Near-field listening / speaker options

[X_SNYR]

Hello together,

as a newbie in this forum i want to apologize upfront if this topic was disgusted already 100 times.

Description of my situation:
I work from home for few years so i use my office room more often than i would like to, i would like to at least mitigate the suffering with enjoying some music.
My Idea was just buy the small 2-way bookshelf speakers (QA3010i) (I already had a Subwoofer) little PEQ and your OK, but i did not realized how close my ear are to those drivers.
The room is small, i sit or stand behind the PC (vertically adjustable desk), the distance from drivers now is about 70-80 cm, small head movement and the tonality changes i had instant headaches. (I am a nervous person so i move a lot at the desk so I would like to have a wider sweet spot)
I took those bookshelf's in my living room so i could hear them from distance and just get to know where it falls apart, they sounded decent until i got close about 1 where the vertical directivity collapsed (in my opinion, mids completely gone i you move vertically), I don't want to trash the speakers i enjoyed them from a distance (maybe they could be OK as surround speakers).

So now I don't know if I should try to go again the DIY way as in my main system or buy something of the shelf (If there is something).

My Idea was to build an shallow cabinet curved on the back with speakon connection from bottom so it could be close or pressed on the wall (i could get to 90-100 cm from ear)
I still have two Tang Band W5-2106 wide range drivers left from my previous build, they have a beautiful midrange but i don't know if it makes sense to even try to listen from such a small distance. They have a 16cm outer diameter so if i couple them with a tweeter the center to center distance will be ca. 14cm assume that i would need to cross very low and with a steep filter

• Option 1: DIY-Cabinet
  2-Way Tang Band W5-2106 wide range (I still have two left from my previous build) + inexpensive tweeter that can be crossed low (usual suspects Wavecor TW030WA12, SEAS DXT 27TBCD/GB, SB26ADC-C000-4 with 3D printed waveguide,...) crossover about 1.1-1.5 kHz (preferably active system with mini dps)
• Option 2: DIY-Cabinet
  Small 2-Way coaxial (SICA 5.5C1.5CP, Tang Band W4-2315, butcher some KEF-Meta with damaged cabinet... ) crossover about 2.5 kHz (preferably active system with mini dps)
• Option 3: DIY-Mode
  Butcher the back of some active speakers to get them close to the wall and to be able to tilt them, take out the DSP/AMP and mount it separately under the desk or on the wall (maybe Kali Audio LP6 or IN5, etc... something cheap so i would not feel guilty and that has some rudimentary DSP/ to compensate for near wall position )
• Option 4: Buy something really small thats plays decent, little british monitor, Genelec 8010a, KEF LSX II LT, Kali audio LP-UNF ... ( IN-UNF makes more sense but I really have no space for the Bass-Module on the desk)

Products that i mentioned came just in to my mind because I am located in EU and they are widely available here.

I think many forum members were in a similar situation, how did you solved it in your case?
Everybody has a different preference, for me is the most important thing to have a good midrange in a wider sweetspot.

Thanks in advance

 

[DanielT]

Here for inspiration regarding fullrange, coax drivers plus a little bit of miscellaneous stuff:

5.5" coax project using Sica 5,5 C 1,5 CP drivers

After building close to 20 projects using full range drivers and subwoofers and then a two-way system I have decided to strike out one more item on my DIY bucket list: building a coax driver-based speaker I have chosen the Sica 5,5 C 1,5 CP driver for this project based on the manufacturer...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Two-way (or 3 -way) with the affordable ND25FW-4, if you want a good tweeter with WG:

3D printed classic 3-way budget speaker project using SB and Dayton drivers

After having a lot of fun and success with my first 3D printed project I decided to continue on this path I will not have time to actually start this project until Q4 this year (it might even slip to Q1 next year) but I thought I would share my design ideas upfront for some comments and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

The room is small, i sit or stand behind the PC (vertically adjustable desk), the distance from drivers now is about 70-80 cm, ...Option 4: Buy something really small thats plays decent,...

