough and has a LPF and dual-channel coax inputs. Not sure if it scores high in any scorelist but as far as I know a sub in a low requirement situation is by far the least important factor. But if it can be replaced by just 2 monitors it would be a bonus. Music is not always on that loud, I also use it as background music for when I'm working so the setup also needs to work good at that level of volume. Can be the entire day in the room so any tweeter that is known to cause fatigue is not high on the list. Anything that has an audible hiss from my listening position 0,8~1m away from each monitor, is a no-go. Especially if the music is off.

Budget is €1500 for the kit (DAC, XLR cables, 2 speakers and IsoAcoustics frame/pucks). But willing to flex it a bit if there is far better choice. I tend to buy stuff for 10+ years so a bit extra is no problem. But is has to be quality stuff.

DAC:
Requirements: Works with Windows 11 over USB. Has good drivers or can use the built-in Windows ones. Needs to have a physical volume knob.
Nice to have: small formfactor and sleek design. Bus powered.
What I have found so far:
-SMSL DO100. seems a bit hefty but judging from the reviews on here it's rock solid. Has XLR and Coaxial so can use monitors balanced and can reuse my sub.
-Focusrite Scarlett Solo is also popular but looks quite clunky and I'm not sure if the DAC is even on the same level as the DO100. A plus would be I could use the mic from the Adams A-series Sonarworks integration. It's also bus powered. As I get the impression the DAC part is not it's focus I'm more geared towards the DO100

Speaker requirements: Good quality and not to big. For this setup I think a 'nearfield' studio monitor would be the best choice. But I'm not going to mix on it, so I don't need a reference type of sound. Just good quality audio with allowance of a bit of let's call it color to it. Which makes the choice a bit limited as the goal of many if not all studio monitors is to be as close to reference as possible. Also the room might require tweaking so DSP would be nice or maybe even required.

For that reason I've selected a few Studio Monitor speakers.
-Adam T5V. Seems to be a good allrounder with a "fun" sound. T7v and T8v are deemed to big and from what I understand would also not fit my room size and require some volume to work.
-Adam A7V. Definitely a big step up in price but comes with a way more advanced DSP and forward facing bass port. The consensus about the A4v is that it's quite mediocre and has port issues. On the other hand it's a lot cheaper and perhaps for regular music listening it might be more than enough? The 'UNR' DSP setting judging from reviews would be the better setting for my non-mixing 'hi-fi' needs.
-Kali IN-5. It seems to lack quite a lot in highs compered to the rest? Also everyone seems to say get the IN-8 V2 due to a tweeter hiss fix. But the 8s are very big. So I guess this kinda closes the door on Kali?
-Neumann KH 80. Has iPad only DSP which I don't have and I'm not really keen on supporting this vendorlocking behavior. So this kind of results in the KH 120 A which has a somewhat limited psychical DSP.

If a small dac+amp combo and 2 unpowered "dumb" speakers would be a far better choice let me know. I'm not afraid to spend a bit on the set but it needs to be realistic for the usecase (no audio work). But if monitors would be a total waste of money or in this price range sound worse than I have now. I'm more inclined to limit the search to a small amp-dac combo and reuse 2 speakers and my sub. But a small high quality 2.1 dac-amp is not really something I've come across that often or are extremely expensive like the SMSL VMV A2

Any help with deciding would be much appreciated. I'm located in EU so not all US based brands are available or might be grossly overpriced. I selected 3 brands that are well stocked here and seem to score high on the "get this" list by many.

 

[unpluggged]

So this kind of results in the KH 120 A which has a somewhat limited psychical DSP

It has no DSP (not even "psychical", whatever that could mean), it's purely analog.

Neumann KH 80. Has iPad only DSP

Wrong. The DSP is in the speakers. iPad can be used to control it and set up room correction, as well as a desktop-based MA 1 calibration system. Other than that, you can configure the DSP filters with the switches on the back of the speaker.

I'd go for a pair of KH 120 A and later add a KH 750 DSP to extend their bass response and apply room correction filters. They are superior to all the models you mentioned despite their age and all-analog design. And for your room size, you don't need to be worried about SPLs.

 

[twsecrest]

For the HD660s how does the sound compare, with plugged HD660s into the Asgard or into the Marantz SR5005?

