Office Desk Soundbar

[AetherDrive]

Yo! I was hoping to get some recommendations for a sub $200 low profile soundbar or speaker pair that can sit on my desk that don't totally suck. I've got an Element IV pulling headphone duty but would like the convenience of having something to play audiobooks, podcasts or light music in the background. All monitors are mounted on floating arms so I do have desk real estate, but height would be limited to roughly 8in so something like the Drop BMR v2 wouldn't be an option. I would prefer something a bit smaller, if it comes in white that'd be even better! Thank you for your time.

TLDR; looking for small speakers or a soundbar that look nice and don't sound awful for my white desk.

 

[kyuu]

My recommendation for best sound quality would be a pair of Adam Audio D3V.

If you prefer a soundbar, probably the Sonos Beam.

 

[staticV3]

My recommendation for best sound quality would be a pair of Adam Audio D3V.

The D3V is $350 and 9.5" tall.

 

[kyuu]

The D3V is $350 and 9.5" tall.

I just measured the ones sitting in front of me and my tape measure says 7 3/4" tall. I did overlook the budget aspect, my mistake on that.

Edit: I'm guessing the 9.5" figure must be factoring in the included stands.

 

[staticV3]

I just measured the ones sitting in front of me and my tape measure says 7 3/4" tall. I did overlook the budget aspect, my mistake on that.

Ah my bad. I went with the product page which claims "Height with stand: 9 1/2″ "

ADAM Audio - D3V Desktop Monitors [Active]

Designed for producers, and music lovers, the D3Vs can be connected via USB-C and offer a wealth of features, plus incredible audio performance.

www.adam-audio.com

 

[kyuu]

Given the budget restriction I didn't notice the first time around, I would amend my recommendations to the following:

Speakers: Edifier M60
Soundbar: JBL Bar 2.0

I would say that if you can reach up for the Adam D3V, I'd definitely go that route. You can get a refurbished pair for $300 and they will be a noticeable upgrade from the other options.

 

[AetherDrive]

That is stupidly impressive plus I happen to be fan of AMTs so to me it's worth the extra $$, just bought a white pair refurbished. Thank you for the suggestion!

 

[kyuu]

Awesome, I think you're gonna be quite happy. Be sure to come back and let us know your experience!

Protip: They might already be shipping them with the updated firmware, but just in case I would update the speakers' firmware when you receive them to address the "tweeter gating" issue (as well as being able to disable auto-standby if you like). They also benefit from a bass boost of 2-4dB in my opinion, but that's up to personal taste of course.

 

[AetherDrive]

Working with Adam support right now, pretty sure I got sent a dud: tweeters are hissing with no volume applied and when plugging in the headphone jack, regardless of headphone, the right driver has harsh intermittent low frequency noise occurring. I've already done some troubleshooting and no other electronic in the house acts like this so...

Despite all that, I'm quite impressed with their capabilities, only thing I'd complain about is that it can be a bit dull at lower levels but that might just be a quirk of the duds.

 

[kyuu]

Working with Adam support right now, pretty sure I got sent a dud: tweeters are hissing with no volume applied and when plugging in the headphone jack, regardless of headphone, the right driver has harsh intermittent low frequency noise occurring. I've already done some troubleshooting and no other electronic in the house acts like this so...

Despite all that, I'm quite impressed with their capabilities, only thing I'd complain about is that it can be a bit dull at lower levels but that might just be a quirk of the duds.

Sounds like you got sent a bad pair, unfortunately. I've got a pair sitting in front of me and they definitely do not audibly hiss (considering the "tweeter gating" feature I wouldn't expect them to). Hopefully they quickly send you some replacements.