Maybe this one if you're thinking about buying something ready-made:
Erin:

• Recommendation
  
  • Highly recommended for nearfield desktop setups, especially for content creators and editors
  • Best when kept within ~1 meter and paired with a subwoofer if deep bass is needed
  • Great alternative to larger nearfields when desk space is limited

  • ADAM Audio D3V Desktop Speaker Review

    ADAM Audio D3V Desktop Speaker Review

    www.erinsaudiocorner.com

 

[X_SNYR]

Here for inspiration regarding fullrange, coax drivers plus a little bit of miscellaneous stuff:

5.5" coax project using Sica 5,5 C 1,5 CP drivers

After building close to 20 projects using full range drivers and subwoofers and then a two-way system I have decided to strike out one more item on my DIY bucket list: building a coax driver-based speaker I have chosen the Sica 5,5 C 1,5 CP driver for this project based on the manufacturer...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Two-way (or 3 -way) with the affordable ND25FW-4, if you want a good tweeter with WG:

3D printed classic 3-way budget speaker project using SB and Dayton drivers

After having a lot of fun and success with my first 3D printed project I decided to continue on this path I will not have time to actually start this project until Q4 this year (it might even slip to Q1 next year) but I thought I would share my design ideas upfront for some comments and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

The room is small, i sit or stand behind the PC (vertically adjustable desk), the distance from drivers now is about 70-80 cm, ...Option 4: Buy something really small thats plays decent,...

Maybe this one if you're thinking about buying something ready-made:
Erin:
View attachment 530677

• Recommendation
  
  • Highly recommended for nearfield desktop setups, especially for content creators and editors
  • Best when kept within ~1 meter and paired with a subwoofer if deep bass is needed
  • Great alternative to larger nearfields when desk space is limited

  • ADAM Audio D3V Desktop Speaker Review

    ADAM Audio D3V Desktop Speaker Review

    www.erinsaudiocorner.com

Thank you for the reply, all options you mentioned are in consideration, all have pros. and cons.

 

[CptKaos]

Hello together,

as a newbie in this forum i want to apologize upfront if this topic was disgusted already 100 times.

Description of my situation:
I work from home for few years so i use my office room more often than i would like to, i would like to at least mitigate the suffering with enjoying some music.
My Idea was just buy the small 2-way bookshelf speakers (QA3010i) (I already had a Subwoofer) little PEQ and your OK, but i did not realized how close my ear are to those drivers.
The room is small, i sit or stand behind the PC (vertically adjustable desk), the distance from drivers now is about 70-80 cm, small head movement and the tonality changes i had instant headaches. (I am a nervous person so i move a lot at the desk so I would like to have a wider sweet spot)
I took those bookshelf's in my living room so i could hear them from distance and just get to know where it falls apart, they sounded decent until i got close about 1 where the vertical directivity collapsed (in my opinion, mids completely gone i you move vertically), I don't want to trash the speakers i enjoyed them from a distance (maybe they could be OK as surround speakers).

So now I don't know if I should try to go again the DIY way as in my main system or buy something of the shelf (If there is something).

My Idea was to build an shallow cabinet curved on the back with speakon connection from bottom so it could be close or pressed on the wall (i could get to 90-100 cm from ear)
I still have two Tang Band W5-2106 wide range drivers left from my previous build, they have a beautiful midrange but i don't know if it makes sense to even try to listen from such a small distance. They have a 16cm outer diameter so if i couple them with a tweeter the center to center distance will be ca. 14cm assume that i would need to cross very low and with a steep filter

• Option 1: DIY-Cabinet
  2-Way Tang Band W5-2106 wide range (I still have two left from my previous build) + inexpensive tweeter that can be crossed low (usual suspects Wavecor TW030WA12, SEAS DXT 27TBCD/GB, SB26ADC-C000-4 with 3D printed waveguide,...) crossover about 1.1-1.5 kHz (preferably active system with mini dps)
• Option 2: DIY-Cabinet
  Small 2-Way coaxial (SICA 5.5C1.5CP, Tang Band W4-2315, butcher some KEF-Meta with damaged cabinet... ) crossover about 2.5 kHz (preferably active system with mini dps)
• Option 3: DIY-Mode
  Butcher the back of some active speakers to get them close to the wall and to be able to tilt them, take out the DSP/AMP and mount it separately under the desk or on the wall (maybe Kali Audio LP6 or IN5, etc... something cheap so i would not feel guilty and that has some rudimentary DSP/ to compensate for near wall position )
• Option 4: Buy something really small thats plays decent, little british monitor, Genelec 8010a, KEF LSX II LT, Kali audio LP-UNF ... ( IN-UNF makes more sense but I really have no space for the Bass-Module on the desk)

Products that i mentioned came just in to my mind because I am located in EU and they are widely available here.

I think many forum members were in a similar situation, how did you solved it in your case?
Everybody has a different preference, for me is the most important thing to have a good midrange in a wider sweetspot.