Page 35 and 69 of the Marantz SR5005 manual show how to do a stereo "2.1" setup, with your current hardware.
And it would not cost you a single Euro.

But me, I would rather go with a 2.1 setup, studio monitors with a sub-woofer (self-powered) that comes with line inputs and line outputs.
The Schiit Asgard comes with Pre-out, connect that to the line-input on the sub-woofer.

Self off the Marantz SR5005 and the complete Mordaunt Short Premiere 5.1 setup.

 

[naaitsab]

It has no DSP (not even "psychical", whatever that could mean), it's purely analog.


Wrong. The DSP is in the speakers. iPad can be used to control it and set up room correction, as well as a desktop-based MA 1 calibration system. Other than that, you can configure the DSP filters with the switches on the back of the speaker.

I'd go for a pair of KH 120 A and later add a KH 750 DSP to extend their bass response and apply room correction filters. They are superior to all the models you mentioned despite their age and all-analog design. And for your room size, you don't need to be worried about SPLs.

Well perhaps tuning or filtering is a better, more allround word than DSP. As the KH indeed have switches, so do all the other brands. But I guess the amplifier in the Kali and Adam works more modern so to speak.

In what regards would you deem the KH superior instead of the Adams or the Kali?

For the HD660s how does the sound compare, with plugged HD660s into the Asgard or into the Marantz SR5005?

Page 35 and 69 of the Marantz SR5005 manual show how to do a stereo "2.1" setup, with your current hardware.
And it would not cost you a single Euro.

But me, I would rather go with a 2.1 setup, studio monitors with a sub-woofer (self-powered) that comes with line inputs and line outputs.
The Schiit Asgard comes with Pre-out, connect that to the line-input on the sub-woofer.

Self off the Marantz SR5005 and the complete Mordaunt Short Premiere 5.1 setup.

The 660's have a more "clean" sound than my 595's if I plug them into the Asgard. So for electronic or bassy music they sound a lot better. But anything concerning vocals or instruments, the 660's are vastly superior. It just lacks some kick.

As stated in the beginning, the Marantz needs to go, it can't fit on the desk anymore. So that's off the table. I will probably set it up in a spare room or store it for later use.

 

[unpluggged]

But I guess the amplifier in the Kali and Adam works more modern so to speak.

What is this supposed to mean and how is it relevant to their performance?

In what regards would you deem the KH superior instead of the Adams or the Kali?

Just compare their measurements, unit-to-unit variation consistency, comprehensiveness and reliability of their published specifications, manufacturer's support level, and target market segment.

They might sound not that different, but when I get Neumanns (or, for that matter, Genelecs), I'm sure they will perform up to the promise, and if I set their sensitivity to 94 dB at 0 dBu at 1 m, I know this is the SPL they will put out if I set my volume to −4 dB at +4 dBu reference level.

And they indeed sound great. And I can't hear them hiss (speaking of "more modern amplifiers").

 

[erniek]

What is this supposed to mean and how is it relevant to their performance?


Just compare their measurements, unit-to-unit variation consistency, comprehensiveness and reliability of their published specifications, manufacturer's support level, and target market segment.

They might sound not that different, but when I get Neumanns (or, for that matter, Genelecs), I'm sure they will perform up to the promise, and if I set their sensitivity to 94 dB at 0 dBu at 1 m, I know this is the SPL they will put out if I set my volume to −4 dB at +4 dBu reference level.

And they indeed sound great. And I can't hear them hiss (speaking of "more modern amplifiers").

I know many have opinions of various speakers but my original KEF Ls50's are used in various small room environments. It has been hard to fault these wonderful sounding speakers for their all encompassing flexibility in any environment.

 

[Zapper]

How about Genelec G One, Two, or Three, depending on the size & volume you desire (or the almost identical 8010A, 8020D, or 8030C). Several of these are reviewed on this site. There are two matching subwoofers, the F One and Two. I think the Genelecs are more accurate and better engineered than Adam or Kali. The subwoofers have internal DACs and digital inputs.

 

[pablolie]

I know many have opinions of various speakers but my original KEF Ls50's are used in various small room environments. It has been hard to fault these wonderful sounding speakers for their all encompassing flexibility in any environment.

Especially if cut off around 80Hz and paired with a well-placed sub. Keepers, in any way, against many other worth 5x more.