Low Profile Passive Speakers for WFH Meetings

[Gyroscopics]

Any suggestions for low profile passive speakers for the freshly reviewed Loxjie A30 (or SMSL SA300)? It's not for music. It's for meetings, so clear dialogue is the priority.

 

[Helicopter]

Polk S15 are on sale for $114.5 in the US. Amir reviewed it. The tone control on the A30 might actually do a pretty good job with the peak in the highs too, so then the biggest imperfection left would be the 1khz peak, which shouldn't be a big problem. For me, sibilance is the biggest issue with WAH when someone has a bad mic or whatever, and that occurs in way above 1k.

 

[ModDIY]

I see on the Polk curve, a low midrange (500-1200hz) a little forward, which will put an emphasis on the male voices.

 

[ModDIY]

It would be to know the size of the room, the number of people, the allocated budget ???

It is common for bass distortion to heavily increase with level but those spikes between 500 and 1 kHz are excessive:

 

[Gyroscopics]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Just me in the room, budget is not an issue, but $200 give and take is fine. My objective is to have flexibility in volume. I need the vocals to be clear from 3 feet way and occasionally need it to be loud so I could hear the pings from 20 feet away when I'm away from my desk, possibly in nearby rooms.

My work laptop's built-in speakers wouldn't cut it and my monitor speakers (Samsung 32" Q50R) sound too muffled.

 

[andreasmaaan]

Any suggestions for low profile passive speakers for the freshly reviewed Loxjie A30 (or SMSL SA300)? It's not for music. It's for meetings, so clear dialogue is the priority.

I would save a bit of cash and go for something like Neumi BS5. Not much below $200 approaches it in terms of performance, and it should be way more than adequate for clearly and accurately reproducing speech from online meetings.

In terms of clarity, the best thing you can do is to have the speakers as close to you as possible. Indeed, if speech clarity for online meetings is the only priority, you're going to be better off with just one speaker.

 

[Erici]

Amir reviewed the Edifier 1280 and recommended them. They are powered so no amplifier required. They have tone controls which helps with vocal clarity. I have a pair and like them for the price (about $100 on Amazon). There is a bluetooth version for about $30 more.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/.../edifier-r1280t-powered-speaker-review.16112/
https://www.amazon.com/Edifier-R128...peakers+1280+black&qid=1606160869&sr=8-5&th=1

 

[Gyroscopics]

I might consider powered small speakers. In that case I just need a DAC to connect the optical output from the monitor as I can't plug any USB device to the work laptop for corporate security reasons. Thanks for bringing that up.

 

[Helicopter]

Those Edifier r1280ts have an optical input, so they would be a cheap and simple solution. Neumi BS5 + Loxjie A30 would give you the same functionality, probably better performance, for more money, and likely overkill, not that there's anything wrong with that.

I do like being able to trim the highs, but you probably know by now if sibilance is bothering you in calls and meetings. It can be painful to my ears, but I don't actually need tone control or EQ to attenuate it; a volume control does the trick too. Tone control or EQ is just better because then I still don't miss anything. Sometimes one participant is 10dB louder than another, and that's when this is an issue for me. Again, you probably already know. For me, it is specific to microphones and applications. Both the Loxjie and the Edifier have treble controls. The one on the Edifier might work better since it is a knob you can grab and turn the instant you have a problem.

 

[Gyroscopics]

Thank you all for the advise. I changed my route. I decided to use my existing JBL 306p mkii and just add a Topping E30 (which is currently on sale at Amazon sold by Shenzen). I already have several DACs (D70, D50, SU-8, Modi) used for various setups at different rooms at home and even have a spare D10 from 2 years back. But the D10 doesn't accept optical input. Adding an inexpensive E30 (to accept optical input from my monitor) will provide more flexibility in the future when I no longer work from home. All these trouble is because I can't plugin a USB device to my work laptop for corp security reasons. The 306p is not exactly low profile but will do for now.

 

[Zek]

to accept optical input from my monitor

You don't have to buy an E30, there are many cheaper solutions for that purpose ...

 

[Gyroscopics]

You don't have to buy an E30, there are many cheaper solutions for that purpose ...

But it's still cheaper than buying Loxjie-A30/SMSL-SA300 + speakers by using what I have now. I fact I'm up and running with the D50+360p now. When it arrive, I'll just put the E30 on the system where I took the D50 from.

 

[restorer-john]

Hang the expense, get a pair of Salon 2s.