Thanks in advance

I am very happy with the DIY Carmody S2000MT speakers https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s/carmody-s2000-diy-speaker-kit-review.17507/
bought the kits at https://www.cinergyaudio.com/products/s2000-speaker-kit

 

[X_SNYR]

I am very happy with the DIY Carmody S2000MT speakers https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s/carmody-s2000-diy-speaker-kit-review.17507/
bought the kits at https://www.cinergyaudio.com/products/s2000-speaker-kit
View attachment 530680

Thank you for the reply,

nice small speakers, in my case if i should go with DIY 2-way I want to stay with the woofers that I already have from my previous project (W5-2106 has a very light 6g paper cone, inverted surround, has really beautiful midrange and behaves very well for wide-range, the only issue is that it starts to beam early) , the small 22mm wavecor tweeter used in the s2000 kit would reduce the center-to-center distance by about 2 cm compared to the tweeters that I mentioned for Option 1, but is usually not recommended to cross under 2500hz.
My goal is to have a good vertical directivity, the 5-inch woofer will still need a way lower crossover point and has a deep conus shape so deeper waveguide would be preferable to get a better time alignment.
Maybe if I use an somasonus 4-inch waveguide (with SB26ADC-C000-4) and i cut out the flat outer space from it so that it could match the woofer basket and cross it about 1300hz than i could get where i want to be. I really hurts my heart that the driver is just unused.
I have swapped it in my main living room system for a coaxial driver that elevated the system for sure but sometimes i just miss the midrange of the old one.
OLD System: active FAST W5-2106 + W8-2022, Mini DSP DDRC24 (Xover200Hz, PEQs, time alignment, Dirac Live) , 2x Hypex Ncore NCx252MP from Audiophonics
Current System: Hybrid W4-2315 (passive 1 order Xover ca. 3000Hz slightly asymmetric) + W8-2022, Mini DSP DDRC24 (Xover200Hz, PEQs, time alignment, Dirac Live), 2x Hypex Ncore NCx252MP from Audiophonics
(I have a plan to update it with MiniDSP Flex8 with Dirac Live + another NCx252MP to get full active again because the coaxial driver is quite tricky and there is more potencial)

On the other hand I am tempted also to try the sica coaxial (it is coincidental so no issue with the directivity) , it is really cheap, well behaved (easy to work even with passive crossovers) but the membrane is twice as heavy with the same cone area so i fear that it will have better bass output but worse midrange. I will use a SUB so I am not focused on the woofers bass output.

maybe I am crazy but I don't enjoy smiley face speakers, i like brutally honest midrange (if the sound engineer was on drugs during mixing than it is like it is and ears have to bleed, if the record is really bad you can always use EQ)

 

[DatSpeakerTho]

I've been trying to get good NF for awhile. Best I've heard were the Behringer 2030p on my desk with some EQ, monitor so big it basically acted as part of the baffle. This was a long time ago and nostalgia is probably blinding me a bit, but dang it was engaging, amazing sound stage.

Anyway, I've tried a lot of options, Genelec 8030c, KH80, Cnotes with active filters and 3" roundovers, Mechano23. I could always hear the drivers seperately on those multiways. I sit about the same distance as OP and so far the top performers for me are sica 5.5 and mark audio drivers. The Sica sounds amazing as long as you're using active filtering making it all super linear. I'm taking an note from sigberg and using first order filters (1st at xover and 3rd far away from xover for protection, if I understand correctly) on mine and it sounds amazing. I find there's not really any need for an additional bass driver for the Sica to keep cone movement down at my listening distance. I do have some boundary gain from the front wall though that probably helps.

I don't think a lot of people would believe what they were hearing with this little mark audio driver. I made them for my GF so she could have some better speakers in her room while she studys. I applied some fairly basic EQ filters to them and they're just a pleasure to listen to. I would be careful going to big in size on full range, the beaming can become pretty annoying. These tiny Mark audio drivers are probably the least offensive I've tried so far in that regard. These things have so much bass they always defy expectations, ported at like 50hz if I recall. As I delved further into phase relationships with speakers, I come to find I appreciate drivers like this more and more, just so simple and they do phase better than anything else.

This is going to go against the grain a bit but I'm a musician and audio engineer and do a lot of mix work and writing. I find mixing on that mark audio to be really nice. I find it far easier to judge the relative volume of track elements and reverb wet/dry amounts than I do on multiways. I tend to get to get a mix that translates well with the mark audio faster than other monitors I've used. I have not gotten to use the sica really at all yet, so we'll see how those fair, may add subs for them in the future.

Is it me, or does this photo seem kind AI generated for some reason?!

On the other hand I am tempted also to try the sica coaxial (it is coincidental so no issue with the directivity) , it is really cheap, well behaved (easy to work even with passive crossovers) but the membrane is twice as heavy with the same cone area so i fear that it will have better bass output but worse midrange. I will use a SUB so I am not focused on the woofers bass output.

I would not worry about cone weight at all. Your mid range quality will be down to filtering.